needs new rims?

T

tommiswizzle

Registered
We have a 97 mark III with about 78k miles on it. It's been parked since December, due to air ride system going out. We have just ordered parts to fix that, but 2 of the tires have routinely been going flat (drivers rear and passenger front). A friend of a friend works at a tire store chain says it's because the rims are getting old, and need to be replaced. Does that make sense? Is that common for this car? We bought the car a year and a half ago, and haven't replaced the tires, but they are in decent shape. They are good, high performance tires, but I couldn't tell you what brand/model they are, as car is parked at our friends house right now.
 
I wouldn't say this is common for the Mk VIII wheels. I too have a '97 and it's got about 120k on it and I've never had the problem. Don't recall ANYONE on this site having the problem either.

BTW, welcome to the LOD. There's a lot of good info about your car here.
 
I would say YES, this is common when the chrome on the rim corrodes and stops the tire from keeping its "bead" on the rim. Very common on the chrome 10 spokes :)

If the rims still look good on the outside, I'd have your friend remove the tire, and than take a wire brush/wire wheel on a drill and buff all the crud off so the tire will seal. If all else fails...talk to Jaime(check for sale forums) and he'll have some used factory rims for you.
 
corrosion on the bead is common on all kinds of rims. You rarely have to replace the rim because of it, though. Most tire places have a fixture that holds the rim and cleans it with a wire brush. That usually does the trick.
 
If you can't get the shop to seal the tire on the rim - you most likely need a new shop, not a new rim. Lazy shops will not even buff the corrosion and old rubber from the edge of the rim nor lube the bead of the tire - they just throw it on the tire machine and push pedals.
 
So true, JP. It seems these days no one will do a job RIGHT anymore. Everyone wants to go as fast as they can and collect the $ as IF it was done right! Guess that's why I'm still working on my own vehicles at age 67 1/2 !!
 
I've got a bad rim leak on one of my chrome 10 spoke wheels. I need to dismount it and clean/seal it up.

I also had a leak with one of my "winter" snowflake wheels. When I took the tire off I saw that the wheel was horribly corroded. I also noticed it was a mis labeled junkyard wheel. I cleaned it up with a Scotch brite pad on an air grinder.

Here's a photo after I cleaned the bead up:

junkyardwheel.jpg
 
I've taken the car in to 2 different tire places, one is a large chainstore tire place, the other is a local place.

Tire chain place took off a tire, saw the corrosion and said well there's nothing we can do, but we do sell wheels!

Local place heard my predicament, said Fords/Lincolns are notorious for that problem. They COULD take a brush to it, and put in a sealant, and that COULD make it better, but it could also make it worse, or do nothing at all. He went on to mention that his dad in fact owned a Lincoln, and had the same problem. He tried brushing it out, but his dad ended up with new rims anyway. I COULD pay up to $20 a wheel for them to do the brushing, which may or may not work.

Right now I'm refilling at least 2 of my tires about every 4 days. I'm not sure if I should keep trying different places, or just buy new wheels. I've recently spent nearly $1k on new front suspension and various other regular maintenance things, and I'm pretty darn broke right now.
 
How 'bout it guys...we got anyone in Oregon where this guy can get a fair shake?? Sounds like all his retailers are in it for themselves, not the customer!!
 
tommiswizzle said:
Girl, actually :wink:
Click to expand...

Thats what I was going to say :D *Tail Light Issue*

Talk to Jamie.....he sells Mark 8 parts and will have what you need. You can buy 1 or 2 rims from him and take your car back to the tire place and have them swap your tires onto the new(er) rims. And you'll be good to go!

Plus you won't have to spend $1k+ on new rims/tires.

Lincoln Auto Parts 727-485-8455 or 727-365-1769
Specializing in 93-98 Mark VIII's
We also service Mark VIII's
42160 US 19 N Tarpon Springs FL
 
costs about 12 bucks to ship one wheel, not expensive at all, when they have tires on them still, thats a different ball game. only wheels i have are snow flakes though.
 
Buds old school, 12 bucks goes a looong way, lmao :D J/K

When you ship a rim individually, its super cheap. Just don't do what I did and ship all 4 at a time...right Jamie?! Cost me 90 bucks!
 
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