Ford E-150 LA West Tire Problem

[Kasebrot]

Hello there. I have an interesting tire issue with my LA West E-150 conversion van. It's an '02. Lately I've been getting random flat tires. I have been replacing a tire now almost every month. One day I'll check it and it will be completely flat. When I change the tire, there is nothing puncturing it however, I notice that when I take the tire off of the rim the threads inside the tire are shredded. This does not happen on any rim in particular, last month I had to replace driver side rear and just last week I had to replace passenger side front. All have the thread shredding issues, no nails in them or anything. I have tried BF Goodrich tires and Dunlop. All do the same thing. I have the "PRIME" brand rims that came with the van. A few of my buddies think it's a camber issue but when I remove the tire, there is no odd or uneven tread wear. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. I am getting tired of dumping money into tires and tires for this E-150 aren't cheap.

[CapriRacer]

The "threads" you are seeing inside is evidence that the tire was operated flat - nothing more.

The first thing you should do is make sure your rims are air tight - by immersing them (with the tire inflated) in a pool of water - those kiddy pools work well for this.

I'll bet the rims are leaking - either around the tire / rim interface or through the casting. You have to be patient when looking for these leaks.

And as a precaution: If the van sits for more than a week, check the tires BEFORE you operate it. Bring an air tank and inflate any low ones BEFORE you move it.