Tire flat after winter storage?

[achilleas101]

Anybody ever have a tire go almost totally flat while storing for the winter?

Just put my summer wheels on today and one tire was almost totally flat. Like 10 psi was all that was in it. I didnt notice it till i lowered the car after putting it on. Freaked out a bit because i didnt notice it right away and let it sit for about a minute before jacking it back up and inflating it (i swear, having a car compressor has saved me multiple times). Hopefully no structural damage was done to the sidewall by letting it sit flat even for that short a time.

But it does make me wonder about the tire. It was new from last May. Didnt have any issues with it before storing it for the winter in late October . Did what I've always done- put it in large 3mil plastic trash bag (to prevent UV wear and air from wearing it down) and stack them all up in the garage. Have had like 3 or 4 psi come out of tires before but never 25 over 6-7 months. The other tires lost maybe 1 or 2psi. These are Michelin Pilot Sport 4s

Same rims I've had for 6 years. Checked the tread, found nothing. Drove it around a little bit and pressure sustained, went up by 1 from the heat. Been about 3 hours now and no loss of air.

Gotta go to my in laws 1.5 hrs away tomorrow so hoping nothings wrong with it. Just wondering if anyone has experienced this.

[evanb]

Have the tire checked out. Don't try and guess.

[MacFady]

I usually top them up before mounting them, reminds me to check the spare. This year for example one was reading 0psi, the other 3 needed less than 5psi top up. I've checked the tires numerous times over the last month and haven't had to top any up since putting them on.

[fstr n u]

I've had that before and this year as well. If the tire takes a full inflation of air to (for example) 40psi and holds that pressure for a couple days you're goldien. If there is a concerning leak, your tire will deflate slightly by the next day. Use an accurate gauge to determine which boat you're in.

[LYKUNO]

Air it up to full pressure and use a soap solution around the inner and outer beads to look for slow leaks, and do the same with the valve stem where it meets the wheel and the end of the valve stem to make sure the internal stem seal is good too.

[$nooze]

was the one tire the one you had on the bottom of the stack? typically i find the one on the bottom loses pressure at a quicker rate than those sitting upon it

[achilleas101]

Air it up to full pressure and use a soap solution around the inner and outer beads to look for slow leaks, and do the same with the valve stem where it meets the wheel and the end of the valve stem to make sure the internal stem seal is good too.

ended up taking the wheel off and doing just that because i lost 1 psi overnight. Man i hate doing that test. went all around both sides of the wheel, nothing. But then, wouldn't you know it, the base of the valve stem was bubbling ever so slightly.

My installer didn't change the metal ones out - my wheels have 2 stems, one metal on the outer area and one rubber on the inner side of the wheel. Not sure why they would have left the metal ones alone. Maybe they didn't carry them. Sigh. But i'm thinking i should replace them all to avoid this in the other wheels in the future.

So now looking online to see what kind of metal valve stems i need to get for these wheels (Avant Garde M550). Maybe i'll start a separate thread. inner mount vs outer mount, diameter size... don't know if there's a spec i need to follow. Sent an email to AG, will if they reply.

and now wondering how to go about it with my installer. don't feel like paying another $100 or so to get these remounted so they can replace the stems.

[LYKUNO]

From what I can tell, the M550's have been discontinued, but that shouldn't prevent you from getting the valve stem(s) you need. AG should respond, but if not, call them! Their contact numbers are here (https://www.avantgardewheels.com/contact/). You could also ask them why there are 2 valve stems and what the specs for the inner and outer ones are, since they are different on your wheels (i.e., rubber vs metal).

My understanding is that dual valve stems are sometimes used on race cars, for the purposes of exchanging ambient air for nitrogen. One stem is used to bleed off the ambient air while nitrogen is put in the opposite stem. Alternatively, some say that two stems allow for using a pressure gauge on one stem, while adding air pressure on the other stem. I've also heard that one stem can be used for a TPMS sensor while the other is used for adding or bleeding air. Regardless, it seems that dual stems are a bit overkill for most road cars and essentially doubles the opportunity for getting valve stem leaks.

Tire Rack has an interesting technical article about valve stems here (https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=208&). For example, here's what is says about valve replacement: Since rubber deteriorates over time and tire valves are not expected to resist deterioration for the life of two standard tires in normal service, tire valves should be inspected and replaced if any cracking appears. As a rule of thumb, the industry recommends replacing tire valves whenever new tires are installed.

At any rate, it's possible that your installer can break the bead on your tire at the location of the leaking stem, without having the tire move around on the rim. That could preserve the balance of the tire on the rim and if viable, would save you some $$.

[achilleas101]

From what I can tell, the M550's have been discontinued, but that shouldn't prevent you from getting the valve stem(s) you need. AG should respond, but if not, call them! Their contact numbers are here (https://www.avantgardewheels.com/contact/). You could also ask them why there are 2 valve stems and what the specs for the inner and outer ones are, since they are different on your wheels (i.e., rubber vs metal).

My understanding is that dual valve stems are sometimes used on race cars, for the purposes of exchanging ambient air for nitrogen. One stem is used to bleed off the ambient air while nitrogen is put in the opposite stem. Alternatively, some say that two stems allow for using a pressure gauge on one stem, while adding air pressure on the other stem. I've also heard that one stem can be used for a TPMS sensor while the other is used for adding or bleeding air. Regardless, it seems that dual stems are a bit overkill for most road cars and essentially doubles the opportunity for getting valve stem leaks.

Tire Rack has an interesting technical article about valve stems here (https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=208&). For example, here's what is says about valve replacement: Since rubber deteriorates over time and tire valves are not expected to resist deterioration for the life of two standard tires in normal service, tire valves should be inspected and replaced if any cracking appears. As a rule of thumb, the industry recommends replacing tire valves whenever new tires are installed.

At any rate, it's possible that your installer can break the bead on your tire at the location of the leaking stem, without having the tire move around on the rim. That could preserve the balance of the tire on the rim and if viable, would save you some $$.

AG replied to me and said the stems should be standard, so any standard one will work. I got a set of flush mount ones that look like they should work. We'll see, I'm going to the installer today. They're gonna charge me $55 to redo it all.

Now to be clear, the wheels came with only one stem, on the inside of the wheel. When i got tires installed the first time, the installer suggested moving them to the outside for aesthetic purposes and putting rubber ones on the inside where they can't be seen. So the holed are the same in and out. (This installer was also the one who told me that bigger wheels sometimes have 2 stems for faster inflation)