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Wire Wheel Woes!

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mylillooker

mylillooker

Senior Member
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Got a flat in a rear tire tube. After closer inspection, the tire guy thinks it's the rust on the rim (rough and sometimes jagged) that could be to blame. He also thinks that a new or repaired tube could suffer the same fate. Short of refurbishing it right now or heaven forbid buying a new one, do you think I colud wrap the rim in "DUCT TAPE" (yup, I said it!) and keep rollin'? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif ...at least for a while?

BTW, he says getting the tube back in the tire is difficult ...as he remembers it from back in the late sixties. Truth? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif I don't know...you tell me.

Mario
 
Mario,
Do you really want to bet on duct tape at 60 mph? just a thought.

mark
 
Good question, but what are my other options? What and how long would it take to repair the rim? I'm looking for a fix to get me into the fall/winter, when I can actually devote time to it. As it stands, it's not my daily driver. I'm just looking to enjoy it before I start on several more major projects.
 
If the tube leak was on the area that contacts the wheel, he is likely correct. The wheels should have a rubber band, some use duct tape, over the spoke area to protect the tube. Certainly getting the tube back in is more difficult than no tube. You don't just poke the tube in and hope. It requires a liberal application of talcum powder or some such, plus partial inflation of the tube etc. Also, no high spots, rough spots, labels, or snags on the inner tire surface. A lot of tire changing "machines" are not suitable for tubed tires & they should be done with hand tools. If you don't think he knows how to mount a tubed tire, go somewhere else.
D
 
Also look inside the tire. SOme mfr's affix a label or tag to the inside. This can rub against the tube and cause problems.

It also depends where on the rim the rust is. If it is where the spokes come through, duct tape will work. If it is in a different area, just sanding, priming and painting should do it. If the rust is in an are the tube does not come in contact with, no problem.

Mike
 
Here's where a little bit of "Hip hop" generation becomes helpful. As you may notice, many "lowriders" have a newer style of spoke rims. They work the same. If you go to a shop that does a lot of lowrider applications, they should be pretty knowledgeable about wire wheels. I took my wheels to a nearby shop which could definitely be described as "Ghetto". They have both newer and older styles of tire changing machines, they had an entire selection of inner tubes in stock and had my tires changed out in no time. The only problem I had was that they did a terrible job of balancing the center locking wheels. I took the wheels then to a more modern reputable shop to be properly spin balanced. As a side note, when I went to have them balance (for the second time) I took along the Moss catalog which has explicit instructions on how a center locking wire wheel should be balanced. That way I could let them read the instructions and point to the pictures and take out all the guess work. Good luck /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

JACK
 
Cool Beans! pimp yer ride while yer there with 80 gold spoke 24" rims and a dvd in the dash, and a bounce system if the old Armstongs will take it!
 
great idea the 'ghetto'guys doin da down and dirty, den havin da guys what can actually read numbers do da balance,but if you try it with hand tools better have the phone numbers handy of both a great plastic surgeon and a good orthodontist,good luck.by the way most of the 'ghetto guys i know are pretty darn talented!
 
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