Do stock wheels degrade over time?
 

I was told by a tire dealership that the edge on my wheels where the tire attaches is getting worn.

I was losing a couple of pounds of pressure on all 4 tires periodically, then it got to be every other week I was in the store having them add air. The tires still had a lot of tread on them, so they said they would do a "temporary fix" and "sealed" around the tires. I could see a black sealant in places. Since then, no problem for a long time. But I think it's starting to happen again.

So do I need new wheels?

No, I doubt you need new wheels unless you've done a lot of curb-bashing and seriously damaged and bent the lips. Or if the tire dealership has damaged the wheel bead seating surfaces by using improper mounting tools or techniques. I have stock wheels that have had a dozen sets of tires on them and had the tires actually rotate on the rims at the road-racing track, and they still do not leak.

What the wheels likely need is the bead area to be thoroughly cleaned. Gunk builds up there from the tires, environmental debris, and the fluids tire shops use to help mount tires. All that turns into a mess stuck to the wheels that can cause the beads to leak.

Thanks for the info. Makes sense to me. No curb bashing or other damage. I might drive fast :eek: but I'm not crazy :rolleyes: I've probably only had 3 sets of tires on those wheels.

I've got 130K miles on my 8, and most of them probably on this set of wheels. I have another set with my stock tires on them, which are 10 years old. I think I'll ditch the stock tires and mount new tires on those rims and see what happens. I'll have them clean up the current wheels too. Thanks again!

Sounds like they are trying to take advantage of you, unless the wheels are damaged, do you have pictures of what they are referring to?

^^^ What he said.

It's not unheard of that dirt/contaminants can prevent a good seal at the bead or valve stem.

That said, if the bead has been damaged by tire installers, they might need more work to resolve the issue.

Well, if the end result was to get me to eventually buy new tires AND new wheels, the joke is on them. :yelrotflm But actually they have been pretty decent throughout this process. I just wanted to make sure I understood what they were talking about, and make sure there wasn't any quirky RX8 weirdness related to our stock wheels.

No, no pictures of the wheels back when I had to get air all the time. I WILL get pics of them this time though.

I'm going to talk to them about that when I go back for tires. From what I recall, this tire store was the one who installed the last 2 sets of tires on those wheels. Thankfully, I have the extra set of wheels.