I’ve got a 2000 Crew Cab that’s been losing air. I’ve been filling the tires a bit every couple of weeks, but one kept really losing air quickly. I took it to the tire shop and they replaced a valve. I thought that would take care of it but they still keep losing air. When I was driving through our plant the other day one of the fellows heard a noise coming out the rear. As I’d just had the brakes replaced I called the mechanic and asked him to take a look at it. Turns out that the chrome is coming off the backside of the wheels. It was hanging off and hitting as the tire rotated. I’ve also noticed that wheels are really pitting. Am I going to have to replace the wheels ? Can’t find much by Googling it.
I take it you mean the inside surface of the rim is pitting and the chrome is delaminating from that surface so that the tire and rim do not mate propperly to one another, thus causing a leak. I have had this problem sort of, in that my rims were rusty and leaked. I wire brushed the mating surface of the rims, and had the tire guy treat them with a sealant. That sloved my problem. With chrome rims I am not sure if this will work, but it is worth a try if money is more dear than time.
This is actually big chips, almost the size of potato chips, of chrome coming off the inside the back wheels. One of those chips was hanging out and hitting making the noise. My mechanic handed me a bag of chips when I went to pick it up.
The important part of the wheels is the “beads” where the tires seal on the wheels to keep in the air. The corrosion you are experiencing is compromising the ability of the wheels to hold in air.
Likely the easiest fix is new wheels. If you can find someone to sand blast the current wheels you can have them painted, or even rechromed and they should be fine. Unfortunately reconditioning wheels isn’t cheap,
The most cost effective solution is used wheels from a salvage yard. There should be lot available since the F150 was such a big selling truck.
Yes I figured it was going to have to be new wheels. I’ve looked around a bit and a new set is not too expensive.