# Tire residue on rims

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/tire-residue-on-rims/77600>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Created:** [February 25, 2013, 6:17am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/tire-residue-on-rims/77600 "2013-02-25T06:17:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![KrazyKat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@KrazyKat](https://community.cartalk.com/u/KrazyKat)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 6:17am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/tire-residue-on-rims/77600/1 "2013-02-25T06:17:33Z")

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Is there any merit in cleaning the tire residue off of the rims when changing tires? My husband feels that residue left where the bead sits may cause the next set of tires to leak (slowly).

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**Author:** ![missileman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/missileman/32/1366_2.png) [@missileman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/missileman)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 6:21am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/tire-residue-on-rims/77600/2 "2013-02-25T06:21:11Z")

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I agree with your husband. Any residue has the potential to cause a leak. I wouldn’t be obsessive about it but I would just clean them if any large pieces remained on the rims.

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**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/tire-residue-on-rims/77600/3 "2013-02-25T23:36:01Z")

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I agree with your hubby and Missileman. But I wonder…why did you ask? This is usually addressed by whoever puts the new tires on.

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**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 11:49pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/tire-residue-on-rims/77600/4 "2013-02-25T23:49:02Z")

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I’m also curious. And yes, when I’d install new tires the bead area of the rim was always clean, shouldn’t be anything significant on it.

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**Author:** ![melott](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/melott/32/10827_2.png) [@melott](https://community.cartalk.com/u/melott)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 12:08am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/tire-residue-on-rims/77600/5 "2013-02-26T00:08:48Z")

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It used to be standard for good tire installers to wire brush the rims when putting on new tires. Nowadays they’d probably be resentful if you asked, but it seems like a good idea, to prevent leaks.

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**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/tire-residue-on-rims/77600/6 "2013-02-26T00:30:17Z")

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Now with alloy wheels it’d have to be some kind of cleaner, don’t want to scratch up the clearcoat/paint.