small tire leak

[saon]

I built a body cart/jig.
so in the need to move it I bought 5 of the harbor freight big rubber tire casters. 3 swivel and 2 fixed.
i can roll it around now and move my project inside and outside perfectly.
but the cheap caster tires leak.
I picked up some slime, but having second thoughts
due to it saying it stays wet and will settle to the bottom.
whats anyone's alternative other than spending more money on different castors?
thanks

 

[Mick56]

What size are they? Can you put a tube in them?

 

[Bogie1632]

Where exactly is the leak? Hole in the tube? Valve leaking (not tight, bad valve core)? Wet it down with some soapy water. If it's not leaking at the valve stem I recommend removing the tube and inflating to find the leak.

If it's the tube they're easy enough to patch or replace. Slime only works if you let it get to the leak so finding that should be your first step. IMHO, slime ***** on tubes. Never seems to seal well so I just replace as needed and avoid the frustration.


Good luck.

V/R
Bogie

 

[toolin' around]

You use the plural, so sounds like it's more than one?
How old are they? Those things tend to perish if they're sitting in one spot for any length of time. I'm assuming you built it some time ago?
Depends on how much hassle to take them off and replace with HD tubes (check if it's the valves leaking first)... I'd be inclined to try the Slime first... I always used it in my wheel barrows etc... they always seemed to have soft synthetic tires and crappy tubes that would always pick up a Bougainvillea thorn or something similar... Slime extended their useful life for some time, then they'd eventually be replaced with a better tire and HD tube, but I would have still add some Slime if I had it at hand.

 

[kbs2244]

buy some new valves and caps at NAPA first

 

[Robby321]

Junk to begin with but "Slime" each one, roll around to spread...

 

[nadogail]

If they are tube type tires, put bicycle patches on the punctures.

 

[Kenstone1]

Slime has worked for me in both tubed/tubeless tires on small stuff like trailer dolly/wheel barrow/hand truck/etc.
But I cut the slime 50/50 with auto antifreeze.
Most anifreeze sold today is already 50/50 with water and that's what I use.
I've been doing that forever for dirtbike and bicycle tires, the anifreeze slows down the drying-out of the mix.
Check out the slime bubbles on the tires in these pics.

Pics are my stuff...

 

[like2wheel]

In my experience it's almost impossible to get a patch to stick on a Harbor Freight tube. They laugh at bicycle patches. I'm pretty sure they're made of Teflon. Or some sort of patch repelling ectoplasm.

Not worth the effort, slime is the only hope.

 

[BFBOB]

LiquiTube is better, but harder to find.

 

[saon]

sorry i had something else come up.
but thanks all, just a update.
they were 4.10/3.50-4 tires. I had 5 on the cart and 3 leaked.
I pulled them off and apart and was able to find new tubes at my local farm store. $5 each so not a bad price.
all seems well so far.
I built the cart prob 4 years ago I guess.
man time flies by!