New RV - Leaking Tire

[Boxy]

Hi All,
Picked up our brand new rig a few weeks back and noticed one tire losing pressure about 4 psi per week.
Seems like a hidden defect to us. Nothing that would have been noticeable at pickup or even shortly after.
Dealer claims there is no warranty for tires.
What do y'all think?

[divey]

A dealer worth his/her salt would have said "there's no warranty on tires but seeing as how you just bought it and in the interest of good customer service, let us flip it off the rim and back on to see if perhaps the bead wasn't set or perhaps have a bad valve stem."

The response you received however, appears to be par for the course for most (but definitely not all) dealerships.

[Papa-T]

Have you checked to see where it’s leaking. You could’ve picked up a nail on the way home. Get a spray bottle, put some water in it and squirt some dish detergent in the bottle and shake it up. Jack the wheel off the ground so you can spin it. Start spraying the crap out of it as you very slowly turn the tire. If you see bubbles you have your leak. If nothing is leaking on the tire itself start spraying the edge of the rim and around the valve stem. If it is a nail, don’t pull it out. Take the tire and wheel off and take it to any tire place and they can plug it, or replace the valve stem or remount it. Also, plugs will usually last the life of the tire. Let us know what you find out.

[Aceallenk]

Sounds like a good opportunity to jack it up and take the tire off to see you have all the right gear to do a tire change. Maybe you have a typical piece of Chinese junk and you'll be doing yourself a favor before it decides to tear the side of your trailer off. If there brand new and chinese junk see if you can exchange them for 4 Goodyear Endurance, steel high pressure valve stems, and a balance on all 4. Leave those worries behind when your trying to get to a camp site. Sometimes warranty isn't wort the trouble, if there just replacing the problem with more junk for the next trip down the road...

[rcflyer]

If you replace the valve stems I would suggest going with all metal stems in case you decide to go with a TPMS in the future.

[DavisK]

Good suggestion from Papa-T. I would also add that if you still can't find the leak, take the valve cap off and spray the soapy water on the schrader valve. Sometimes the valve cores leak. You will be lucky if that is the problem because that's the easiest to fix. You just unscrew the core and screw a new one in.

[sjk1998]

I would recommend removing the China bomb tires that came on the unit and purchase five new good quality tires with metal valve stems before you have a blowout and cause damage to you new RV.

[Bchaisson]

Originally Posted by Boxy

Hi All,
Picked up our brand new rig a few weeks back and noticed one tire losing pressure about 4 psi per week.
Seems like a hidden defect to us. Nothing that would have been noticeable at pickup or even shortly after.
Dealer claims there is no warranty for tires.
What do y'all think?

Check rim, had pin hole and would not fix so had to buy new 300.00 one.

[Kamper Dave]

Hopefully the dealer checked to make sure it wasn't a cracked rim.

[TerryH]

Originally Posted by Boxy

Hi All,
Picked up our brand new rig a few weeks back and noticed one tire losing pressure about 4 psi per week.
Seems like a hidden defect to us. Nothing that would have been noticeable at pickup or even shortly after.
Dealer claims there is no warranty for tires.
What do y'all think?

Had one tire on a van that would do that, lose 5-10/week if driven, TPMS alarm every 2-3 days if driven daily, but lose nothing if not driven, tire shop found no leak, finally I over-inflated 5-10-PSI, (guess it finally seated different?), but have not put air in it in 2-3-months now, has stayed at rated pressure. I may ask for a RIM seat inspection/ wire brush NEXT time tire is rotated/ changed? Wore me out for a while :-)