Opinions on tire slime?

Hopefully it is a course on distributing the CCC's

I've heard that the tire repair folks are not that happy to run into it. But have no first hand experience with it.

I've used it in tractor tires, and lawn equipment tires, never a truck tire. Not too much of a mess, but does have to be cleaned up eventually when you change the tire...

I've used it for all types of vehicles. First thing is to have the tire broken down, cleaned, rim cleaned, remounted, and see if that fixes it. Slime is meant as a preventative, and not as a fixit. It's just to help with small leaks, and not big ones. But it does help. It's better to just get the tire fixed. I had an ATV tire that I put air into for SIX YEARS! They run at such low pressures, I could air it up, and it was good for a week. Finally, it started leaking faster, so I took it in. It was the valve stem. My local store is great, and they fixed it FOR FREE. Was I stupid to wait for six years or what? (yes) I like it because it gives me a little extra if I do get a small leak, but as any truck owner knows, it's good to keep track of those tires, keep them properly inflated, and if one is acting up, find out why instead of waiting till your doing 75 on the Interstate. If they're working right, they don't leak at all.

MHO, YMMV.

Steve

Heart surgery pending? Read up and prepare. Learn how to care for a friend. http://cabgbypasssurgery

So how much will filling the tire with nitrogen instead of regular air (~78% N2) affect the leak. Is the leak small enough that the larger N2 molecules won't pass through? Is it worth the $5-10, or whatever small dollar amount it is, to test it? I'm asking because I don't honestly know.

Hmmm.... just putting the N2 percentage up there, makes me think that if the O2 leaks out and the tire is flat, the N2 probably leaked out too. Duh..... sorry,

FMB (North Mexico)

Is he actually putting O2 in it or air?

No effect. Nitrogen is a marketing ploy to increase profits and offers absolutely no advantage for street tires.

Tells the whole story. Fine if you are driving in a nascar race, totally bogus to sell it for street use.

Well, say the 'smaller' O atoms were leaking out, then you're going to have a tire filled with basically pure nitrogen. Replenish the air, and again the O leaks out. Continue and you have a free nitrogen fillup!

Actually all 'free' oxygen is paired (o2) which affects this filter/loss factor.

(sorry, could not resist! )

It's all the same. Gas in a pressurized container. Compromise the seal, and the gas goes out the compromise. I have heard a lot of people who swear by nitrogen. You'd have to own a tank, or pay what the man wants to keep your tires at 100%, and not every town has a tire store that uses nitrogen. So, if you add ANY air, you've changed the mixture.

Steve

Heart surgery pending? Read up and prepare. Learn how to care for a friend.

Thanks. I had never heard a comparison, or a good impartial analysis of N2 vs compressed air. Knowing what I know about gases, there IS slight differences in some ways, but not really related a whole lot to tires, tire pressure, or driving. It would be costly, one would have to buy a $300 tank and regulator then have the tank filled occasionally for about $100, and be able to find a nitrogen fill station in a hurry when one had a leak.

Steve

Heart surgery pending? Read up and prepare. Learn how to care for a friend.

In the periodic chart, the molecular weights are

N 7 O 8 CO2 22

The "rare" gases that make up .03% of the mix are heavy, but really not measurable.

So, the nitrogen molecule is actually the smallest, and would leak out faster than the O2. But the size of the hole would be like comparing how hard it is for a chicken versus a mouse versus a turkey versus a horse versus a pig to escape through a fully open barn door. The hole is going to be infinitely larger than any of the molecules.

Steve

Heart surgery pending? Read up and prepare. Learn how to care for a friend.

Slow leak in one tire. Maybe a pound or two every two days. I'm in

Thanks. I do plan to have the tire fixed, but cannot until training is completed, and I'm getting tired (excuse the pun) of filling that tire every few days... I'll slime it and hope it'll hold until I can get it fixed properly.

jmc

Amen!! Go to the head of the class!

Mike

I put slime into my yard tractor tire, and it only slowed the leaking rim bead so instead of being flat after two days, it went flat in three days.

When I broke down the bead, and wire brushed both sides, wiped them down with soapy water, and filled the tire with air, it has lasted over a year, so far!

Slime sucks and is too gooey for me to ever consider again, being that putting it in took longer than the entire break down and clean up of the bead!

Just like other tire sealants, they work for tiny teensy leaks, for a short time. A real repair takes 15 minutes, and lasts the life of the tire.

Those are Atomic Numbers. Except the CO2, for which you added the Atomic Numbers of a C and two Os to arrive at "22" which means nothing.

Ah, their benefits are immeasurable!

Nitrogen is bigger. Atoms actually can become smaller and smaller as the atomic number increases. More protons, more electrons, more binding force --> more densely compacted atom... until the outer shell becomes filled, and another is needed for the next electron. Then, , it's bigger.

Maybe there's no hole. Rubber is permeable.

"It is often mistakenly assumed that "molecular size" correlates directly with "molecular weight". O2 does have a greater molecular weight (32) than N2 (28), but O2 is actually smaller in size. Thus, O2 fits through the relatively tight passage ways between polymer chains in the rubber more easily than does N2."

Well said. Or you can put up with it for six years like I did.

Steve

How old are your tires? The braking shudder could be your tires. I have experienced it on three separate vehicles that when the tires were worn to a certain point, they started to make it feel like the brakes were warped. After replacement of bunk sets of tires on two cars, the problem disappeared.

I had a tire fail internally after emergency stopping in traffic.. I thought the axle was bent... driving along I felt a "whomp whomp whomp"... after I looked at the tire, it was obvious what happened (belts broke inside and tread had a cartoon-like bulge in it).

didn't notice this line before.... if you were wheelin' in mud, then your wheel shudder/braking shudder could definitely be caused by dirt/ mud/clay/etc. trapped on the inside of your wheels. The only way to truly clean all of it is to remove the wheels and scrub them.