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PT Cruiser Tires and Wheels

67 messages,  Last post on Mar 07, 2013 at 7:03 PM

You are in the Chrysler PT Cruiser Maintenance & Repair Forum.

What is this discussion about? Chrysler PT Cruiser, Tires, Wheels, Wagon

Messages Page 4 of 7

#29 of 67 Re: Air loss in Front tires of my 2002 PT Cruiser! [lspringerf] by roosters940

Oct 24, 2008 (1:36 pm)

Replying to: lspringerf (Oct 24, 2008 12:55 pm)
It's not your TIRES! It's the damned chromed wheels that are causing the problems. They pit and lose their seal with the tires, thus enabling air to escape. I've had this problem six times in the past two/three years. Thank goodness I have a replacement warranty purchased from Just Tires so my repair is covered. We should make Chrysler respond to these problems as the guys at my Just Tires say they know about this defect.
 
Jesse

#30 of 67 Re: Air loss in Front tires of my 2002 PT Cruiser! [roosters940] by tedebear

Oct 24, 2008 (2:55 pm)

Replying to: roosters940 (Oct 24, 2008 1:36 pm)
I've had to deal with the air leak on my wife's 03 GT Cruiser with chrome wheels. NTB ended up sanding the rim bead area and adding a sealer along the bead. This solved the problem for three of the wheels.
 
The other one was so bad from the chrome flaking off the wheel had to be replaced. Fortunately, I had a spare chrome wheel I purchased on eBay several years ago and they swapped it out. No more leaks for now.

#31 of 67 Wheel source? by lamronh49

Nov 22, 2008 (3:09 pm)

We have not (knock-knock) had the leakage problems other complain of. We do have a dented rim and need a replacement or replica for a 2001 16" chrome w/o dimples. Does anyone know a source for under 200 bucks? Wheel prices are absurd.

#32 of 67 Re: PT Cruiser Tire/Wheel Questions [pf_flyer] by yale329

Dec 24, 2008 (6:12 pm)

Replying to: PFFlyer@Edmunds (Oct 14, 2006 7:55 am)
Along with my list of pt issues, My 2005 pt rims were leaking at after 2 years. Ruined all tires due to constant air pressure loss. That is when you get a radial shift and tires become toast and you get a shimmy, or separatiation of thread. Chrysler Dealer refurbished them under warranty, but I had to bitch loads before they did. Any wheel repair shop should be able to turn and refinish them. Also, had wheel weights put on the inside of the rim, for the lead weights corrode the finish and start chapping. So far after a year of cold and salt roads, all is okay. Seal the tiree beads also. Good luck.

#33 of 67 Pt Tires Poor, Rims leaking by yale329

Dec 24, 2008 (6:21 pm)

My 2005 rims neede returning at about 48,000 klms. All tires were apparently sparated. A chrysler service tech told me cheap cars, cheap tires. Wheel repairs and turning is about 200 bucks apiece canadian. Warrenty paid for the rims, but if you must, buy your tires elswhere. wayne

#34 of 67 Re: PT Cruiser Tire/Wheel Questions [wissler] by redwagon5

Dec 26, 2008 (11:53 am)

Replying to: wissler (Mar 18, 2007 7:38 am)
Sorry,Brother.
You have the pothole blues...
It seems as tho Our friends at Goodyear,have made these low profile,tires
today with[soft sidewalls]so we can get what the folks at Chrysler.
Make us think we have a very good handling car.
The 2001/02 cruisers,had a sway bar for this,in the cost cutting.
It was left off the rest of the fleet-03-and up.
If all you want to fix the problem[after buying a new pair of tires]
go to any junk yard and ask to look over any smashed ones.
Find a 01 - or -02 get the swaybar for less than a new pair of shoes.
 
And the tire problem,Goodyear came out with a new tire with kevlar,on
the sidewalls[for as my wife puts it ";she can rub the curb now.' oh boy.
 
So i got me a Dream series2 with all the factory toys....
  hope this helps your problem..
        DREAM2ME

#35 of 67 Re: Pt Tires Poor, Rims leaking [yale329] by redwagon5

Dec 26, 2008 (12:01 pm)

Replying to: yale329 (Dec 24, 2008 6:21 pm)
Sorry you listen to the tech's
My CRUSIER,is not cheap or the tires or rims.The leaking is due to the flacking off of chrome on the wheels,get a tire company[Discount] and they can help you fix your problem for nothing,by wirebrushing your rims before putting on your
tires.DREAM2ME

#36 of 67 Re: pt cruiser wheel sizes [corvairbob] by lamronh49

Dec 26, 2008 (8:57 pm)

Replying to: corvairbob (Dec 10, 2007 5:55 pm)
Providing disc brakes are the same diameter as the 2001, a 15" wheel should fit with no clearance problems.
If I felt like spending the money I'd go to 15s on my wife's car. 195.65.15 is the correct 15" size, they have a taller sidewall than the 205.55.16 that are on there now. I'd get replacement wheels at Tire Rack or similar.

