Rust/pitting inside tubed rims

[pfillery]

Stripped the tyres and tubes of my S3 spare rims. They were both old tyres with no air in the tubes and had been sitting outside. Rather a lot of pitting in the inside of the rim and no rust band like other tubed tyres I've seen before.

The tyre place seemed to think they would be cactus and not usable, they suggested sandblasting them and seeing what they were like but that they wouldn't use them. Mostly it was on a rim that was narrower than the others and has a different number so I won't be using it, and mostly in the inner groove (where the rivets are) so not sure how much contact the tube has with this part. They also suggested that all rims on the car would be the same inside.

My questions are should there be a rust band of any type, will pitting make the rims unusable assuming they are cleaned and painted inside and how likely is there to be bad rust and pitting on a rim either kept in the car as a spare or on the vehicle in regular use? Is there a product better than standard paint or killrust that is good for painting inside rims that will help fill in any pitting but won't effect the tube?

Very general questions I know, but I'm trying to ascertain if replacement rims are the best option, I don't want to use a sub standard rim on a vehicle doing 500km a week.

[wrinklearthur]

Hi Pfillery

As the price of second hand rims is quite low, I would think that to sand blast your rim in your case, would not be worth the expense.

For argument sakes, if you was restoring a vehicle that the wheels were hard to find, then, I'd go to the trouble of restoring those rims.

Use a flapper wheel on your electric drill to clean up any small patches of rust and spray the inside of the rim with some pressure pack, black acrylic paint (dries quick) , that will then seal the rim from any more trouble from rust.

It is important to clean any rust out, as the rust come off, the flakes have sharp edges to them and will cause punctures in the tube as the tyre flexes.

PSI = pounds per square inch, so what ever pressure your are running in your tyre that is the load pushing on the inside wall of that tyre in a square, one inch by one inch.

Cheers Arthur

[Dougal]

Every steel tractor rim I've changed tyres on has rust through it. Sometimes bad enough that a digger is needed to punch the tyre off the bead.

I simply grind/brush it the rust off, use cold-galv paint to treat it and back together it goes.
Even the worst rim I've seen doing this hadn't lost enough metal to consider it scrap.

[pfillery]

Hi Pfillery

As the price of second hand rims is quite low, I would think that to sand blast your rim in your case, would not be worth the expense.

For argument sakes, if you was restoring a vehicle that the wheels were hard to find, then, I'd go to the trouble of restoring those rims.

Use a flapper wheel on your electric drill to clean up any small patches of rust and spray the inside of the rim with some pressure pack, black acrylic paint (dries quick) , that will then seal the rim from any more trouble from rust.

It is important to clean any rust out, as the rust come off, the flakes have sharp edges to them and will cause punctures in the tube as the tyre flexes.

PSI = pounds per square inch, so what ever pressure your are running in your tyre that is the load pushing on the inside wall of that tyre in a square, one inch by one inch.

Cheers Arthur

I've been trying to track down a couple of rims or a good set but haven't found it too easy. Even if I could find a couple of wheels with ok tyres to throw on the car temporarily while I strip 2 and fit new tyres. Haven't had a lot of luck so far. I take it that as long as the surface is reasonably smooth and has no chunks of rust that it should be ok?

[pfillery]

Every steel tractor rim I've changed tyres on has rust through it. Sometimes bad enough that a digger is needed to punch the tyre off the bead.

I simply grind/brush it the rust off, use cold-galv paint to treat it and back together it goes.
Even the worst rim I've seen doing this hadn't lost enough metal to consider it scrap.

My worry would be that a tractor tyre and tube is much heavier than a series tyre and tube and is also not travelling at the same speed.

[Craigb]

Just another product worth considering to seal the surface after cleaning off the rust is KBS coatings. I have used POR15 in the past on all sorts of rusted surfaces and had great results - tremendous adhesion and was only watching one of those channel 44 shows (cruizin i think) where the guy is hitting the paint with a hammer and not damaging it. KBS is an australian version of the POR15 and these guys were saying it was better. Not cheap at around $100 per litre, but one can goes a very long way and lasts well if you put plastic over the can before the lid goes back and hide it in the back of the fridge where it wont annoy the wife....... until she cleans it out and says "do you still need this horrible can!" I must have had my can well over 5 years. Let me know if that doesnt make sense but if you google KBS i am sure all will be revealed.

[wrinklearthur]

I've been trying to track down a couple of rims or a good set but haven't found it too easy. Even if I could find a couple of wheels with ok tyres to throw on the car temporarily while I strip 2 and fit new tyres. Haven't had a lot of luck so far. I take it that as long as the surface is reasonably smooth and has no chunks of rust that it should be ok?
Hi Pfillery

Couple of ways we can help on this forum, can you tell us some details of your bus ?
Include your Land Rovers, serial number, body type, year, and wheelbase.
The other thing is, the serial numbers that are on the rims.

You never know your luck, as I'm sure that someone, could have a couple to loan you, but they need to know what type or size of wheel they are dealing with.

Cheers Arthur

[Dougal]

My worry would be that a tractor tyre and tube is much heavier than a series tyre and tube and is also not travelling at the same speed.

Neither really matter. If the rim is sound, it's sound. How much metal have you actually lost to rust?

[GuyG]

I've been trying to track down a couple of rims or a good set but haven't found it too easy. Even if I could find a couple of wheels with ok tyres to throw on the car temporarily while I strip 2 and fit new tyres. Haven't had a lot of luck so far. I take it that as long as the surface is reasonably smooth and has no chunks of rust that it should be ok?

I'm a bit surprised by this comment as I didn't think that it could be much easier than receiving a pm the day after a wanted add was posted advising of a set of 5 series/defender rims in Brisbane. Our phone conversation confirmed that they appear to be the same as what is fitted to the car and I have walked up the street to check against a series landy - the rims look the same to me.

Thats got to be easier than driving to Jimboomba or the coast to collect them or even having to get them freighted.

[pfillery]

I'm a bit surprised by this comment as I didn't think that it could be much easier than receiving a pm the day after a wanted add was posted advising of a set of 5 series/defender rims in Brisbane. Our phone conversation confirmed that they appear to be the same as what is fitted to the car and I have walked up the street to check against a series landy - the rims look the same to me.

Thats got to be easier than driving to Jimboomba or the coast to collect them or even having to get them freighted.

I did actually send you an email about this last week. I'll find it in my sent items and resend.

[pfillery]

Neither really matter. If the rim is sound, it's sound. How much metal have you actually lost to rust?

Not much really, the second rim they stripped which was a different rim number and narrower by about half an inch (hence no good on this vehicle) was a lot worse. There was some minor flaking rust and some pitting maybe 2mm deep in places. I hit the inside and outside of the rim with the gerni to clean the flaking parts off and will whack over it with a rotary wire brush and see what it's like. My concern is that the tyre place seemed to think it was going to cause problems but admittedly it is not as bad as they would have first thought (like all these things, once you clean them up)