Wheel bead seat corrosion

[brods]

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Anybody else have this problem and what did you do about it? I’ll try hitting them with some scotchbrite and see what happens.



Anybody have theirs repaired or restored and if so what was the cost? I was in a bind as the tire store had removed all the old tires and I needed the truck back that day. They then sold me wheels with the wrong offset. I would like to go back to the stock wheels if it will be cheaper than finding decent looking replacement wheels (ie plain, simple, stock like wheels) with the proper offset.



PS I tried searching the forum but for some reason can rarely get good results with this forum’s search feature. It is either every post ever made or no results at all, go figure.

 

[Bill Weber]

That looks like an aluminum wheel. How did you get that kind of corrosion? If the pits are as deep as they look they would have to be machined. But, might not leave much bead area left.

 

[brods]

Stock 05 aluminum wheel. What caused it? 110k miles living in the rust belt I guess. Stock tires were replaced around 60k with Toyos. Trying Nitto dura grapplers this time around. The truck wanders badly now. Likely a combination of the wrong offset wheels (ie changing the scrub radius) and a sloppy steering box made even worse by new tire squirm. Turns out a rim repair place is right around the corner from work so next week they can give an opinion on fixing them.

http://weldcraftwheels.com/

 

[rbattelle]

Wow, that is intense. Is that the inner or outer seat? It looks like really bad galvanic corrosion. What kind of tires were mounted on these rims? Do all four look like this?

-Ryan

 

[brods]

That is the inner bead and the worst part on that rim. All the rims have corrosion though I haven't had time to really check them out. Got the tires Thursday afternoon, installed new rotors and pads Thursday night and then drove 1,300+ miles Friday and Saturday. Stock tires were BFGs. Then 285/75R17 Toyo Open Country AT.

 

[JR]

Put a wire wheel on a grinder and clean them up. Youll have to be easy, dont use force bien theyre alum you can take more than just the corrosion off. Its hard to tell by the pics but Ive had wheels similar to that and cleaned them as mentioned and the tires sealed fine. I have a set of alum wheels on my toyota pickup that were pitting and losing clearcoat all over so i sandblasted the clear coat off bought an aluminum etching primer sprayed 2 coats of that and then sprayed em gloss black (all with an hvlp gun). So far theyve gone through 2 winters of salt in n. e. ohio and they still look real good. If you dont have access to a sandblaster you can use the wirewheel on the grinder its just time consuming.

 

[jelag]

The wheels are damaged beyond use... . putting them back in service with that corrosion is a failure waiting to happen. . All wheels are sealed with a process called vacuum impregnation..... its a way to seal the pores of the wheel, or for that matter, cylinder head, water pump or other aluminum casting... I can only assume that the process to seal the wheel was damaged and allowed the corrosive road chemicals into pores and the corrosion took hold...

I'm wondering if this is the inside of the wheel, where the road chemicals never got washed off... the side of the wheel that the tires were mounted from and the tire machine scrubbed off the protective coating... but the same side of all the wheels is the key to finding the cause...

Just my thoughts. .

 

[brods]

No way would they go back in service with the corrosion as is. Both bead seats of all four rims have corrosion. Besides the ice melt in the winter, I assume the anti dust crap they use on the dirt roads here in the summer helps dissolve our vehicles faster.

The local wheel shop said for $20 a wheel they would do a skim cut and sand the seats smooth. As for strength they said only a few thousands would be removed. Shrug. They recommend a self etching primer and top coat to prevent future corrosion before mounting the tires.

 

[rscurtis]

That looks like a lot more than a "few thousands" to me.

 

[Wygate]

Brods,
I had the same issues back when I lived in Northern Lower & DA UP eh. I recently re-did my 02 Liberty w/ ruff looking aluminum wheels. Wire wheel, good cleaning self etching primer and Rustolium "wheel" paint. May be snake oil, worked great and looks like powder coat. Pics if you want
Wygate

 

[JR]

Brods,

I had the same issues back when I lived in Northern Lower & DA UP eh. I recently re-did my 02 Liberty w/ ruff looking aluminum wheels. Wire wheel, good cleaning self etching primer and Rustolium "wheel" paint. May be snake oil, worked great and looks like powder coat. Pics if you want

Wygate

Agreed this isnt as bad a problem as some may think ive lived in the rust belt all my life and seen lots of corroded beads my buddy used to work at the tire center at sears it was pretty much a given for any older vehicles coming in with aluminum wheels that they were gonna have to buff the beads down they used an air grinder with a buffing wheel like what you would use to clean up gasket surfaces if it makes you feel better to pay the shop to do their thing than thats ok too but to be honest theyre not doing anything you couldnt take care of by wire wheeling them yourself.

 

[brods]

That looks like a lot more than a "few thousands" to me.

Lol, yeah I imagine the call from the wheel shop: “The pitting is deeper than we thought so we have to weld up the seats and then cut them down. That will cost more than a brand new set of wheels from the dealer, do you want us to continue?” Here is a shot of the wire wheeled bead seat followed with some 220 grit paper. Looks much better, but the pitting is still there.

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Wygate, diesel4life, what did you do for the pitting? Sand them out or just prime over them?







If a killer deal comes up on some new takeoffs:



1. Will oem steel wheel bead seats hold up better than the aluminum?

2. Are 2010 and up wheels the same dimensionally as 2003 to 2009 wheels?

 

[Wygate]

Prime, paint and mount. I have not had issues, cheaper than new, if they do leak. They do have "bead" glues, wouldn't go that route first though pain to de-mount and clean off when the time comes

 

[Wygate]

Forgot to answer the other questions
steel won't necessarily be a better choice, once the coating is breached (wheel weights) the crap gets in. Rust will even travel like a worm in wood, leaving trails under coatings
2010 and up are different style, bolt pattern is the same, don't know about back spacing

 

[Prairie Dog]

/\ I'd use that one in a heartbeat.

 

[JR]

Honestly brods id mount em and run em. Theyre not going to blow off your rim ive seen much worse believe me. Steel wheels ive heard do hold up a little better if your towing heavy all the time but like stated above if your not anal about taking care of em theyll go south pretty quick. In the end, you do what makes you comfortable but id be ok with mounting tires back on those rims and runnin them

 

[brods]

Thanks guys.

They cleaned up pretty easily. Going to get pricing on powder coating which should last longer than paint.

 

[GHarman]

We have Mag Chloride used on our roads in the Winter for deicing and Summer for dust control. That muck gets into and on everything.
IMHO, I'd use 'em with bead sealer! Unless your refinish process will blast the aluminum oxide off the rims and seal the aluminum immediately?
You will still have a porous oxide coating under the finished powder coating process.
As soon as that powder coating is damaged. You will see similar results as in your OP.
Having used aluminum rims on various vehicles over several decades. A wire brush cleaning is standard operating procedure when tires are mounted. If the bead seats are rough? Bead sealer is used.
GregH

 

[MChrist]

Our tire shop uses bead sealer, like GHarmon above mentioned. It's this black stuff that works well. Personally, I would use that and never give it a second thought.

 

[Wygate]

Our tire shop uses bead sealer, like GHarmon above mentioned. It's this black stuff that works well. Personally, I would use that and never give it a second thought.

Glad to hear that you guys have seen and use bead sealer, I never had, just herd bad things for road rigs, only herd of off road use.