These wheels here, Keystone Raiders 14x8 from the 1980's have 5 holes drilled into the outer/face trim ring area - the new tire went flat after mounting, what were the 5 holes for? I've seen other 14x8 Raiders that don't have any holes drilled...were there trim rings at one time screwed on to the rims to keep the rings from flying off at the strip? Was it popular to drill screws into the tire to keep it from flying off the rim? What can I do to keep the air in the rim? I can't find any trim rings for Keystone mags that have 5 holes in them... Thanks Moparts members TGIF!

drilled for slicks

Those holes shouldn't make the tire go flat if they are around the outside lip of the rim. It sounds like the tire didn't seat tightly against the rim. Try squirting a light coat of dish soap around the between the rim and tire and then re-inflate it to about 45 lbs. Let it sit a while and then lower the pressure to normal. How about a picture so we can see where the holes are. If they are too far toward the center of the rim then an inner tube could save the rim for use. If you go that route put some tape over the holes from the inside of the wheel.

Camera isn'tworking good today...maybe can see though. Thanks for your time & interest to help me out today.

Pic #2

Yes those are drilled for slicks as mentioned....and the bead of the tire should still seal around it.

You can weld up the holes if need be though as well.. I've had it done on some aluminum wheels in the past then ground up and repolished them. But most of the time it is not worth the expense to do that. Especially if those wheels are a steel outer with an aluminum center, since the outers will be chrome of course that is. Little hard to tell in the pic if they are steel or aluminum outers?


Other option if they still do leak of course, is to run tubes. You could have the tires pulled and check for small cracks, or if the drilled holes have any metal sticking out the back side at all which would keep the tire from seating correctly against the bead.

I'm pretty sure those are steel rims welded to aluminum centers.

They really should seal, the holes are outside the bead area as noted above.

I'd not try to weld. I'd use some JB Weld and see if that worked. Welding around the chrome is going to be tricky. But the real answer is that the holes aren't in a place to make a difference, unless the drill bit nicked the bead area.

R.

get some soapy water, and drizzle it around the beads, and the valve stem. you might have a cut stem, or the insert in the stem might be loose. guessing you have issues with only one tire, so i'd soap it up, and look for bubbles.