Dave & Bud,
I have NOS Dunlop Gold Cup bias ply tubeless tires (5.60x16) which I
originally installed without tubes. Held air just fine for many years just
sitting in the basement but one of the members of the local MG Car Club said
tubes should be installed. The reason cited was that the type of rims we
have will allow the bead of the tire to slip off the edge of the rim under a
sudden or hard turn. I don't expect to encounter this hard turn condition
but safety is obviously a factor. It was explained that American cars of the
day have a "safety rim" which has some kind of a bead retaining feature built
into the rim that resists the bead of the tire slipping off to cause a sudden
deflation of one or more tires. So, I stuck tubes in the tires just to be
sure.
Now that I have the 4.3 rear end, I also have the scuttle-shake problem at
higher cruise speeds. Balancing helped but didn't totally resolve the
vibration problem. Now, I'm told that I should have tubeless tires with
tubes to solve my shakes. From what Bud says, it sounds like I won't be much
better off and probably make some scavenger very happy with a near new set of
bias tires and tubes. I also read that bias tubes are different than radial
tubes so I get the short end there too! It's beginning to look like I should
leave well enough alone tire-wise and just be happy that the engine isn't
flogging itself to death when I hit 60 or 65 MPH.
I'll be looking for more opinions on the subject. Jim
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