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Old 07-27-2014, 09:59 AM
Air&Road Air&Road is offline
Posting since Jan 2000
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 7,166
Use an old spray or squeeze bottle of some kind and mix some water and a little bit of dish washing soap. Inflate the tire and spray the mixture all around and look for bubbles. Check the valve stem and core first. If the core is leaking you probably can just tighten it up. Check all around the bead and everywhere.

Don't assume a leak because you can't find it elsewhere.

If the soap shows the leak around the valve stem and it needs to be changed, you will need to break the bead. Not an easy task without a tire machine. If you can find an old fashion bumper jack and something to lift with it, set the base on the bead with the valve core removed and you can break the bead and push it down enough at the valve stem to cut the old one out and pull a new lubricated one in place. You will need to lubricate the bead before seating it. Most any compressor will make enough pressure to seat the bead if the tire properly fits the wheel with the correct tire and wheel widths.

If the problem is only the valve core, just screw in another.

Be warned that even WITH a tire machine this hard work. With a bumper jack or some other makeshift equipment, it's a back breaking job.

When I was a teenager with no money I changed tires all the time with nothing but a bumper jack and a bumper jack handle. It was the only way I could keep my old 48 Chevy drivable.

I would expect that a tire store would charge less than ten bucks to take care of this.

Hope this helps.
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Last edited by Air&Road; 07-27-2014 at 01:43 PM.
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