Tire losing air--but only if its at the front-driver-side position - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

chriskohtc · 01-26-2010, 01:30 AM

I rotate my tires every 6000miles. However, no matter which specific tire it may be, the tire that gets to be on the Front Driver Side position will ALWAYS leak air. I've observed this over three different tires, with all three tires leaking air once its at the Front-Driver Side position.

What could be the problem? I typically pump my tires up to 36psi and after 2 days, THAT SPECIFIC TIRE will be down to 30psi--with the remaining three still at approx 36psi. So far I've been re-pumping that tire every morning. Any ideas what could be causing this issue?

DjiNN · 01-26-2010, 02:14 AM

maybe something is rubbing against the tire which causes a gap between the wheel and the tire, which causes it to leak air?

BobNYState · 01-26-2010, 11:28 AM

two words BEAD SEALER either the tire is not seating correctly when you turn the wheel letting slight amoounts of air out or when you park is your tire touching something that causes it to lose some air like if you touch the curb hard it could cause a little gap in the bead somewhere?

AlaricD · 01-26-2010, 12:50 PM

If you're rotating the tires, but not the rims, then it's quite obviously a bent rim, or possibly the valve stem.

I'm not sure who would dismount the tires from the rims for the purposes of rotation, though, unless it's a super-fancy car where the rims are designed for their specific position (yet all four tires are the same size).

chriskohtc · 01-26-2010, 01:06 PM

My tires are rotated at Discount Tire.

I think they rotate BOTH tire and rim together. But what I found strange was that the front left tire would always lose air (be it before, or after the rotation).

Could it be a pre-existing bead leak that is made worse just because its now at the front of the FWD car?

AlaricD · 01-26-2010, 01:49 PM

It's almost certain that they do rotate the entire wheel assembly, rather than dismount and remount the tires.

Perhaps it's something in the TPMS -- if the TPMS sensors are wheel specific (so it can alert as to what wheel has low pressure), then maybe one of them is letting air out slowly. (Assuming you have TPMS, obviously.)

chriskohtc · 01-26-2010, 09:18 PM

Nope, cannot be TPMS. Car doesn't have that. I'll go to Discount Tire and see what they say.