Inner tubes for radial tires? Is it necessary?

[central52]

I'm thinking of putting Coker 16 in. radial tires on my 47 Plymouth. Their website describes the tire and says that a tube is required. But, Diamond Back Tires has 16 in. radials and says that no tubes are required.

I talked to my local tire dealer here in Connecticut, (Town Fair Tire), and he says that I don't need to put tubes in the Cokers. He said that some states do require a tube with radial tires, but not in Connecticut. Interesting. Is this so?

So, am I to assume it's all right to put the Coker radials on without a tube? Ed P.

[Dennis Hemingway]

Ed, I run radials without tubes on my stock 15" 1948 Plymouth rims with no problems.

Dennis

[RFleetwood]

I was just thinking about the same thing. what size tire are you running on the factory rim with a radial tire. What did they do about the shrader valve?

just a few thoughts Im kicking around and had considered ordering new wheels.

thanks Rich

[Dennis Hemingway]

I am running P205-75R15 tires on the stock rims. Here is how they look on the car.

Dennis

[Young Ed]

I have 21575r15s on my stock rims. Here's one of them. No tubes or anything too special required. On my truck I have 16in radials and the only thing extra for those rims was a metal screw together type valve stem.

[BobT-47P15]

I use tubes with my Chrysler wire wheels as I suspect they may leak due

to the way they are made, and they are old -- 1955 models. I recently

put a set of radials on some 53 Plymouth rims that were rusty - should have

cleaned them up but did not - and they leaked when tubeless. So they

now have tubes. Have found older Mopar rims on cars purchased that

had the metal valve stems that screw on. They seemed to be working

just fine as tubeless.

[blueskies]

I have tubes under my radials. Several of my wheels have the oval valve stem hole, and my tire shop said the stems that fit the oval holes are a bit hokey and prone to problems, and recommended that I stick with the tubes...

Pete

[Niel Hoback]

Tubes make radials run hotter. Most inner tubes will say on the "not for use in radial tires". There are inner tubes made that say "for use in radial tires".

I have been using 205-70 radials on my P-15 for several years with excellent performance. The oval stem holes do require a bolt through stem, but they are common on bigger truck tires. Nothing hokey about them. The ones I have use a rubber washer on both sides of the wheel that seals them perfectly.

I think, also, that radials tires without tubes are easier to balance, not to mention much easier to mount and dismount. Did'ja ever pinch a tube with your tire iron? Or am I showing my age again?

[Don Coatney]

Did'ja ever pinch a tube with your tire iron? Or am I showing my age again?

You are showing your age again:rolleyes:

Most guys who work in tire shops today do not know what a tube is. And they would not have a clue on how to repair a tube. Remember the hot patches? You had to clamp the patch to the tube, remove the tape covering the flammable stuff, light it with a match and let it burn until it went out. Perfect patch every time.

[Uncle-Pekka]

I would NOT put a tube in a radial unless it is absolutely the last thing to hold the air in (I mean if the rim is leaking or has extraordinary hole for the valve).

I am saying this because I've had 3 or 4 flats in the speed with a tube fitted in a radial tire. It is quite unconfortable, because it happens in a second. Air escapes very fast through the valve hole and you easily loose control, especially if it is front tire.

A radial without a tube never behaves this way (if it is not busted big way by some external object) - even if it is bad, it leaks slow giving you time to react.

Just like Niel told, the combination runs hot. I suppose this is partly due to radial tire characteristics, it "lives" in respect to the tube, i.e. they are constantly rubbing each other. After the flats I have always seen a hole of a size of a plum in the tube, also severe wear on all around the tube.

Thus, I recommend sand blast and proper paint on the rims and then radials WITHOUT tubes. - Drive safely!

[Captain Neon]

I'm sorry, but I do not know what size tyres I have on my P15, but I have traveled thousands of miles over the last eight years on my radial tyres without tubes. The only problem I ever had was a slow leak that I had fixed with better rim cleaning and a little extra sealant. I haven't done anything special with my radial tyres in years. I treat'em the same way as all my other tyres.

[David Maxwell]

Wives tale or fact…

Are radial tires safe for my stock rims?

It is a common question for us to offer proof that Diamond back Classic radials can be installed tubeless on older rims. I do not know how I can offer physical proof, however, I can offer an opinion based on my 35 years of experience.

The issue that needs to be discussed- can a radial tire be installed tubeless on an older rim, and will radial tires cause older rims to split? Let's look at our answers to these two questions.

The first radials were imported to the US in the late 1960's by Sears. These tires were manufactured by Michelin. Because of the improvement in ride, handling and safety these radials became immensely popular. These tires were sold by the hundreds of thousands by Sears nationwide. Neither Sears or Michelin ever specified that these tires had to be mounted on different rims—these tires were sold in numerous sizes for every make of American car and most were mounted tubeless.

The first American company to build radial tires was BF Goodrich in the late 1960's. BF Goodrich spent millions on the development and advertising of modern radial tires. Again, BF Goodrich never said that radial tires had to be mounted on specialized rims. Radial tires were installed on the stock, OE, rims. Were there any problems? Not to my knowledge.

Let's step back a few years to 1957. This was the first year of the tubeless tires developed and manufactured by BF Goodrich. These tires were built to work on existing rims. There were no rim modifications to accept their new tires.

The point to be made is: throughout the development of the tubeless tire and the radial tire, there was no parallel development in rim technology.

In my years in the tire industry, I have not seen a tubeless radial tire that has caused an original rim to split or malfunction.

Bill Chapman

President CEO

[curtiswyant]

I put radials on my stock wheels and one leaks occasionally. I should have cleaned and painted the wheels first, or just bought new Wheel Vintiques. Make sure you get the screw-in type valve stems.

[50PlymouthSled]

Can you run port o walls on the radials? Haha. Sorry, just a random thought while on the subject of radials. :] If not, I'll just go with Bias Ply WWW's. Thanks for the info guys.

[BobT-47P15]

The problem with portawalls on radials is the flexing of the sidewalls.

However, they might work on something not driven much.

[50PlymouthSled]

Yeah, mine is gonna be a daily driver, so I don't think that's gonna do the trick then. Hm.