The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Fix-a-flat?

The wife's '93 S10 Blazer has the aluminum rims. The tires have been on it for a few years but she puts so few miles on that they are still really good. One tire leaks very slowly, so I'm putting air in it every couple of weeks. Today I took it off and stuck it in a wheelbarrow full of water and I see that the leak is around the inner bead. I have never tried the "fix-a-flat" stuff in the spray can. I was wondering if I can expect that to seal it. If I have to take it off the rim, I'll probably just buy new tires for the Blazer and put these on another truck that gets a lot more use. (I really don't want off-road treads on my 2wd Suburban, but I hate to just toss these tires. A few more years and I'll be afraid to run them anyway, no matter how good they look.)

It's not the tire it's corrosion around the bead on the wheel. Bring it to me Tuesday, I have tomorrow off, and I'll dismount it, clean it up and rebalance it for you. Our Subaru aluminum wheels are prone to doing that. That fix-a-flat stuff just goops up the inside of your tire and is supposed to be a temperary fix to get you off the road.
Scott

Fixaflat is bad juju for long term.. will rot your steel rims... and it tends to really irritate the tire busters if they dont expect it to be there.

A few years ago I had an early 90's GMC JImmy 4x4 (same thing as the Blazer) with the stock aluminum rims and had a slow leak in the drivers side front tire.

Every other day i'd have to put air in it.. always meant to take it to the tire shop and have it fixed, just never got around to it.. and since it sat in the garage next to the air compressor, it wasn't a big deal to "top it off" with air in the mornings.

One night I ended up staying the night away from home, and sure enough, the next morning I had a whopping 10lbs of air in the tire.. so I drive to the nearest gas station in the hopes of them having an air pump, but just my luck, it was out of order.

Getting it fixed was out of the question, since it was Sunday, so I picked up a can of fix a flat and pumped it right back up.

I drove that truck for 2 years with the fix-a-flat repair on that front tire, and never had to put air in it again!

What you wanna remember is after you first put the stuff in, DRIVE the vehicle for about 45 minutes, and let centrifigual force evenly distribute the goo and give it time to set up.

If you just squirt it in and let the vehicle sit, all the goo will settle to the bottom of the tire, and cause a balance problem.

But if you've already got the rim off the vehicle, you might as well take it somewhere and get it fixed right.

I can fix it myself, but it's a 45 min drive one way to my bro's shop where I have access to a tire machine and balancer. I got my question answered. It's not a good long term solution. I really need to get those tires off the truck and onto one that gets enough use to wear them out. I think they are 6 or 7 years old now.

I have been told by sales people that the newer aluminum rims (which I don't like!) don't have this problem. I don't have any reason to believe them. Any comments ?

Fumblin46 hit on a very important fact about fix-a-flat ... it will make your tires out of balance, and the next tire rotation/balance will drive the balancer nuts because the tire won't balance no matter how many times he tries (the liquid will keep moving).
I keep fix-a-flat in all of my vehicles for emergencies only, and I always get the tire fixed/replaced as soon as possible after using the stuff. And I make sure to tell the tire guy to expect the stuff in there.
It's good stuff for minor/temporary fixes only.

i bought an 84 camaro with chromed stock aluminum wheels.the air would leak past the chrome beads.i used fix a flat to try to seal the rims.it did for a while but it ate up the rims.the valve stem started leaking.when i had it checked the mechanic showed me where it was seriously pitting the inside of the rim.the bead was corroded and around the valve stem.i has to buy new wheels.btw i was told by pep boys that they wouldn't work on my tires because of the fix a flat eventhough they sold it.

I had a flat on a truck that I just wanted to be able to move, so I put in some fix-a-flat. One of the tires just didn't hold. I took the tire off and replaced it. The rim was a steel white painted rim. The fix-a-flat ate the paint off of the rim. Took it off as clean as a whistle down to the bare metal. The metal looked like new. Not sure I would want to use it in a tire on a good rim. I might try it again as a paint remover though.