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What to do about TIRES?

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rlich8

rlich8

Jedi Trainee
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Alright,

I took the TR4A in for a wheel alignment yesterday. The car is a thousand times better, toe in was super off, as was camber and castor. One thing the tech has suggested is that I get new tires - he's right.

The tires on my car are 195/15's. The car has what I believe to be 15x5 or 15x5.5 chrome wire wheels on it. I think using the original 165/15's is out of the question. A few months ago, when I first posted about getting new tires, I planned on using the Vredestein Sprint Classic's

The guys at Just Tires were very nice, by the way, and he did a great job of aligning my car, but when I started talking to him about getting tires for it, I think I lost him.

The predicament is this. They want to mount a tubeless tire on those rims. That will definitely not work - they'll never seal up. I told him that a few guys recommended I use a tube w/ tubeless tires, but he said they can't do that for insurance purposes and that it's not safe.

SO...is there a way to seal up these wire wheels? Or, are there some reasonably priced tube tires I can purchase?

I'd really rather not mount these myself, I don't feel like breaking my ass for 6 hours installing tires...I push the limit enough at work!!!

Help....thank you!! :smile:
 
Ok, I think they are 15x5.5 with 72 spokes.

The tires on there right now are Michelin MXV 195/65R15's. 3 of the 4 appear to have tubes.

AHHH I'm so confused.
 
I know at one point in time they made radial tubes, but have not been able to find them doing an internet search, You are probably stuck using regular tubes. I have run my wire wheels with tubes and had no issues in 4 years

Hondo
 
The problem isn't the tubes, it's the tires. Except for a few 'specialty' tires (eg from Coker Tire), they haven't made tires that are rated for use with tubes for a long time.

Best solution, IMO, is to find a tire shop that will put tubes in tubeless tires. Generally, the small independent shops will, while the national chains won't.

The concern is real; the tires need to be derated when used with tubes, because the tubes increase the heat buildup in the tire, which directly affects both speed and load ratings. However, almost any good tire will be way overrated (both speed and load) for what your TR needs, so IMO you should still be safe with tubes. Your old MXVs, for example, were rated to 1279 pounds per tire (about twice what your 4A puts on them) and 130mph (about 30 mph more than a stock 4A will do).

But I'm not the one that will get sued if I'm mistaken.

Another solution might be to try to seal up your wheels. Clean the area thoroughly, and try filling the area above the spoke ends with a high temp silicone RTV (like maybe the "red" gasket maker stuff). That's basically what Dayton does for their "tubeless" wire wheels.
 
Depending on when the wire wheels were purchased and who the vendor was, you might have tubeless wire wheels from Dayton and don't need tubes assuming the seal is holding.

Scott
 
rlich8 said:
...3 of the 4 appear to have tubes...
Click to expand...

HerronScott said:
...you might have tubeless wire wheels from Dayton and don't need tubes assuming the seal is holding...
Click to expand...

If one wheel is mounted w/o a tube then I agree you may very well have sealed wheels, though improving the seal may be prudent.
 
I "think" one of them doesn't have a tube.

I wish I knew the source of these wire wheels, unfortunately I don't. They are in great shape, no doubt about that, but I really know nothing past the fact that they are chrome, 72 spoke, and I believe 5.5" wide.

Am I OK to use a 165 on that width? Or should I aim for a 175?

I can't seem to find a 165/15 or 175/15 tube tire to go along with them.
 
Should be easy to tell if they are "tubeless" wire wheels. Just look at the spoke nipples inside where the tire sits. Ordinary wire wheels will have just a rubber or plastic strap to cover the nipples, while the "tubeless" variety will have silicone RTV (cement) covering them.
 
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