#37 of 67 What kind of wheels do I need to replace mine? by pennie

Nov 02, 2009 (2:35 pm)

My 2002 PT GT with the chrome, low profile, high performance, high price tires has me at wit's end. I had to fill them at least every week and was replacing tires (all 4) every year, as well as numerous trips to the Goodyear store to grind and seal the rims. I finally gave up and got a nice new Nissan Altima hybrid this March and planned to sell the PT.
 
I got my PT detailed in preparation to sell it. After returning from a 2 week vacation, 3 of the tires were flat. I called a new (to me) mechanic and had the car towed there. They are grinding and sealing the rims. They told me my tires have dry rot, which I had never heard of. They are all less than a year old, but I learned that maybe the dressing that the detailer put on them caused that.
 
Assuming that I will have to replace many of these tires, if I just give up on the chrome wheels and go with a smaller, pothole friendly, normal tire and wheel, what size do I choose? How much do they cost?
 
I want to sell this car. It is too bad. I love the look, the performance and the handling.

#38 of 67 Re: What kind of wheels do I need to replace mine? [pennie] by lamronh49

Nov 03, 2009 (7:09 am)

Replying to: pennie (Nov 02, 2009 2:35 pm)
Are those the 17" wheels?
 
No matter, really. Goodyear is about the last place I'd go for anything other than their gumball machine in the lobby.
"Dry rot" at one year old is almost surely a lie designed to take advantage of you and sell you a complete set of new wheels and tires. Putting tire shine on new tires will not dry rot them.
 
As for "grinding and sealing" the rims, I've never heard of that in my many years in automotivedom. If they've done it more than once, I'd say it's another con job that extracts $$ rather than solves the problem, since GY's solution seems to be to do the same thing again.
 
Everyone, including you, should keep a couple of tire pumps around. You can get a plug-in for 10 or 15 bucks. I personally use a high volume bicycle pump, it's good exercise and it motivates me to check tires occasionally.
 
Time for a new tire shop, and frankly that's a crapshoot since many of them know little about anything, other than selling expensive wheels and tires and keeping their parole officers off their backs. They definitely don't know much about tires.
Don't be surprised, most car salesmen know almost nothing about cars, either. They know about financing and how to attempt to lead you down the road to a sale...what do I need to do to get you in this car today?
 
We have a 2001 PT that has given great service for 60,000 miles and has spent many a-winter in a salty environment. We've had to replace one 16" chrome rim because of pothole damage. We've never had to "grind and seal" anything and again, IMO that sounds like Grade A baloney.
 
1.) First I'd check with two or three Chrysler or Dodge dealers regarding wheel problems. DO NOT let them sell you wheels, tires, or a grind job. It is remotely possible the factory will give you some help with chronic air-loss problems. Remotely.
 
2.) Then I'd ask around for a reputable tire store. Good luck. I went to one specialty store for new tire mounting and balancing and they couldn't even get the pressure right, all four were well above 32 and there was no consistency to boot.
 
I've finally settled on the local Wal Mart for my mount and balance. They have a lifetime balance deal which I've used because occasionally tires will come off balance and it's hard to tell which one it is. They hand torque the wheels, they actually check and adjust the air pressure, and they give an 8 x 11" page readout of what they did including lug nut torque and tire pressure. More than can be said for many tire shops.
 
If for some reason you have to replace a wheel or four, I'd check ebay and other sources. If you have 17" wheels, you can likely step down to 16" jobs which are less expensive and so are the tires.
 
3.) Finally, check Tire Rack, Treadepot, Discount Tire Direct, etc. if you're OK with mail order tires. TiRak is a good site to do extensive research, they have a lot of customer feedback if you look around. They can sell you a quality wheel-tire combo, but do not let them talk you into huge costs.
Most of the TiRak folks I've spoken with or emailed have a script they go by and they don't go off script often. However, you can do far better there than at Goodyear, I'd bet 100 bucks on that and I'm not a gambler.
 
We love our PT and have had only routine maintenance issues so far. At this point we're probably looking at a new timing belt, but that's SOP for overhead cam engines. Otherwise, PT will probably go to one of the heirs.
 
Good luck, sorry you've had such a runaround but IMO a large part of that is returning to the same GY store which can never solve the problem but continues to charge you for something that apparently doesn't do much but cost money. Good deal for them.

Messages Page 4 of 7

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