what do you guys use to seal wheels?

[kramerbuccs24]

As Jean-Paul Sartre said, when seeking advice you already know the answer, you're just looking for someone else to say it.





Studying for philosophy while being on the forumz is a bad idea

[BreakMyWallet]

i might just take em to the guy in this thread. hes semi local and hell do it for free. haha

http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/wheels-tires/170266-best-way-seal-3-piece-bbs-rss.html

its like 2 hours away. but maybe ill just do it myself for the experience,

i basically just bolt the wheel together and then seal the mating surfaces together, right?

[Tuck&Poke]

did you remove the tire? If you just pulled the faces off then you dont have to re-seal them, they're not going anywhere. It you took the tire off and you dont have easy access to mount and dismount tires then i would reseal them.

[BreakMyWallet]

damn. i can take the faces off without taking the tires off? haha

[BreakMyWallet]

bump for the question above^

[Tuck&Poke]

well if the two barrels mount together and then the face mounts on top then yes, you can take the face off without taking off the tire.

[BreakMyWallet]

ah wtf! im taking the rest apart tomorrow then.

so when i take the face off, the barrel will be held together strictly by the sealant. the pressure from the tire wont affect it?

[Tuck&Poke]

the sealant and the tire beads will keep it together. You can air it out or keep it inflated, its not going to affect anything

[mpv]

if you can pull the faces out either top mount or bottom mount then all you need to do is deflate the tires. This will remove all the pressure from the sealant, then you can just put faces back in and bolt back together without taking the tires off and without having to reseal.

If they are like rs's and are sandwich mount then there is no way you can get the faces out without poping the seal which means you will have to reseal them. I use rtv black silicone from permatex. You can find it at most automotive supply stores, you will need a cocking gun to apply. What I do is assemble the wheels and then where all 3 surfaces come together I apply a thick layer of silicone making sure it covering all 3 surfaces and then I let it cure for about 12 hours before having the tires remounted

[BreakMyWallet]

thanks for the info fellas!

[BreakMyWallet]

so just to clarify, you 100% NEED to remove the tires. haha. slowly started splitting one the face was off.

anyone know if i can still remove the tire without the face attached?

[SeeClass]

Yes, you can remove the tire without the face attached. Just make sure you BOLT the lips to the barrels before taking the tire off. The tire machine never touches the centers anyways so it should be a problem.

[BreakMyWallet]

alright so i sealed one of the wheels, and its already dry, is it a good idea to go over it again for good measure.

there is excess sealant around the crease, should that be cleaned up? will it matter at all?

[BreakMyWallet]

oh and the wheels that i took apart:

if the sealant wasnt detached, should i just go over top of it with another small pass of sealant?

i highly doubt the seal was broken, its on there pretty well.

[Mike S]

When I took the centers out of my wheels to have them powder coated, I left the lips and barrels stuck together by the old silicone. Then, when the tires were mounted and I drove on them for a few days, the front wheels began to leak air and would go flat after 30 mins or so.

I had the tires removed and then ground out all the old silicone with a dremel, cleaned the surface with solvent and resealed them with a small bead of GE Silicone 3. Giving the silicone 24 hours to cure and then applied a second bead to same way. I never took the wheels completely apart. Only removed what was smeared across the lip and barrel and then applied new silicone.

Also, when you purchase the silicone, be sure to check the "USE BY" date. The first cartridge I bought was 6 months out of date and didn't cure. I let it sit for a week and it stayed as wet as it did when it was first applied.