Technical Anyone else having tubes go flat on them constantly?

My buddy Ben was telling me they used a mixture of baby powder and dawn on the tubes in his old pulling truck. I’ve also heard of other folks using baby powder alone.

I guess more than anything I was just curious if anyone else was experiencing this problem and if they had found a solution. ‍♂️

 

Yes on the baby powder, or real talc if you can find it. Remember in the old days a new tube came with the dusty talc surface on them already, no more today. And there have been tube issues ever since all the american company's quit making them about 20 years ago. The first ones to step up to the plate were east European bloc, like Czechoslovakia, or Poland, i forget, but they were terrible. Cracked apart at the seem within months. Next up was Vietnam, still sold today and while much better than the east European tubes, they are still not the good ones we had years ago. You can not buy a new tube and leave it folded up for a spare, they crack at the folds in only a few months. Recently I changed the 1952 dated military tires off my jeep. The tubes weigh about 5 pounds! And, they look like new. I would certainly used them again, except I went tubeless on the new 700 16 NDT's I have also found that you can not use an old tire patch kit on new tubes, wrong glue, or not really rubber or something, just dont stick and I always buy a new tube nowdays, never patch any more. Some folks on the model A forums use Michelin radial tubes in bias ply tires. Expensive, but heavy duty. You can go radial tube in a bias tire, but not the other way around, bias tube in radial tire

 

Lucas cl***ic tires has got some good quality tubes. If you call them and ask him about the ones you need, they'll give you the straight scoop on the quality.

https://www.lucascl***ictires.com/Tubes-Flaps-Rim-Strips_c18.htm

 

Hello,

We had a mystery on our 1951 Oldsmobile two door sedan. So, you did not happen to screw in Moon Discs with sharpened screws instead of the provided flat tipped screws, did you? Or you did not screw in the same style sharpened screws to keep the tire from slipping in hard acceleration as people did a long time ago? Those extra pokes may have gone to deep. We had steel rims and with a mistake of using one sharp tipped same size screw in a replacement for a lost flat tipped screw, it created a slow leak.

It was a common thing when people were doing the non-slip thing. But, one way for a good tire guy installing our Skylark Buick wire rims was to take a circular flat inner tube and lay it down covering the spoke nubs on the inside of the rim. He told us that despite coming from the factory with tight specs, those joints leak to a certain amount. Most of the times, it does not leak, but as old rims and tires go over stuff on the roads, things happen.

The wire nubs were tightened, loc-***e was used and with the addition of the extra flat tube rubber, the air pressure kept those nubs sealed. No need for additional glue or that gloppy flat fix stuff.

As a tire/wheel/alignment/balance guy, he said those green goopy formulas seem to work, but usually get sloshed around and stick in gobs at different spots inside of the tire. That causes an unbalanced wheel while driving. No one waits to spray the inside of the unmounted, whole tire and let it dry. The instructions hook up the green stuff valve to the air inlet and squirt the stuff inside.

No one knows what happens, but it globs onto the area near the valve. When moving the tire around or taking a drive, the centrifugal force should make the green stuff move around. But, who knows, it is sticky and a lot of times, globs up to create an unbalanced tire. So YRMV.

Jnaki

Even though most normal steel rims are put together by machines, they can create air leaks in the joints. There are plenty of choices as to what to do, but it might be time to do an internal addition of an extra flat rubber band to cover all of the joints and the pressure should keep the flat band secure. Of course, it will be up to you to see if the addition will need balancing.

Our Skylark installer did the tightening of the spokes/nubs, added the extra flat rubber liner and then balanced the whole tire/rim combo before mounting and doing the alignment. No goopy stuff, no flat tire fix glue or any other additions. The 58 Impala with the Skylark wire wheels drove like a cloud, but tracked well and never had a leak in the time we owned it.

 

I had this issue a couple years ago, using a tube in a tubeless tire, on a wire wheel. I had a flat a week with a set of radials on 53 Buick wires. For me there wound up being a tiny sticker on the inside of the tire that was rubbing through the tubes. One by one they all went flat, including the spare. The tubes were from Tractor Supply.

I have no solution for you, other than to say you're not alone.

 

awesome, thank you for the info

 

When I raced dirt modifieds in the 70's, we were still using tubes in the tires. I used corn starch instead of talc. Sounds weird, but it works great. Also never used water/soap during mounting, we would rub paraffin wax on the edge of the rim instead. It lubricated the rim so the tires wouldn't be damaged and kept moisture out of the inside of the tires.

We only lost tubes when a tire got cut in an accident. And as I remember, the tubes were made by Carlisle, if they are still in business.

 

I run ****py tubes in my bike (I know-I know!).Walmart stuff.
I patched it with a piece from an old tube and crazy glue!
Regular tire contact cement would not hold.
Find the hole
Cut your own patch
Put tube on a flat surface and patch with crazy glue.
Don't over inflate
6sally6
Good luck

 

Hotdamn,

You need to post what size tubes you need. Bratton's had a special lot run to solve the problem with the Model A's. You might call and see if they can tell you who made them and then check with that supplier to see if they have any retail sales.

Charlie Stephens

 

thank you!

 

Several years ago I bought tubes from Coker and they were junk. I now get my tubes from my local tire dealer. These tubes were used in Excelsior Stahl radials. When ever I get my current order of Excelsior's I am going to run them tubeless. I have several friends doing that with no problems.

