have some aftermarket wires i had sandblasted and am wanting to powdercoat ! i see after i got them back there appears to be some sort of rubber liner that almost looks like a rubber band on the inside of the rim , i ***ume its put on there to seel off the spoke ******s and prevent air leaks ? i don't think it would stand a chance in the bake oven though , my question is does anyone know where i could have this reapplied after powdercoating them ? i don't really want to have to run tubes ! thanks for any info ! they are early mclean wheels i believe !
I think there's a product called Liquid Electrical Tape - it's sold at hardware stores - or call a wire wheel manufacturer - Jimmy at Rally America in Fresno should be able to tell you - he's here on the HAMB under the name Wheelkid.
Rim bands like you describe have been used on spoke wheels since early bicycle times. It is used to keep the ends of the spokes from chafing through the tubes. I can't think of any reliable way to run spoke wheels without inner tubes. Several wraps of good old Duct tape will probably work OK, it does on my bikes and motorcycle wheels.
just hit a motorcycle shop and pick up some rim straps in the size you need. Or you can probably use the liquid electric tape as said earlier or some sort of silicone.
Actually there are quite a few wire rims that are tubeless and reliable. The ones I ran on my Buick are from a Jaguar and tubeless. Daytons are tubeless. Lots of spoke M/C rims are tubeless. Not an issue. But to remove it from a tubeless wire rim I've used silicone. But then I see an issue with powder coating the rims as one piece rather than the individual parts.
I have a set of older wires I run tubes I have been running with the inner liner of course, never had a issue,,,,and I have always used baby powder,to help keep the rubber from chaffing and sticking.
just called ralleye america and spoke with jimmy aka wheelkid here on the hamb ! he curtiously answered my questions and told me how to re apply the silicon liner ! i will be doing all future business with them and would highly recomend them !
I'd use the rubber bands like a motorcycle. A lot easier to work with later if you need to work on the wheel than something glued to the wheel.
Funny thing about those, they don't seal the wheel. If you look he wants to still be able to run tubeless.
not planning on running tubes so have to seal the spoke ******s w silicone ! not a big deal peeled the old stuff out w a little elbow grease so not too woried about having to do it again !