is water safe for rims?

Jason G

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Getting mixed opinions. My dealer said there's no air touching rims so no rust will take place. I live in the south so it won't freeze. Just paranoid about future damage to rims... thanks all...
 

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Daren Todd

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You wouldn't want to fill the tires completely full do to losing all your cushion, since the only suspension you have is the tires. Seems like if your tires were full to the top it would be like riding on a brick:) a set of tubes installed in the tires and filled with water 2/3 to 3/4 full would do the trick, give you some cushion, and protect the rims from rusting
 

85Hokie

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Getting mixed opinions. My dealer said there's no air touching rims so no rust will take place. I live in the south so it won't freeze. Just paranoid about future damage to rims... thanks all...
go to your local parts store, get a couple of gallons of windshield washer fluid or a couple of RV antifreeze(much cheaper), but will help and neither will freeze and the RV will help with any rust......many a rim in the past took 40 years to rust out, but then again they had lottttttttts of salt in them! NaCL !:D:D:D
 

ipz2222

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That dealer person is an idiot. You can't get all the air out of a tire and even if you could, water has oxygen in it. Common sense tells you that ships rust that have sunk. I use automotive antifreeze because I know it prevents rust. RV antifreeze is made for all that plastic plumbing, it might stop rust but it might not, never tested it.
 

Stan Wetmore

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I would go for the tube with water in it and keep it away from the rims. Also automotive antifreeze is toxic and if and when it leaks out it is not very good.
 

Tx Jim

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That dealer person is an idiot. You can't get all the air out of a tire and even if you could, water has oxygen in it. Common sense tells you that ships rust that have sunk.
Dealer is correct. Fill tires to just above valve stem when placed @ 12 o'clock as outlined in some operators manual. I'll bet those rusted ships that sunk were in salt water not fresh water. There's a difference in the oxygen in water than the air you breath. Have you ever tried breathing water? I ran fresh water in the tubeless rear tires on my JD 4255 for yrs until I stopped plowing then I drained water out. I had a flat repaired several yrs later and inside of rim was still a pretty yellow color.
 
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85Hokie

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That dealer person is an idiot. You can't get all the air out of a tire and even if you could, water has oxygen in it. Common sense tells you that ships rust that have sunk. I use automotive antifreeze because I know it prevents rust. RV antifreeze is made for all that plastic plumbing, it might stop rust but it might not, never tested it.

rv antifreeze is just that ANTIfreeze - it does not have all the properties of automotive products, and SHOULD not be run through the engine/block....it is however cheap.....$3 gallon beats the hell out of $12 for 50-50% and even then you can cut the Rv stuff 50% and still not freeze (unless you boys are way they hell up north) the good part is that it is NOT toxic .......
windshield washer fluid is also cheap......neither has the weight of CaCL or beat juice, but it is "cheaper"

those things under the water, salt or otherwise .....they are still there, the titantic is still there and rusty as hell (100 years), the AIR is what makes is rust so much quicker.....and salt.......and time !:D
 

Bluegill

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Dealer is correct. Fill tires to just above valve stem when placed @ 12 o'clock as outlined in some operators manual. I'll bet those rusted ships that sunk were in salt water not fresh water. There's a difference in the oxygen in water than the air you breath. Have you ever tried breathing water? I ran fresh water in the tubeless rear tires on my JD 4255 for yrs until I stopped plowing then I drained water out. I had a flat repaired several yrs later and inside of rim was still a pretty yellow color.
Yep. I ran water for years in the south and never had any rust. Here in Mo we run a water / alcohol mix.
 

Tooljunkie

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There are commercial corrosion inhibitors you can add to water. Water pump lubricant, used to sell it when i worked in auto parts.
 

Jason G

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I should have explained beforehand... the water is already in there. It came delivered loaded with h2o. My uncle is a tractor fanatic, and he gets on some tangents. (Especially after a 12 pack). He says water is a no no... is this something I need to remove or add something (rust inhibitor) too? Just a little confused.
 

Tx Jim

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Jason
I think tractor tires with plain water in them will be fine where you live in Florida. To satisfy your uncle you could add a few gallons of propylene glycol antifreeze to the existing water.
 

Stubbyie

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The RV antifreeze is propylene glycol. It is safer than automotive ethylene glycol to humans, animals, and the environment. PG is used in food products--check the labels of foodstuffs. That said, it is not 'nontoxic'; it is simply less toxic than the alternative. When in small quantities and diluted it can be relatively safe. A fine point of discussion, but worth considering. You wouldn't want to slug back a gallon of the stuff compared to ice tea.

Using ethylene glycol is fine so long as no leakage occurs. Animals love the sweet taste of EG and it will kill 'em dead due to liver damage. Kids the same.

Concerning water filled tires: Assuming antifreeze (and its inhibitor ingredients package) is not needed. The air cushion in the tire contains oxygen. The oxygen will selectively rust unprotected metal until all the oxygen is 'used up' in creating iron oxide or rust. After all the oxygen is 'used up' forming all the rust it possibly can, then the unprotected metal is effectively passivated and rusting stops. Adding a rust inhibitor should help.

Next time you add air, you introduce more oxygen, under pressure, into the tire. More rusting occurs until that oxygen too is 'used up' in the chemical reaction of forming rust. I mention 'pressure' because oxygen under pressure allows the rusting reaction to occur more quickly due to the reaction rate of the oxidation chemical reaction being increased due to increased pressure. A cutting torch is effectively a high-speed rusting or oxidation reaction, somewhat due to pressure. You don't need the acetylene except to provide heat to start the reaction---try turning off the fuel gas and continuing the cut.

Good discussion. Please post back additional thoughts.
 

Bluegill

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I want to hear someone talk about beet juice! Heard it's heavier than water.
Beet Juice is heavier than water, good stuff but expensive. I'd probably use it if
the dealer here offered it, but they don't. The water/alcohol works fine for me.
 

Tx Jim

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Next time you add air, you introduce more oxygen, under pressure, into the tire. More rusting occurs until that oxygen too is 'used up' in the chemical reaction of forming rust.
Adding air or existing air in tire won't contribute to a rim rusting if tire is filled with water to "just over valve stem" when valve stem is at 12 o'clock. This will still leave sufficient room for air in tire for cushioning. Besides a well painted rim won't be rusted by air anyway.