Strange Tire Tale

[TR6BILL]

OK, let me set the scene. I am running 15" Panasports with 205/70 Michelins on my four corners. Because I have an aluminum gas tank, which is over-sized, this size tire won't fit in my spare tire cubby. Sooo, I used one of my OE steel wheels and fitted it with a nice, new Vredestein 185/15 tire. All was good until I found that my spare kept losing air, however small an amount. I changed the valve and no good. Still dropped to about 20lbs after 2 months. I figure the wheel has a minor leak and had the bright idea of just tubing the spare! Called Coker (from whom I bought the Vredestein) and relayed my dilemma. They said just tube the tire. Sent me a radial-compatible tube and I promptly went to the local tire shop to have it installed. NO WAY, they said. Cannot put a tube in a radial tire! Refused! Called Coker. They said baloney. So, what is the call? Can I mount a radial tire with a tube? Frustrating, at best....

 

[Brosky]

Years ago tire shops never wanted to mount tubes in radial tires due to the rough insides that were prevalent on the original steel belted when they first hit the market. That issue had since become a non issue many years ago and was never a problem on Michelin, Goodyear or Bridgestones

I can remember installing many tubes in tires to find a hole in the tube 5 miles after inflation and it wasn't pinched, but was caused by the inside surface of the tire. Back then, the steel belts could break and protrude through. Those issues are unheard of today.

My Michelin 185/15 were radial and had tubes. Tubes were standard equipment on all TR6's, no matter which radial tire they had from the factory.

 

[Andrew Mace]

The only caveat I'm aware of is that the tube should be compatible with radial tires. There might have been more than one type of tube at some point; I don't know if there still is. I wonder if your local tire shop just has never dealt with tubes and really didn't know what to do. Not that there's any great trick to fitting a tube, other than perhaps a bit of talc and preinflating the tube with just a couple pounds of air, fitting it, deflating and reinflating everything while making sure the valve stays straight.

 

[2wrench]

Bill, I had the same experience. Tubes are removed.

 

[DougF]

I agree with the radial compatible tubes. I, along with half the wire wheeled folks out there run tubes on my radial tires. Our major concern is abrasion against the spokes. I strapped a band around them with the original wheels, but the Daytons I now run have a factory band. I say "half" because there are tubeless wires now on the market.
The original Michelins on my 3 ran tubes. My car had the original tires on when I bought it at 22,000 miles. The Redlines on my first TR6, not original, had tubes.

 

[TR3driver]

Try a different tire store.

Technically speaking, tubeless tires (either radial or bias-ply) need to be derated when used with tubes, because the tube both traps and generates heat. With all the fuss in recent years over people being killed by tire failures brought on by overloading, I can't really blame the shop for being cautious. Especially since tire makers no longer publish the derating factor. But in a practical sense, our cars are so light in comparison to the tire ratings that there is no need to worry about the deration.

The shop I use will do just about anything I ask for, especially if I slip the guy working the machine an extra $5. I like them because they also don't care if I bring in tires from somewhere else (like TireRack).

Another solution that has worked for me is to give the inside of the wheel (facing the tire) a generous coat of rattle-can paint.

 

[John_Mc]

This may the absolute wrong thing, but I had a leaking tire after I switched rims and I used fix-a-flat with good results. The tire was good but it seems there was somewhere along the rim that didn't seal 100% and occasionally the tire would go flat when parked. I used a can of fix-a-flat and it never deflated again. I know some people have expressed reasons for not using those fix-a-flat products, but it did seem to work.

 

[70herald]

the Herald has tubes in 5/5 radial tires. No problems just find a tire shop that knows what they are talking about. The shop I use has been in a single family for 60+ years.

 

[tdskip]

Bill - is the inside of the rim clean and unscratched? I had a similar issue and the tire place I trust indicated the slow leaks like that are common when the rim & bead where the tire wants to seal isn't smooth.

Could be the bead on that one tire, since I think your rims are pretty new still...

 

[NickMorgan]

Bill,
I used to run a variety of cars with radial tyres and the standard way of repairing punctures here until about 10 years ago was to fit a tube. Never had any problems.
I have previously noticed that a new tyre fitted on the spare will deflate. I suspect that they need to run on the car for a while to help them seat properly.
I had a problem with a tyre slowly deflating on my TR and when I had my new tyres fitted the guy in the garage painted a black rubberised tyre sealer around the rims. The next morning I noticed this had dried and I could peal off any excess. Anyway the new tyre is keeping its pressure perfectly.
Nick

 

[Tomster]

As an alternate suggestion smear the inner weld area of the rim with silicone to see if that doesn't fix the slow leak