Thread: Discovery rim seals

Can you post a pic of the rims - later LR alloy rims have an extra safety section that supposedly prevents bead separation. I've been down to 8 psi on sand and dirt without problems. Mind you, that was with 31x10.5 and then 245/70 tyres, and I'm not the fastest 4wd around. It may be that you are pushing your car a little too hard- it seems that if 245/75 tyres behave the same way as your others, staun bead locks may be required.

I'll try and attach a copy regards

Originally Posted by barjop

Hi all,
I have a 98 Tdi Auto with 235/70/16 BFG AT's on & I have the mag wheels that came with the model.
I have found the tyre bead seal is not very good below 18psi.
Last year when travelling on the beaches at Robe I stripped 3 tyres from the rims 2 from the front and one from the rear I was lucky enough to reseat the tyre with a good compressor once the weight was taken off the tyre. The 1st time was due to faulty gauge 5psi out and when I thought I was running 15psi it was actually 10 front left. The second time the tyre came off at 15psi right rear, the third time I was at 18psi and had gone through at tight bumpy turn a bit fast front left again.
This week whilst travelling up the staircase in the high country, when I was climing the steps the tyre bead distorted & I could hear the whoosh of leaking air until the tyre reseated it's self.

Is this a common problem with disco's?
Would it be tyre or rim?
Is there an easy cheap way to fix this?

I am due for new tyres shortly and will be upgrading to 245/75 profile, will the wider profile help seat the tyre better to prevent this issue?

Any good ideas would be helpful.

Thanks in advance.

Disco rims have a different profile to most other brands which makes them harder to reseat without specialist tools. I have found that at low pressures it's not hard to break the seal. I too had a tyre go flat when doing going over some of the rockier entrances to Robe beaches (albeit at 11 psi) Otherwise, I've never had a problem although off road, I generally run between 20 and 25 psi and only go lower for short periods of time when it's required to regain traction.

Your tyres look like they have rim protectors on them and these are condusive to getting grit in between the rim and the tyre thereby causing slow leaks and the need to have the tyre reseated.

Thanks for the pic - Maybe keeping the alloys for on road and having a set of play wheels using steel disco rims would be a good idea.

Originally Posted by barjop

Hi all,
I have a 98 Tdi Auto with 235/70/16 BFG AT's on & I have the mag wheels that came with the model.

Snip

Is this a common problem with disco's?
Would it be tyre or rim?

I have had trouble with the BFG AT's with that rubber moulding that supposedly protects the rim.
I've found that it seems to channel mud and grit, allowing to get between the tyre and rim.
Since I swapped tyres, no more problems.

Originally Posted by Hymie

I have had trouble with the BFG AT's with that rubber moulding that supposedly protects the rim.
I've found that it seems to channel mud and grit, allowing to get between the tyre and rim.
Since I swapped tyres, no more problems.

Hmmm, interesting that you mention that, I've just had a slow leak repaired. It turns out that some grit had gotten between the tyre & bead. Tyres: BFG A/T.

Originally Posted by Bushwanderer

Hmmm, interesting that you mention that, I've just had a slow leak repaired. It turns out that some grit had gotten between the tyre & bead. Tyres: BFG A/T.

i run the same tyre and yes the problem with coming off the rim is that bead on the tyre, supposed to protect the rim.
all it does is force mud in between the bead and rim, i have had severe wheel balance problems due to that, and popped tyres off due to that rubber ridge.
not buying them again.

The above post was my experience with my own vehicle.
Working casually for a Tagalong tour operator I'm always looking a customers vehicles, at rest stops. It's an AJ thing called a Halt Parade Service.
The No 1 cause of slow leaks is grit in the rim and the No 1 culprit tyre is the BFG A/T. On a recent trip we had to drop pressures considerably for a long muddy uphill climb after getting caught in a Valley during a sudden storm.
It took 6 hours to travel 2 kilometers and involved over 16 snatch recoveries, I'm still twitching at the memory, anyhow I digress.
The trip home after reairing the customers tyres was interesting, 3 cars, BFG AT's, all had slow leaks and were seriously low at the next rest stop......
No other tyres had problems.
Just my observation for what it's worth.