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Rusty (yellowish) liquid coming from center of the both front wheels
- Thread starter Rigel
- Start date
fiehlsport
Tire Guy
Your aftermarket wheels are allowing water through the hub-cap, trapping it, causing rust, and the water is slowly seeping out. Did you pressure wash the wheels recently?
I know this area isn't meant to be water-tight even on factory wheels, but the aftermarket caps probably have a little more compliance and let water get in. It's typically dry in there, even throughout storms and winter slush.
Also, your wheel has 5-6+ ounces of balancing weights on it. That's terrible - indicative of a bad tire, bad wheel, or bad technician.
I know this area isn't meant to be water-tight even on factory wheels, but the aftermarket caps probably have a little more compliance and let water get in. It's typically dry in there, even throughout storms and winter slush.
Also, your wheel has 5-6+ ounces of balancing weights on it. That's terrible - indicative of a bad tire, bad wheel, or bad technician.
Mateo83
Active Member
andaconda
Active Member
Good catch. You might want to have that tire (match) balanced or (road force) balanced, which requires the tire to be broken from the rim and rotated one way or the other.
Yes, I do run it through the car wash, I sometimes spend a bit more time during the tire wash stage during the car wash. I will wipe it clean and watch for it again. Maybe I will tape it out so that water cannot go in.
Thanks for pointing that out! I had no idea what balancing weights are and I did a bit of reading. I am posting a bigger picture, and I am concerned that there are more balancing weights attached, I circled the parts that I think are balancing weights.
fholbert
Active Member
fiehlsport
Tire Guy
Yeah - that's a wild amount of weights! And that's only the face of the wheel, there could (Should, most likely) be another strip on the back too. Since it's a Michelin, I'm guessing it's the wheel that is wildly out of balance, or something was off during the mount/balance process.
Each tape weight section is 0.25oz. I'm seeing roughly 5-6oz total but the spokes hide a lot. For what it's worth, with a Michelin tire (They run very true and require little weight) and a Tesla wheel, I would expect 2oz or less on the inside and outside of the wheel.
Does it actually roll smooth at highway speed?? Usually only trucks require 3-4+ ounces of weight to balance out large or off-road tires.
I love it when there are no weights, or just .25-.5 oz on a rim. Unfortunately the tire manufacturers would probably call that 5-6 oz acceptable, but it needs to be match balanced or road forced. I had one of the 35” tires on my old Bronco come back with 15 ounces on it, the others were all 2-3 ounces. The tire shop manager argued up an down that it was normal and ok, it rode like ass and I made them swap the tire.
I counted about 22 of these balance weight, all in a row. This many balance weights are only on this wheel. The other three wheels also has them, but only few, like 3 to 8 balance weight (the 1/4 ounce) pieces. When its sunny tomorrow, I might take a closer look to make sure I see the whole wheel.
I did not noting much difference at highway speed. I thought it was going smooth. I will pay more attention next time to see.
So, what did I do? did I buy it from a tire store that is not as good? Or did they just wanted to avoid the work of removing the tire and balancing it again differently, to avoid placing this many balancing weights.
andaconda
Active Member
Yes. Or perhaps it is the tire. If it were me, I'd bring it back and complain. First thing to do is to break it down from the bead and rotate the tire on the rim. The balancer should let the tech know how much and which direction to rotate. Then try to re-balance. If the tire can't be balanced with a lot fewer weights, then the tire should be considered defective. Before retiring ten years ago, one of my jobs was to balance tires in our fleet, and I used a very expensive 'Match Balance' machine.
With that many weights, I would have a reputable tire shop look at the mag while it is spinning, I suspect that it is bent!
At the same time take a look at what is happening behind the mag as to try to identify the origin of the rusty water.
fiehlsport
Tire Guy
Yep - and I've noticed on some aftermarket wheels (and a few OE Tesla for that matter) they are cast out of round, so the face of the wheel spins slightly "oblong." The wheel is still "true" but the spokes aren't properly centered, so there is an imbalance before you even slap a tire on. It can usually be balanced out, but with this amount of weight it's a bit ridiculous to try.
The tire should have been spun 180, or the assembly match-mounted on a road force balancer to try to counteract this. Or maybe it was, and this is the best it can be.
If it rolls perfectly smooth at the speeds you drive though, it may not be worth investigating until you need a new set of tires or get a re-balance after 10-20,000 miles.
The tire should have been spun 180, or the assembly match-mounted on a road force balancer to try to counteract this. Or maybe it was, and this is the best it can be.
If it rolls perfectly smooth at the speeds you drive though, it may not be worth investigating until you need a new set of tires or get a re-balance after 10-20,000 miles.
