Len,
re:
"the tubes are made for radials"
But are the radials made for tubes; i.e. does the tire's spec call for
tubes? Probably not--one of the advantages of radials is that they are
meant to run without tubes, which at the very least allow the tire to run
cooler. There was also a discussion a while back about a catastrophic
failure mode with tubes, but I don't remember the specifics (something
about a failing tube tearing up the inside of the tire).
If you're running tubes in radials and are happy, that's fine with me. The
original point was that we shouldn't be running without tubes on wheels
that were built for tires using tubes, and the only tires that I know of that
require tubes are bias-ply. This implied we're running radials on wheels that
were meant only for bias-ply tires--which could be a problem, I suspect--but
we're OK if we use tubes (otherwise, we're making a mistake running radials
on our Daytons, Dunlops and Minilites). Made no sense to me--if the tire is
going to break the bead because of underinflation it doesn't seem (to me) to
matter if the underinflation was due to a leaking tube or tire. I suppose a
tube
buys a little protection, but if something (e.g., a nail) pierces the inch or
so of
rubber and a steel belt it's probably going to pierce the tube as well.
Anyway, if you can run a radial without tubes, why wouldn't you?
bs
********************************************
Bob Spidell San Jose, CA bspidell@pacbell.net
'67 Austin-Healey 3000 '56 Austin-Healey 100M
********************************************
> I have had tubes in my radials as long as I have used radials which is a
> long time since I have had the Healey for about 34 years. I have never had
> a tube fail from chafing. I have had Michelins, Avons, Pirellis, and now
> Vredesteins and they all had autocross and track experience. Since I
> recently had new wheels and new tires installed, I replaced the old tubes
> only because of age, not defects. They still looked good. And, the tubes
> are made for radials. The last wheel man that worked on my wheels and
> tires put a powder in the tire before he inserted the tubes which is to
> allow for the movement of the tube inside the tire and avoid chafing.
>
> (The Other) Len
> Vacaville, CA
> 1967 3000 MKIII HBJ8L39031
>
>
> > [Original Message]
> > From: Bob Spidell <bspidell@pacbell.net>
> >
> > The only tires I know of that were made for tubes are bias ply ... I
> think most of
> > us--including Peter with his 185/70 Vredesteins--are running radials which
> > are NOT designed to be run with tubes (the sideways flex of a radial
> causes
> > chafing of the tubes).
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