To grind or not to grind THAT is the question.

I've got a brand spankin' new set of stock rear tires that I'm mounting onto stock steel wheels. One of the rims I'm mounting them on has a fair amount of a rust/crud buildup on the inside (sealing) surface however the tire that I removed from this rim was holding air.

My question - is it better to clean up the crust as best I can with a wire brush and then lather on the sealer or should I bring the lip down to bare metal (grind/sand) in an attempt to create a clean, smooth sealing surface?

I guess a tube is always a last resort.

Thanks

I would try the wire wheel route first, and get all the rust and scale of tha tyou can. I have been able to clean most of it off with little or no problem in the past. If you want you can use a bead sealer, or you could try painting the lip with a coat of "slime" before you put the tire on.

I use the bench grinder with a wire wheel on all my beads rust or not most if them have some
rubber stuck to them, bead sealer would be the way to go but also might make it hard
to seat the bead on a stock rim depending on the tire your going to use, any big rust craters
could be filled with JB weld and sanded smooth if they were a problem and affected sealing.

Great ideas - thanks

For messed up (rusted) rusted steel wheels, I have always cleaned then well (wire brush on a drill motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? ))) and then a quick coat od rustoleum (let it dry overnight) . If there were any large divots ,crators are areas that looked suspicious, I ran a fingering of silicone sealant over it. Cheap and it works works.