tube type tires

[chucky07]

Was wondering ...I have tubes in all my 16" tires on my 52....

I want to put radal tubeless on the same rim.....Will these rims hold air without tube?

[4852dodge]

Unless you have a drop center rim, no lock rings etc, you must use a tube and flap. My local tire dealer will not mount a radial type tire on a rim that has a lock ring. The lock ring works very well with a bias ply tire but the radial puts a lot of side pressure on the lock ring and they have failed. That sends the tire off the rim usually at the worst time. A drop center wheel is the type found on all cars and trucks in the last 15 years.

[chucky07]

my rims are solid no lock ring..just 16" stock rims with baby moon hubcaps that say dodge....guess ill ask tire shop if they will mount radials on them

[greg g]

You may need to buy some two piece valves, and put some silicone around the rivets. But lots of folks have been running radials tubless with no problem on ths standard steel mopar rims. mals sure the rim to tire contact area is smooth and cleaned of rust. Also remember these are 4.5 inch wide rims so you shouldn't use real wide tires. 205's maybe at the most 89 or 75 aspect is a lot better than 70's or 65's.

[grey beard]

I have 215 R85 x 16's on my 1948 B1B with the stock 16-inch narrow rims. I would recommend these to anyone who has a 4:10 rear axle ratio. It puts the 218 motor at just about the right happy rpm range on the highway, in my humble opinion. They are high and narrow, and sorta' have that stock look. If you go any wider than this, be prepared to have hard steering when you are parking, ec.

I also recommend that as Greg said, if you use your sixty-year-old rims, get them sandblasted and powdercoated. That's what I did and I have had no issues with leakage over two years' time. Rim beads gotta' be clean or they won't seal. No tubes are necessary, but you will need to do some convincing to get the average tire man to install a radial on these narrow rims until he actually sees how they look. Then he'll like 'em just as much as you will.

[Dennis_MN]

Because our stock narrow rims have a oblong valve hole, a normal rubber tubless valve may leak. These metal two piece valve stems are recommended.

I run tubless on mine and I love them

Dennis

[Merle Coggins]

The oval valve stem hole is interesting. I have 15" rims on my truck. They are 5 1/2" wide and have a regular round valve stem hole. I did sand blast and paint my rims, then picked up some standard rubber push in valves and mounted 235 75R 15s. Apparently the 16 inch rims are considerably different.

Merle

[Jim Gaspard]

Dave, I'm ready to do my rims and want to be correct in original factory color. I thought getting the right powder coat yellow was almost impossible. How close did you get to the original stock color?

[chucky07]

Well i took my four tube type 16" tires off my truck today while I"m waiting on a new fuel Pump (starting problem all along I guess..took your advice and tested and no fuel came out when pumping )

Anyhow...all 4 tires shops here said they would be dangerous with radials on them..I explained what you guys said..and how you ran em...but they are ignorant I guess...

So..next question..what would you reccomend if I really want radials? Get New Rims? Is it easy to put lug studs in my brake drums so I can use aftermarket rims? Can I find rims made especially for radials the same size as I have now (650 16R)?

just trying to figure out the best route to take..

thanks

Oh..I was thinking about mounting the tires myself..but I dont have a tire machine..and it would probably be too hard to do the old fashioned way...

[Mike Perrin]

It's a bit of work to mount the tires by hand but the problem is not that-- it is balancing the tires after you mount them. I don't know if those same tire shops that refused to mount them would also refuse to balance them too? I believe I might shop around for some replacement rims that looked somewhat original but have the drop center for tubeless. OR you could just run tubes and tires like it is now and be happy:) Mike

[Young Ed]

Did you tell them what the rims were from? When this came up a while back a few guys reported having good luck with just bringing the rims and saying put this tire on. When I got mine thats what I did.

[Aaron]

I just had these Dunlop Rover AT 215x85R-16 mounted with tubes and they turned out great and run very nice.

[socalkevin07]

wow that looks great...and they fit perfect...im gona try to get my tubes out and dismount the old bias ply tires by hand then take them to a shop and tell them they are off a 80's truck then they will mount em....hahaahaha

Hey what is the closest match size wise to the 650 16's I have on now? i'm thinking a 215/85...but not sure..thx

[buds truck]

Because our stock narrow rims have a oblong valve hole, a normal rubber tubless valve may leak. These metal two piece valve stems are recommended.

I run tubless on mine and I love them

Dennis

my friend has a set of rims that he has prepped for radials, but cannot find the correct metal 2 piece valve stems that will completely cover the oval hole. where can he get them or does someone have 4 that they will sell? He has tried napa, schucks, all the major tire stores in our area with no luck. apparently the oval hole is almost 3/4 of an inch at its widest. HELP PLEASE. Bud

[wldavis3]

Bud,

My tire store got the metal valve stems for oval

valve stem holes for me when they mounted

four 15 inch radials on my stock rims (tubeless).

But, I can't tell you where they got them. I

think from their warehouse. But, I have read on

this forum that they are available at a "big truck"

shop, but I have not tested this theory.

[wldavis3]

Bud,

I did a quick internet search for these valve stems.

Go to patchboy.com

click on the box "valve stems"

In the left hand list, click on "brass truck tire valve stems"

Look at code 17-501-OV

This is what you need.

[grey beard]

Before you break out in a sweat looking for brass bolt-in valve stems, look at the valve stem holes in your rims. Apparantly not all rims are the same. My 1948 has round holes - took stock round valve stems, and is still very happy this way. Go figure. Mebby the oval rims with oval oles were just used on cars.

[buds truck]

Before you break out in a sweat looking for brass bolt-in valve stems, look at the valve stem holes in your rims. Apparantly not all rims are the same. My 1948 has round holes - took stock round valve stems, and is still very happy this way. Go figure. Mebby the oval rims with oval oles were just used on cars.

they are oval and approx 3/4 of an inch at the widest point. is this normal??

[Powerhouse]

I just had these Dunlop Rover AT 215x85R-16 mounted with tubes and they turned out great and run very nice.

Do you run these with tubes???

[Powerhouse]

Can I find rims made especially for radials the same size as I have now (650 16R)?

tire size converted to radial is approx. 165 80 R16 ...as per...

width

inches metric height(width * profile(.80) * 2 + rim size)

6.00 * 25.4 = 152.4 25.6

6.50 * 25.4 = 165.1 26.4

7.00 * 25.4 = 177.8 27.2

7.50 * 25.4 = 190.5 28

8.00 * 25.4 = 203.2 28.8

try this link to test out size ratio aspects...

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

It looks to me like the 205 70 R16 is closest normal modern size...215 65 R16 have also been used for 8 years by Captain Neon on this forum.

I'm also looking in to getting radials on my 39 P7...I have 16 inch stock wheels with 6.5x16 Bias on there now...