Tubes or not tubes that is the question

[SGTBILKO]

Am I right in thinking that radial tyres fitted on standard MM rims must have tubes fitted? I have already searched this forum on the subject and opinion seems divided. My recently purchased Minor has a fairly new set of radials fitted and they slowly lose air over time. Some twenty years ago I had an MG TD which was a bit of a dog and it had a tired set of radials fitted without tubes. A definate no-no on that car. If tubes are required I will have to take my tyres off to check. Thanks for any advice given.[frame][/frame]

[charlie_morris_minor]

Am I right in thinking that radial tyres fitted on standard MM rims must have tubes fitted? I have already searched this forum on the subject and opinion seems divided.

I think you have already answered your question.. opinion is devided I run without tubes and have about 20 years without any problems.. could it be corrosion on the rims.. not likely from the looks of the wheels but might be worth investigating..

[mike.perry]

I agree, if the rims are in goood condition then there are no problems running tubeless on radials, I have been doing it for over thirty years and I am not noted for my gentle cornering and I have never had a tyre come off or lose air pressure. If you were cicuit racing then probably tubes would be advisable.

[Alec]

Hello Sgtbilko,

Minor rims were originally riveted to the centre, but at what age they changed to welded wheels I don't know. However it's feasible that an old wheel was fitted to a later car. I would doubt if the early wheel would be air tight so a tube would be the way to go?

Alec

[mike.perry]

My wheels are Series MM, vintage 1952. No problems

[bmcecosse]

Try looking for the leak - with a paint brush and soapy water. It may be around the valve seating - if they werent cleaned back to good metal before fitting the valves. My tyres are running tubeless (on LP917 wheels) except for one that had a puncture and a tube seemed the easy way to fix it esp as I had it 'in stock'.

[rayofleamington]

just to add agreememnt on the previous comments - opinion is divided, and that's because neither option is perfect.

Most importantly though - unless your tyre has a slow puncture or the rim surface is a mess (e.g. corrossion) then your tyres should not deflate with or without tubes!

Modern radials will wear the tubes, albeit very gradually. It's unlikely this will be a problem.
The rims are not designed for tubeless tyres. It's again unlikely that this will be a problem - however in an accident it is possible to push the tyre off the rim and get an instant deflation. The chances of doing this when you would be able to drive away if it were not for the flat tyre are pretty low anyway!

Tubes were really useful in the days before we had such nice roads - punctures were more common and tubes were not so hard to repair as you can find the hole more easily and don't need to relyu on sealing the tyere to the rim in order to reflate... Lets face it, only a very strange person would think about doing that these days, but if you would, then tubes are the way to go! (on a modern car you won't even get the tyre off the rim)

[mike.perry]

Never let a [tyre specialist] fitter loose on a tyre with an innertube. You will not have an innertube for very long.

[rayofleamington]

Sorry - I removed the reference to any particular brand of tyre fitter - partly because most are similar in competence and/or lack of competence, and somebody would try and have a go if we left a criticism in place, as we have to moderate the other ones... ;-)

Again another agreement - tyre fitters are very unlikely to be well practised at fitting tubes. Without experience it is easy to make a mess of it and they messed up the last one I had done, but managed to salvage it and let the boss have a go because he knew what he was doing.

Also don't let them tighten your wheel nuts!! They are so used to modern cars that it's realy hard for them to do Minors nuts safely

[SGTBILKO]

I appreciate everyone's contribution to the above question. It seems that fitting tubes is not really a worthwhile operation and if I understand rightly, beware of tyre fitters! Already in almost any car the wheels-nuts are locked on so tight that you haven't a cat in hell's chance of changing the wheel on the roadside, especially whith the toy wheel brace supplied with a Morris Minor! My tyres seem to go down very slowly over a period of days and I have never found the car with a flat. Weekly checks of tyre pressures is not a bad thing but who does that nowadays? It does seem curious that the well worn spare does not lose air and the other near new tyres do. I will try the trick with soapy water. Sarg.

[bmcecosse]

Check especially around the valves........ And - blow them up to at least 30/34 psi in the first place. In fact I use 38 psi if I have any load in the rear of my Trav - and the tyres still feel 'warm' after a run.

[mike.perry]

We could now start a prolonged discussion on what is the correct pressure for radial tyres. 28 psi on 155 x 14s. 24/26 on 175/13s on my Traveller

[Alec]

Hello Mike,

the pressure is a compromise and within certain parameters up to personal preference.

Alec