My chrome clad wheels are flaking like crazy ( especially on the inner side ).
Does this problem ever cause air leakage from the tires.

 

To the best of my knowledge, no. I have never seen a tire loose pressure due to this.

 

How would peeling chrome from a steel wheel cover make the tires leak? Pics?

 

No, you're fine. It's just an eyesore.
The chrome is a very thin layer.

 

If it's peeling on the bottom side of the lip where the tire bead sits it can cause leaks. I've seen it happen numerous times at work. We buff the chrome peel off and apply a bead sealer to form an air tight seal. However, it shouldn't be an issue with chrome clad wheels. It usually happens with cheap after market wheels..

 

Thanks everyone. I did read onetime that it can happen.

 

2014 XLT Crew 4x4 EB.
I know this is an old thread, but I just replaced a valve stem for what I believe is this issue (wheel clad flaking).
This morning I got a low warning light. After picking up assorted road hazards 3 times in 4yrs/86k miles, I carry plugs and a battery impact wrench with lug socket (there's a plug in the right rear for 30k or so miles). I made it back to my garage as I didn't want to do roadside in the pouring rain (DC area). After a quick pressure check it was clear the left rear was 10psi low. Took the tire off and broke out the soapy water spray bottle. I could not find a leak in the tread area and was quickly paranoid about something in the sidewall. Could find nothing. It could be a very, very slow leak so I kept at it. After rolling it a few times I noticed a foam ball at the valve stem. On close inspection it was clear there was a leak at the base of the stem. Ran to the local autoparts and picked up a "Schrader 20018 TPMS Service Kit" which is simply a replacement valve stem that attaches to the TPMS transmitter. Broke the bead and took the TPMS unit off. There was clear flaking at the valve stem hole. At first I thought the last tire service person had banged up the wheel pretty badly but it looks more like simple age related flaking. It was corroded a bit but not much. Cleaned up the hole and installed the new stem, tested OK. Sorry there are no pics, I'm currently waiting for a replacement phone and was in too much a hurry to dig out the camera!

 

The chrome cladding has nothing to do with tire pressure. It's just like a hubcap glued to an alloy wheel.

 

You miss the point entirely. The chrome plating is not suppose to have anything to do with tire pressure but in this case is peeling between the sealing surfaces of the valve stem allowing air to escape. This was pretty well described in the previous post.