 

Wow, Schwinn I trust.

Went to use my wheelbarrow yesterday, tire was flat. Couple squirts of Slime, back in business. But I'll try the superglue patch next time.

 

Pretty much every tire sold by Harbor Freight will flat when you get them, and then again next time you use it.

 

They are terrible. I noticed this with my kid's bikes years ago. My own bike, the tires go soft in a couple of months. It seems that China does a really bad job on rubber. I have had too many tie rod and ball joint boots split even before I got to drive my Ford.

 

Having flats on tube tires is "traditional". Enjoy!

 

I run Firestone tubes on my bike. I don't have a problem. I don't know where they are manufactured probably not in the USA.

Good quality tubes are a must in a driver. If you have not used them yet Firestone or Dunlop both sell quality tubes.

 

I had that problem with my Mysterion tube motorcycle tires. I tried to mount the tires myself with motorcycle tire irons. I used 'quality' (whatever that means nowadays) tube from a motorcycle shop. Kept leaking. Finally took them to a tire shop and the pros did the job. No leaks after they mounted them. Use the goo for sure too.

 

I've been getting their no flat tires for carts and tools. They actually don't go flat. Of course they are solid. I know, smart ***! I had the same problem with their
p-numatic tires also.

 

I don't want nothin' to do with no Harbor Freight tires.

 

Hi Everyone , too many times this occurs and progressively more and more leaky tubes in recent years without the usual and traditional leakage tests . You can drown them in a tub for 20 minutes and no sign but SOME show surface bubbles in patches after being slightly overinflated . These are slow leakers with none of the usual signs of trauma and seated valve stems . We even considered that perhaps wrong or defective Schrader valves , tried swapping different valves and exhausted all angles especially in recent years and FINALLY WE BRAINSTORMED and noticed a weight difference in used tubes from earlier years compared to weight of new tubes . Some of the new ones are thin enough you can tell by pinching them that they are thinner . Yes of course they are porous and anywhere from overnite to 4 months .
I get heavy duty when I can but I also look at the tubes nowadays and if I see any blemish pools on the surface of the tubes that are either discolored or of different texture I say , " No thank you ."
Now I do have guys tell me about the MAX tubes mentioned earlier in this thread and like I said check the weight and thickness and be wary which country and your source and I don't care how neighborly friendly they may seem these online speed stores don't check their quality when they run through a freight container full in a couple months . Stick with top quality tire names where possible and ask for origin of manufacture and if it's unknown DO NOT BUY IT . Recycled materials and poor manufacturing processes are mostly to blame from what alot of us have found . With porous material when it gets cold it may deflate quicker so I am cautious with all innertubes especially the ones I drift a river in lol . Have a good day and healthy too !

 

In the last year or two I've put two Nexen tubes in tires of daily driver cars, no problems. Hold air perfectly fine. I believe they are made in Korea.

I got them at the local good ol' tire place. I mount my own tires (manually) and use tal*** powder on the tubes.

 

I've got three different vehicles with tube tires and none of them leak. Two have Excelsior Radials and one has the older style Comp Vs. Two of the cars are long term projects, so they don't do much but sit around the shop with no negligible loss of pressure.

One thing I can recommend is to ensure that your valve stems have a grommet between the stem and the wheel. I've had tire shops install the tubes without a grommet and you could see that the stems were starting to work their way against the hole in the wheel, which would eventually lead to failure. Coker sells the proper grommets.

 

One oldtime trick for making hot-patches stick was to find the leak, rough up the tube surface with the cheese-grater looking lid of a cold-patch can, spread cold-patch glue on the surface and light it with a match. This seems to clean and soften the tube, and promotes a better bond with the hot-patch. YMMV

 

Nice brakes

 

What other brand would that be? I bought some Slime the other day only to realize it's one of several concoctions they sell, one for tubes, one for tubeless, one for emergency only, on highway, off highway... Some rust rims, some don't, some cause imbalance..

https://slime.com/pages/which-slime-sealant-do-i-need

 

When you install the tubes, are you inflating them partially before you put them into the tires and finish putting the tire on the rim? And, when you inflate the tires, are you inflating them until they seat on the rims and then deflating them entirely making sure the valve stem isn't crooked before re-inflating them? My '50 Ford had tubes. Lots of them with multiple patches.

 

Lighting the glue would burn off the solvent and then the patch would stick where if you tried to put the patch on before the solvent evaporated the patch would slip and didn't want to stick to the tube.

 

The only problem I've had with new tubes is a slight loss of pressure shortly after driving the first time.. I buy my tubes from Ecklers (Macs auto parts) and they are made to use in either tube type bias or tubeless radial tires. If you are using tubes not made for radial tires, that would likely be your problem. There is a difference in the "squirm" action of the tire while going down the road. A radial tire will destroy tubes not made for radials. Check the inside of the tires for abnormalities. I had a new 6.00 X 16 bias tire with about 6 inches of wayward cord on the inside. It didn't take long to cut right through the tube, and this was a very light weight little string. Proper and careful mounting procedure is absolutely necessary.

 

What tires are you running? We had some Coker’s that had a little aluminium tag stuck to the inside of the tire, it pierced the tube .