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Leaking tire bead after tire change

23K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  ULEWZ 
#1 ·
OK, I have a question for those who change their tires themselves. I have changed about a dozen tires so far and was putting my corsas on today. The front went fine, no issues. The rear came off fine and went on ok except I had some trouble getting the beads to pop into place. I had to take it to the service station to use their air compressor. They settled in around 50 lbs or so and I never got the satisfying pop when they settled. They just sort of slid into position. Well, I didn't have the core in yet so I could force air in faster and when I got back home I started inflating the tires. I had sprayed soapy solution around to help the beads settle previously and while I was inflating the tire, I noticed a couple of areas of really fine bubbles along teh tire bead... Is this normal until I ride it? Is this a bead that hasn't set yet? Is there something wrong with thr tire? The rims were fine, I checked them over after removing the other tires. I have never sprayed the soap on while I was filling it so for all I know this is normal till you put weight and stress on and the beads fully settle. Suggestions? Thanks. :huh:
 
#3 ·
TGZ13 said:
My rear leaked a little bit till it settled in. I thought something was wrong with it but after a day or 2 of checking the pressure/refiilling it finally settled in and that was about 6k+ miles ago
Well, that makes me feel a little better... I was up all night with sick patients then spent the day in the heat screwing around with these tires... So I wasn't in the best of moods to begin with when I saw those bubbles...
 
#5 ·
Though it might be ok, I'm sure that's not normal for a bean to need time to settle.

I might take a mellow 25mph ride around the neighborhood at most. If that didn't stop it, I would just break the bead and try again. Even if it is a pain to re-do it. You need to make sure you have it right.
 
#9 ·
It is normal. I have changed a bunch of my own tires and they always leak around the bead for a little bit. It will usually go away after a short period of time. If you change your own tires then make sure you clean the bead occasionally to get out any caked on dirt and/or rubber gunk.
 
#10 ·
I have changed over 20 sets of tires and only had one leaker, and it was a Corsa. This happened just last week. I was quite concerned. I deflated the tire and unseated the bead, bounced the tire a few times. Made sure the bead was even all around, and refilled it with air. No leak this time. Must be a Corsa thing. BTW, no problems with regular diablos.
 
#12 ·
Well, as an update, whether or not this phenomenon is normal, the tires di great! Fantastic tires. No issues with pressures at all. The pressures had actually gone up when I checked them at home. They did great over the weekend. Thanks for the help.
 
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