I have Bias tires on my roadster, and they are tube type. My question is-can I install some valve stems and clean and repaint the inside of rims and run these wheels tubeless? Ive bought two front and soon will have two different rear tires to replace the ones on it. all the discussion of the poor life expectancy of -say the Cokers and other classic style tires,has me thinking its time for some different thinking. I did this on the 29 Roadster pickup a while back,and now Ive heard that it wasnt safe....I had no problem at all with those 39 ford wheels[wide five] on that car with tubeless tires.......any suggestions?
I did this but also heard its not safe but i run old 16inch narrow rims on my 52F-1 truck.I have hauled some pertty good loads and also pulled a small loaded trailer,pulled campers and have had no ill effects.I run the max air presure rateing the tire calls for.I wire brushed and painted inside of rims as i woried thay would leak air around ribbits but thay hold air fine.going on3 years and ok so far.
tubeless tyres require a safety bead to keep them on the rim if they deflate,39 ford wheels dont have safety beads. ( the small raised bead just inside where the tyre sits on the rim) if you run tubeless tyres on early rims you should run tubes anyway. its not a good idea to do what you suggest. the leaking air thing isnt the real concern here, your tyres ripping off your rims on the highway when you get a flat, is.......
Not only that but a wild turn on the steering or a wild drift on the rear end could also pull the tire of towards the centre of the rim.Specially if tire pressure is low.Like lowsquire says thats what the small raised bead is for on modern rims.
<font color="red">[ QUOTE ] tubeless tyres require a safety bead to keep them on the rim [/ QUOTE ] </font> <font color="blue"> Trust me, everything works fine till it breaks. Run tubes in 'em. Put a tube in there rated for Radial tires. They're a little better quality. Make sure there are no wrinkles in the flaps. If there are... replace it. The wrinkle will pinch your tube after it starts shifting around again. </font>
[ QUOTE ] Somebody explain to me how having a tube could matter once it looses air. [/ QUOTE ] Ya got me!! I don't understand the theory either.
[ QUOTE ] Somebody explain to me how having a tube could matter once it looses air. [/ QUOTE ] Thats a good point. The tube being in there surely won't keep the tire on the rim. The only drawback I can see is the older rims are probably not as true in the sealing lip area and could loose air quickly if the tire went through any stresses at highway speeds. But a tube won't be effected by this. BTW...I'm not running tubes in my old ford rims and tires. Call me... reckless
There is no direct connection between safety bead rims and tubeless tires. They both came into use about the same time, but GM and Ford used non safety bead rims for 10 years after they started using tubeless tires.Patent issues you know. Last weekend I dismounted about 50 tires, many on old Ford and GM rims without safety beads. Couldn't tell the difference when breaking the bead.
As far as the safety bead goes, if you have a blow out at highway speed on a wheel without a safety bead, you're tire is probably gonna come off of the wheel, tube or no tube. Four years ago, on the way back from FTB in my '52 F1, I had my left front blow out on I 10 at 70mph. (ask Glen about that one) The tire was a 16" tube type bias ply and it got spit right off of the wheel. I have been running tubless radials on the early Ford 16" wheels on the truck since then. I drive that truck all of the time and I've been every where in it (Bako, LA, San Diego, Vegas, you name it). In those four years, the only tire/wheel issue I've had was a leaky valve stem that had nothing to do with the wheels.
What size and brand of tubeless radials are you using on the narrow (4in.?) 16in. rims? Thanks. pigpen
[ QUOTE ] What size and brand of tubeless radials are you using on the narrow (4in.?) 16in. rims? Thanks. pigpen [/ QUOTE ] I'm not sure of the exact size and brand of my tire, I'll check them and post the info tomorrow (I'm at work, truck's at home). They are big ones though (30" tall) and I bought them from Discount Tire. I had the local tire grinder put 4" whitewalls on them and they look pretty good. Even the folks who are savvy on such things don't usually notice that they are radials without close inspection.
Pigpen- I have 5-10x 16" wide white Harley tires[rated at 1500 lbs] for the fronts[on '48 ford wheels] by the way are 48 a beaded wheel?.... my rears are from a 47 Lincoln...are they a beaded wheel? question for the rest of you-also another point- would a heavier sidewall ply rating add to the life and even safety of bias tires? Arent the Cokers and like tires only 2 ply in their sidewalls? on the wide fives I had on my last RPU Iwidened two for the rear to 6" and on all four I had to take a die grinder and open up the hole for the valve stem a little...they held air just fine.
yeh i guess a flat is a flat.... but radials are softer in the sidewall than bias plys, meaning they may collapse into the well of the wheel easier when partially deflated. just as an aside, do repro 40-48 steel wheels have safety beads??
Lowsquire- I cant answer that.......I am going to run Bias again....not radials. Just no tubes.......for Rear tires I am working on a set of actually 6 ply Truck tires that are 6.50-16" they are actually wider in tread width and section width than the Denman "super safetys" I am running now and they were 7.50 size! they are blackwalls though- I am now grinding off all the lettering on outer sidewalls and sanding em smooth -ready for the Fusion white paint job......-Ill post a pic of em after mounted. I feel the 6 ply is rating is an added plus to keeping them sealed to the rear rims. they were about 120 dollars pair new. the fronts cost 135 dollars-pair. thats a ton less than Cokers and I now have 4ply frt and 6ply rear sidewalls -not DISPLAY ONLY tires. As a side note-I feel that tubes were primarily deemed necessary and useful at their heyday as a result of the poor tire quality of the time[porosity],and were installed more as a stopgap for tires that were leaking -moreso than as a reinforcing effect inside of a tire.........any comments or the public lynching should commence at this time.
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