Front rims leak 3 piece

[west coast]

At the divisional I had both fronts leak, bad enough to get out of the lanes and go back to my trailer and fill one up. I took them off put them in water and found the rim to be leaking between the halfs. These are a 3 piece rims american racing wheels. I had taken them apart and had them hydra dipped. I put them back together and used a clear silcone between the halfs and ran a bead of silcone where they 2 halfs meet and smoothed it out with my finger. Is there there something better to use than silcone? could I put something over the silcone to stop the leak? Or am I starting to remove the silcone and start from scatch?

[garyc]

"as seen on TV" arresol gutter seal

[Arnold Greene]

Ultra gray gasket sealer. Clean well, apply, bolt together, clean up excess, let dry for 2 to 3 days. They will be extremely hard to take apart the next time.

[Mike Pearson]

Typically once you use silicone sealant on something you are stuck with it. Its almost impossible to remove all of the residue from silicone sealer. There are some different grades of silicone sealant. You might look for an acid cure sealant. You wont find that at your local home depot or hardware store. You would have to look at a commercial sealant supplier. I know Dow Corning makes it. reseal the wheels and let it cure for about a week before you put pressure on it.

[Tom Goldman]

I've had good luck with urethane windshield sealer .
You have to get all the old sealer off and use the primer ,but I've not had any that I've done leak.

[Jeff Stout]

So far I tightened the bolts on my 3 piece Weld as they were leaking. Checked and tires are still up. Will watch others opinions in case I need to take them apart.

[SSDiv6]

The best sealant for 3 piece wheels is Dow Corning 832 sealant
Also as suggested: Urethane Windshield Sealer or Permatex Ultra Grey.

Clean the halves very wheel, torque the bolts in a sequence and then apply the sealant to the joint.

RTV Silicones that are acetoxy catalyzed, release Acetic Acid while curing and not good for Aluminum or Magnesium wheels.

As Mike Pearson stated, you need to use a light acid based cleaner to remove the residue and clean thoroughly with Acetone or MEK..

[west coast]

When I originally took the rims apart had a hell of a time doing it, it took me quiet away time wise cause I was afraid to mess up a wheel. I did clean everything very well once they were all apart. Wire brushed and brake clean the lacquer thinner. Hopefully they come apart easier than the first time. Thanks for the responses.

[racer1442]

I had this same issue a few years ago with mine and tried nearly everything from panel bond, seam sealer to windshield urethane. What worked and never had an issue again was silicone for gutters/ eavestrough. I'm in Canada and used Mono Silicone Pro, it's a grey metallic colour, flexible, water and shrink resistant.

I grounded everything out that was there including what was left of the original. I used some abrasive sand paper like 80 grit to the seam and whatever would overlap on each half. Solvent washed throughly, taped each half to run a nice bead. I had someone hold and spin the wheel and I used a plastic trim tool to really force the silicone into the seam. I ran another bead and had it spun again and just smoothed with my finger to have a nice overlap on the halves. I let it sit for a couple days before mounting but it's been perfect ever since.

[Dave Noll]

Years ago I bought a new pair of Centerline front skinnies, 2 halves riveted together and sealed around the outside of the inner joint with , clear silicone.