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CVO Technical => Wheels/Tires/Suspension/Brakes => Topic started by: Rimjam on February 04, 2021, 08:30:21 PM
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My buddy has an '05 CVO Fatboy with Centerline wheels. Front tire began losing air. Replaced tire but it too lost air - almost 8 pounds per day. Gotta be the wheel, right? Couldn't find the leak even with wheel & tire sitting a plastic tote of water. Finally misted soapy water all over - bubbles revealed air coming from hub area. What the heck? Anyone have similar? What was the fix? We can't figure out how to take the wheel apart.
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So a porous casting? Rim strip and an innertube.
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So a porous casting? Rim strip and an innertube.
You're right, of course, about the quick, logical fix. I always assumed that Centerline wheels were a one piece casting, now I don't think so. With brake rotor removed different layers of metal can be seen thru the bolt holes, the outer rim is slightly magnetic, hub is not. At this point I guess it's more curiosity than anything else. Just thought someone had probably damaged a Centerline enough to see its makeup.
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Centerlines are something I've never torn up. Never a fan of solid wheels anyway so never ran them. If your description is accurate than the degradations that might come with time along with electrolysis could be a factor. Either way wouldn't be something that could be repaired. New wheel or stick a tube in it. Bummer.
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Back in the '70's when Cragar came out with the Super Trick solid face drag wheels they were two-piece and all of them leaked terribly. The opinion then was why use a lightweight wheel and tire if you had to use a tube. So Cragar supplied us (I worked for a stocking WD Warehouse) a case of unmarked tubes of what appeared to be silicone. We filled the gap in the bead area of the wheel with multiple layers of silicone (Mystery sealant) then used a paint brush dipped in paint thinner to spread it out somewhat evenly around the rim to about an inch from the bead on each side and filling the gap between the halves. Let it cure 48 hours and they never, to my knowledge, leaked again. I know the two we had on our car worked great for at least 3 years. Nowdays I would think 3M bonding adhesive or similar seam sealer product would work even better.