I've experienced porosity of aluminum wheels before and I know that you have to be vigilant about air pressure. The car is garage parked so I don't think it is being molested. My wife drives the car daily and I drive it once a week to fill it up with gas and inspect the condition. I picked up the pressure indicators for that replace the valve stem caps and installed them yesterday (they are ugly!). I've showed my wife how they work and she had promised to keep an eye on them. If I have any more instances of low pressure, I'll go to the dealer and see if they'll do something about it.

 

The one wheel was damaged but I cannot determine if the damage was the cause of the loss of pressure or if it was the reverse. I'll just stay vigilant and replace all of them with aftermarkets if it happens again can't be fixed quickly.

 

I agree they are ugly, but thought they would be useful as a temporary measure to see what is going on. Hope they accomplish the task for ya..

 

I would most definitely NOT recommend using these. #1, they only give an estimate, not a true measurement. #2, they are theft-prone because they do not have any kind of lock to keep any Joe Schmo from taking them off your wheels and pocketing them (I had them on my Firebird and had them stolen by an oil change shop!). #3, the threads are made from a dissimilar metal to that used in the valve stems, and if they come into contact with any kind of material which can trigger oxidation of metal (i.e. water, road salt, etc.), they have a tendency to RUST SOLID on the valve stems. I'd much rather take the time to hit my tires with a gauge than spend the money to have the valve stems replaced.

 

I agree with most of what you said, but his wife is driving the car and for her I'm sure it will be a whole lot easier to glance at the indicator. For the purpose of finding out what is going on, I still think they are good as a tool for a couple of weeks.

 

I have 16 inch aluminums, not polished, no appreciable air loss seen and now I have the nitrogen (why not I got a deal...hahaha) but with this thread I will definitely keep a closer eye out for awhile...

 

The extreme solution is a tire monitoring kit. These yield true pressure ratings, but are expensive. You've have to ruin a couple wheels for any cost benifit. Yet I am still thinking about it for my wifes car. :)

 

Had varying tire pressures this winter due to varying temperatures. I have tried filling my tires with Nitrogen per the dealer suggestion. Only been done for about two weeks and no problems thus far.

 

I noticed the same over the weekend. I noticed one tire low and checked it, it was right at 23 psi. I was out of town so I drove to a local store that had air. Filled it back to 30 and checked the rest, the rest were at 24-25psi also. Topped them all off. I only drove a mile or so to the station and it was below freezing. Guess I have to watch these closer than the rest of the wheels I have ever owned. The alloy's on the wifes Mazda have never leaked. This is not a good sign to me.

Glad this is the car I drive and not the wife.

 

We seem to be doing okay so far with new wheel. Upon further reflection, I had gotten lazy about checking the tire pressure. The little pressure indicators are good for my wife and will coming off once a week for a pressure check but I'll keep an eye on them for corrosion. If someone steals them, oh well. They are kind of an eyesore anyways. When these tires wear out I am going to look into tire pressure monitoring system and run flat tires. It may be overkill but my wife and daughters are in it every day so too much isn't enough.