Guys:
I'm having the most stupid problem that I think I've ever faced with my Tiger.
I took the wheels (original LAT 70s) into a tire shop last Friday to get them
balanced as I was experiencing a bit of steering wheel and cowl shake. I
figured that, since my tires were Michelin XWXs that were about 12 years old,
this would be the logical place to start. I went to a shop that came highly
recommended as the place go to get the best balancing work done. They have
all the latest Hunter computer balancing equipment available and, after seeing
what all they could do to balance a wheel, I came away most impressed.
My good impression quickly turned sour, however, the next day when I went out
to the garage to test drive the Tiger. All four tires had about 10 lbs of air
in them. I re-aired the tires and went back out on Sunday and, viola, I found
the same damn situation. I took the wheels off today and made a return trip
to the wheel shop. They put them in the dunk tank and, sure enough, there
were air bubbles coming up from around the clip-on wheel weights. They pulled
the clip-on weights off, rebalanced the wheels using stick-on weights on the
back of the wheel, and I went on my merry way. Still fairly wary, however, I
did not re-install the wheels on the car and take it off the stands. Instead,
I opted to just let the tires and wheel sit and, after dinner tonight, I went
out there to check the air pressure. I'll be damned if they were all down
about 4 to 5 lbs in just a matter of about 7 hours!!!
What in the world is going on here? An inflatable doll holds air better than
these stupid things (uh...er...at least, that's what I've been told...)!!
I've done the "spit" test on the valve stems and determined that there are no
leaks there. Admittedly, my tires are old but is it feasible that all four of
them at one time could have damaged beads? I saw the equipment that they used
to break the bead of the tire from the wheel and it never even touched the
tire bead. Is this kind of problem common with old tires or is it something
peculiar with the LAT 70s? Do I just need to get some new tires or never go
back to that tire shop?
In the immortal words of the Beatles......HELP!!!!!
Thanks in advance,
Andy Walker
B382001600LRXFE
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