RV Antifreeze for Tire Ballast

[bardbu]

I used RV Antifreeze for tubeless tire ballast. My Dad (I'm 50 and he's 70) said to get it out of there as soon as winter is over. Does it really damage the rim and tire? It was on sale for $2/gal at HD and couldn't pass it up.

[ricky racer]

RV antifreeze will not damage your tires or rims. There's no reason to remove it unless you are concerned with the added weight for summer mowing. I run windshield washer fluid in my John Deere 425 for ballast. Calcium chloride provides more ballast weight per gallon but it will rot your rims.
What are your father's reasons for removing it?

[bardbu]

I think he still likes telling me what to do ;-)

[outdoors4evr]

I would just check on its corrosiveness. If what you used is not corrosive, then I see no issue.

[BigBill]

I purchased window washer fluid that doesn’t freeze. One tire takes 29 gallons. Get it on sale for $0.99 a gallon.

[Gary Dotson]

I’ve often thought RV antifreeze would be a good choice for tire ballast. I haven’t used it as I have no need to ballast my tires but I’ve used it for other purposes. I’m pretty sure it’s not corrosive, I wouldn’t be putting it in my motor home plumbing system, if I thought it was. I see no reason to remove it for summer use. RK sometimes has it in 2 gal. Jugs, at a bit better price.

[Jim Becker]

I suppose that RV antifreeze does not have any corrosion inhibitors as does coolant. (Antifreeze without inhibitors shouldn't be any worse than plain water, which is what would be in the RV otherwise.) Most of the RV plumbing is probably plastic anyway.

All considered, I wouldn't expect it to do major harm in a tire.