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MG MGA - Inner tubes in tubless tyres

Has anyone experience of running tubless tyres with inner tubes. I keep finding a suitable tyre only to be told I can't run it with tubes. Latest example is a Hankook tyre that would be fine but I'm told not to use it with tubes. One for Steve Gyles:did you run your Hankook tyres with tubes?
J H Cole

Not sure, but it might have something to do with the texture inside, not just for abrasion but for the fact that the tube might get 'dragged' or twisted in only one direction as the tire flexes.
MAndrus

There are two kinds of inner tubes - those made for bias ply and those made for radial. The difference is in the construction of the tube. Radial tires put a lot more strain, friction and heat on an inner tube so the splicing of old bias ply type don't hold up. Tubes made for radials are readily available and do the job without issue. I have three cars running radials with tubes, and they have done so for the past 30 years with no problems. Just be sure to use plenty of talcum powder on the tube and tire, and remove any stickers, glue, etc from the inside of the tire.
Steve Simmons

I ran tubes in tubeless tyres on wires on a sprite for about four years. I suffered a number of punctures. Some of these were down to poor fitting and I discovered the best solution was to use a Morgan dealer as their workshops are regularly asked to work with wires and tubes. The other MAJOR contributing factor was the quality of the inner tube. I had bought some off ebay and they were rubbish. The same Morgan dealer advised me to buy Blockley tubes and they made a world of difference.
Graeme W

Going back to the 70s when I did a lot of miles in my MGA, hence used a lot of tyres, tubeless were taking over from tubed but both were widely stocked. Tubed were always slightly cheaper but I was told that the manufacturers only actually produced tubeless tyres and just scrubbed the seal to make the so called tubed tyres, i.e more work to produce the cheaper tyres. Since tubed tyres really became unavailable I have never had any reservations or problems with running tubes in tubeless tyres. Also Longstone certainly list/supply tubes for the tubeless tyres they sell.

There is a point why a modern tyre dealer will now tell you that you can't do It This is because many of the lower profile tyres they sell for modern cars have substantial internal ribs that would certainly wreck a tube.

Paul
Paul Dean

You can run a radial tube in a bias tire, but not the other way around. I doubt if you can even find a bias-only tube these days. It's also very difficult to find decent quality tubes anymore. The vast majority of modern inner tubes are too thin, and as mentioned can wear through against the ridged inner liner of a modern tire. Also, the manufacturers usually place small stickers inside on the liner. You will want to remove those stickers prior to fitting, otherwise they will wear a hole in the tube, which I have seen happen many times.

-Del
D Rawlins

I talked with the tire people at Beaulieu and as Paul suggests they said not to use tubes on tire profiles of 65 or less but they would not have any concerns when using a profile of 80. I think Graeme's point of using good quality tubes is sensible and I've emailed Hankook direct and put the question to them.
J H Cole

I've run tubes in my 60-profile tires on my daily driver MGB for the past ten years. No problem.
Steve Simmons

I've never had any trouble running tubes in tubeless tires with wire wheels, going back almost 40 years. I also ran tubes in tubeless tires on a BWM 1800-2 which had steel wheels which weren't sealed. The tubes saved me once when I had a tire disintegrate on a busy bridge and the tube, along with what remained of the tire, allowed me to limp off the bridge and onto a side road.
David Breneman

I've got tubes in the tyres on my steel wheeled car because at least one of them, the wheels that is, slowly leaks.
Malcolm Asquith

I would not normally post on this type of thread as I have no specialist knowledge. However, as my name was mentioned in the opener I guess I should respond!

Yes I used tubes in my Hankooks from 1997 to Oct 09 on discs, then transferred to ww. No problems encountered, never a puncture etc. With the tyres then time expired I fitted Firestone 165-15 tubeless, but with tubes fitted. These were supplied, fitted and balanced by Bob West. Again, no issues since then.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Just had a thought.... getting a flat fixed miles from home. Has anyone had trouble getting a tube patched or replaced? Seems that this is likely a skill on the decline, not to mention finding a tube on the shelf when and where you need one. Tool box item?

....
MAndrus

Just make sure you remove all internal QC labels from the tires an d you will be fine. The sharp edges of the plastic labels can puncture the tube after a year or so of driving. Been there, done that.
Chuck Schaefer

If you are within a days drive of home, your spare should suffice. But if on an extended trip I usually carry the spare plus one extra inner tube. In a worst case scenario, a truck stop should be able to patch a tire for you, and in an even worse scenario, you can mail order a tube overnight.
Steve Simmons

I carried a bicycle repair kit. It works just fine in a pinch. Really! If you can break the bead, you can pull the tube and repair it.
Chuck Schaefer

I have heard back from Hankook tires who do not recommend the use of tubes in their tubless tires for the following reasons:

1 The wheel rim may not be compatible with the tire rim

2 the speed rating needs to be down rated

3 the inner face of the tire is ribbed and can lead to 'chaffing' of the tire

4 their is a 'build tag' on the inner face that can also lead to 'chaffing'

I am not over concerned about items 1 & 2 since I do not think there's a compatibility problem and my car speeds are not in excess of say 75 mph. Not sure what a 'build tag' is, I thought it may be a label which could come off but it might be a raised identification code.
The issue as I see it comes down to the 'chaffing' or abrasion and one has to take a view on it. The Beaulieu tire people said they have no concerns as long as the tire profile is above 65. Other tire fitters said no problems but a few did not like the idea. On Barney's site I think it's fair to say he was not keen on it.
The specialist tire suppliers seem to be slowly cornering the market for tubed tires and a decent tire from them is now costing in the region of £100 plus the cost of fitting £15 per tire plus possibly a new tube. So it seems a pity that a good reasonably priced tubed tire say £60-£70 fitted may soon be unobtainable from a general supplier


J H Cole

There are other tires out there, maybe just go with something other than the Hankook. I've also heard of people grinding the inside of a tire smooth but that seems like a lot of work.
Steve Simmons

This thread was discussed between 02/09/2015 and 06/09/2015

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