# Flat tire.



## tcreeley (Jan 2, 2012)

With my stiff leg, I can't ride my GT500 unless I sit "side saddle" and then it is pretty tippy. I bought a Craftsman ZTL 7000 ztr on sale. After a month or two I noticed the back left tire getting soft so I add air on a regular basis. I was mowing with it yesterday and I saw my front left tire had come off the rim. I took it off, cleaned the mud out, remounted the tire and the tube ( it had a tube with some air in it still) I filled it with air. The tire said not to exeed 45 lb, so I put 38 in and checked the other side as well. That one was fine. Twenty minutes after I got it going, it was soft again. I ordered a tube and may use some slime to tide me over until it gets here. I can't think what the problem would be- except maybe a bad valve? Anybody else having problems with these tires? It looks like the Kendra that Northern Tool sells. It is a 11 X 400 X 5 size. Tires will usually give out after a year or two, but I started cutting grass in April!


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## wjjones (May 28, 2010)

You can check out the "Tires" sticky in the classifieds section if you need tires. It might just be a bad valve stem though if you put slime in it there should be no need for a tube.


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## wjjones (May 28, 2010)

Ok I looked the 11x4x5 import ribbed tires are $14.05 each, and are 4 ply.

Carlisle 11X4.00-5 NHS 4 - Carlisle $31.75 each.


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## dangeroustoys56 (Jul 26, 2010)

Yeah - the valve stems can leak - have several that do - you can buy replacement 'innards' for the stems - or get a set of valve stem caps with the rubber gaskets inside.

To make sure it isnt leaking elsewhere - remove the whole tire, get a large bucket with water ( big enuff for the tire), fill it with air and dunk it - any leaks will bubble air.


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## Mickey (Aug 14, 2010)

If you bought the mower new, I'd be back at Sears to have them fix the problem. Really surprised to hear tire rated for 45 psi. I've had GT's going on 40 yrs and have never seen a tire with a pressure rating of more than 15 psi. I must be living a sheltered life. 

Why haven't you checked the valve stem for leaks? All it take is a little soapy water. If it doesn't show any leaks I'd pull the tire and see if there is a small puncture in the tire that has also penetrated the tube slightly.

Not sure why your wanting replace the tire at this point as you don't know what is causing the leak.

Hope you can figure it out and get it fixed. Oh, I've had a number of leaks on the Cub when running them tubless. Tires now have tubes and all is OK.


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## evo26pm (Jul 12, 2012)

tcreeley said:


> With my stiff leg, I can't ride my GT500 unless I sit "side saddle" and then it is pretty tippy. I bought a Craftsman ZTL 7000 ztr on sale. After a month or two I noticed the back left tire getting soft so I add air on a regular basis. I was mowing with it yesterday and I saw my front left tire had come off the rim. I took it off, cleaned the mud out, remounted the tire and the tube ( it had a tube with some air in it still) I filled it with air. The tire said not to exeed 45 lb, so I put 38 in and checked the other side as well. That one was fine. Twenty minutes after I got it going, it was soft again. I ordered a tube and may use some slime to tide me over until it gets here. I can't think what the problem would be- except maybe a bad valve? Anybody else having problems with these tires? It looks like the Kendra that Northern Tool sells. It is a 11 X 400 X 5 size. Tires will usually give out after a year or two, but I started cutting grass in April!


Your problem could be in the valve stem or it could be around the rim of the tire where the bead isn't sealed real good. The best thing to do is get a bottle of soapy water in a spray bottle and spray the tire down. Spray the valve stem around the bead of the tire and with in the treads. The best thing to do when ever taking a tire of that has a tube in it especially spray the entire tube down to check for any leaks that way you can make repairs. When I mount tires on any type of tractors i use bead lock for around the rim and most tire places have it but just tell them you want it on the tire. Hope that helps.


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## wjjones (May 28, 2010)

Those ztr fronts can be a pita sometimes but they take alot of abuse.


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## tcreeley (Jan 2, 2012)

I bought a tube off of amazon for it and put it in yesterday. It looks good so far. I;ve got a slow leak in the rear tire. I think I'll slime that and see what happens. I hate changing tires once they have fixaflat or slime- but maybe I will be lucky!


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## dangeroustoys56 (Jul 26, 2010)

Fix a flat is the worst stuff to use - itll corrode the steel rims ( found that out on a set of steel rims off my old truck) - ive used tire slime with good results - another trick i learned with leaky beads is to use regular plumbers PVC cement - clean the bead, and the rim edge then slather the glue on both bead and tire .


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## wjjones (May 28, 2010)

Mine have so many plugs it looks like worms crawling out of my tires....:lmao:..


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