These tires mounted on '40 Ford wheels. Any negative results? I've alwa y used tubes but have been told maybe I could go tubeless.
I run mine tubeless with no issues. I kept getting flats and leaks with my inner tubes, finally I yanked the them out and just ran valve stems in the wheels, and haven't had a problem since...
I know it's newer, but the only car I have that hasn't had a slow leak with tubeless tires is my '51 Ford with stock riveted wheels. I will not buy a new car with aluminum wheels, because every one I've had in the past had at least one leaker.
A tire shop swap tires for me the last tire shop must of snagged a tube there was only 3 tires had tubes, many miles and a few years never noticed lol
Well as a few others have implied, you have to have a tire that is designed to run tubeless. Guys have put tubeless bias tires on rims intended for tubes since the mid 50's sometimes with good luck and sometimes with not so good luck. A good part of it is going to depend on the individual rims themselves and their condition. Worse case is probably if you walk in the garage in the morning and have four flat tires. Or if they leak so bad they won't hold pressure for even a few minutes. You used to hear stories about them leaking around the rim back in the 60's but that may have been the condition of the rim as much as anything else. Those were usually on Early 50's cars that came with tubes from the factory that someone decided to run tubeless when they bought tires.
^^^^^^ I’m 99% sure they were not. There is no inner lip to help keep it on with a flat. With that said, even with a tube and a flat they were not safe at the speeds we drive today.
I have been running Firestone bias plys without tubes mounted on 40 Ford wheels on my coupe for two years and several thousand miles without any problems, just make sure the valve stem holes are in good shape and put silicone on the rivet heads.
Tubeless tires first became available in 1954. The "safety rim" came out from Chrysler in 1940....for "tube" tires, but was not standard issue until years later. Tubes do NOTHING.... except hold air. Many thousands have, or use tubeless tires on old "pre-tubeless" rims with no problems at all, including myself. If the tire is labeled tubeless, and the rims are in good overall condition, there should be no issues. I do run tubes in the 16" Firestones on my '32, because they are labeled tube tires. Most of Coker's 15" bias are tubeless, while most 16" are not, bias or radial. Strange.
Sales guy at Coker booth at Portland Oregon swap meet several years ago told me their bias look radial tires that were labeled tube type would run fine as tubeless. He said they put tube type on them so people wouldn't run them tubeless on adjustable spoke wire wheels and expect them to no leak. Dave
I don't wear either. it makes for cheap entertainment. If a tire says tubeless on the sidewall you can get away with tubes (I run tubes for radial tires personally) but if the tire says "Tube Type" it is probably not suggested to run them tubeless. Often a tube type tire is not made for a safety rim and the tube is just a second line of defense.
Seems to me I read somewhere that Chrysler invented the 'safety bead' in the mid '30s but took a few years to actually start using them on their cars. Ford and GM didn't start adopting them until the early '60s (possibly waiting for a patent to expire? Wouldn't be the first time...) but by the end of the decade they were standard on US cars. The Feds didn't mandate them until the '70s, probably to cover import vehicles. And as Bob says, tubeless tires appeared in quantity in '54 and almost overnight became standard equipment on new cars, even those lacking the 'lip'. There were occasional issues with earlier riveted wheels leaking around the rivets but by and large most would accept tubeless tires with no problems. There is one caution though. The early cars generally used sub-30 PSI pressure. If using a modern tire with a higher inflation spec (35 PSI or more) this can stress the wheel lip beyond its design spec, particularly if the wheel is compromised with too much rust pitting at the sealing lip. I have seen a few split at the outer bead, but only a few.
Here is something I had happen on an OT 1972 Olds...Had a tire that kept leaking air and couldn't find the leak.... One day I sprayed the spot welds where the center of the wheel attaches to the rim and it was leaking air thru the spot welds...Defective rim from the factory...Ran some weld beads across the spot welds and never had anymore trouble...
Last car I had with bias ply tires had stock 35 Ford 16" wires. Put together the wheels/tires with no tubes but I used silicone on the welds and painted the insides with Enamel paint . No problems.
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