Radial Inner Tubes - Factory Wire Wheels

[Alan H. Tast]

I'm throwing this out in both '61-'63 and '64-66 Forums. I'm replacing the tires on the Sports Roadster, which is riding on original 48-spoke Kelsey-Hayes wires. From discussions with my tire person over the past few days they're telling me they've only been able to find radial tire-rated tubes sized for use with 205/75R14 and 225/75R14 tires, meaning they haven't found one yet that specifically fits the 215-75R14 Hankooks I'm going to put on. They have been speaking directly with Coker Tire about tubes for use with the 215-75R14s but still don't have an answer.

What have others been using for tubes with factory wires and 215/75/R14s, and where did you get them from? If either the 205 or 225-sized tube would work, I'd like to know that ASAP as they could still get them in Omaha and install the tires as soon as I can drop them off.

BTW, I did watch as they removed tags from inside the new tires this morning, and they are date-coded for the 49th week of 2017, so that makes me feel better...

[OldRusty1]

Alan, My '62 has all five P215/75R14 American Classic 1' WWall tires. The spare has a tube from Coker Tire - Tube item #85365 195/215R15 TR13 OFFSET RADIAL KR14/15 which I purchased in Sept. 2015. The four other tires have tubes from Universal Vintage Tire Co. - Tube item #U85364 185/195R15 TR-13 OFFSET MICHELIN TUBE PURCHASED in April 2016. No problems with any to date. Just remember to have good liners to protect the tubes from the back of the spokes and use Talc in the tire when installing tube and mounting.

[Alan H. Tast]

Alan, My '62 has all five P215/75R14 American Classic 1' WWall tires. The spare has a tube from Coker Tire - Tube item #85365 195/215R15 TR13 OFFSET RADIAL KR14/15 which I purchased in Sept. 2015. The four other tires have tubes from Universal Vintage Tire Co. - Tube item #U85364 185/195R15 TR-13 OFFSET MICHELIN TUBE PURCHASED in April 2016. No problems with any to date. Just remember to have good liners to protect the tubes from the back of the spokes and use Talc in the tire when installing tube and mounting.

OldRusty:

Are you running original or repop wires with the 14" rim (i.e. 14" dia. x 5.5" wide)? From the reply you're using the 14"-size tire, which is good, but am curious about the 15" diameter for the tube?

Also, what did you do for a liner, as the OEM-style ones have not been available that I'm aware of for quite some time (and I'm going back to the late '80s-early '90s with that observation). Wrapping the inside of the rims with duct tape is not one option I really want to resort to, and I haven't found a source locally for the rubberized/cushioned electrician's tape (I forgot size and related info on that part - need to dig up and insert into this thread).

To those who are interested, TR13 is the valve stem size, Offset means that the valve stem location is offset from the center line of the wheel/tire (there are wheels with holes in the middle of the rim, hence the need to distinguish an offset stem location).

[OldRusty1]

Alan, When I had my original '63SR with original KH wheels, I ran these radial tubes in both bias (for Nat'l & Regional Shows) & radial tires using the tape that is used to wrap gas pipe that is buried in the ground. Duct tape will eventually get brittle from heat and work on the tube.
The '62 sports repop T-Bird wires. The tubes work on both 14" & 15" tires/wheels. Note the Coker tube is even listed as a KR14/15.

[MN63Tbird]

Alan I used the GR13/14/15 (TR13) heavy duty tube on my repop 14" wire wheels. I dont know the brand, it was not on the invoice but a quick check on line and a number of manufacturers make them. Firestone, Michelen etc. I run 215 R70 14" Uniroyals The valve stem does need to be off set to fit into the the wire wheel. It is still a bit of a chore for the technician to get the stem properly located. From the name of the tube it sounds like the same tube may fit a number of different size tires.

As you probably know and as OldRusty stated the tubes need to be liberally coated with talc. I would highly recommend watching the technician talc the tube and inner tire install the inner tubes and balance them. This is not a typical step most technicians are involve with when installing today's tires. If the inner tube is not properly coated the inner tube and inner portion of the tire pinches. This pinch will quickly will cause a leak and a flat. I believe a few months ago another forum member was having this problem. You can easily see and hear the inner tube inflating and rubbing the inner tire as it finds its place to set at final tire pressure.

MN63

[Alan H. Tast]

Alan, When I had my original '63SR with original KH wheels, I ran these radial tubes in both bias (for Nat'l & Regional Shows) & radial tires using the tape that is used to wrap gas pipe that is buried in the ground. Duct tape will eventually get brittle from heat and work on the tube.
The '62 sports repop T-Bird wires. The tubes work on both 14" & 15" tires/wheels. Note the Coker tube is even listed as a KR14/15.

Any info on the gas pipe tape? Was it 2" wide PVC like in the photo? Ad says it's PVC and comes in 50-foot rolls.

[OldRusty1]

Looks about right as it's been a good number of years since I've had to use. Here's a link to an Amazon listing. Please note one of the Q & A comments.
https://www.amazon.com/Shurtape-PW-100- ... B004N3Y6UU

[Alan H. Tast]

And here's a comment from tbird:

If they can not come up with 215 x 14 tubes I think that you should be OK with the 225 x 14 tubes and could even be an asset as the expansion will be less than a 205 would have in the 215 which should leave a thicker rubber tube when inflated.

As far as liners I will make you a bet that (the previous owner) does not have them in the tires. If they don’t have them I would use 3M Scotch 130C Linerless Rubber High Voltage Splicing Tape, it is a 1 1/2” wide x 30 ft. long EPR tape that 3M intends to be used with the tacky side out. Have used this for a number of wire wheel installations with no comebacks on them. You may need two rolls, It needs to be overlapped half lap is recommended and stretched a bit to keep it flat and tight in fact it is likely air tight but have not tried it without tubes. After taping the rim you need to sprinkle talcum powder over the tape and the tube.

Under no circumstances would I use "Duct Tape” firstly the surface is not very smooth, it is very hard to lay it nicely on the rim, it tends to fray the surface if there is movement between the tube and tape, The big thing is it does not withstand elevated temperatures and Pro’s dono't use it to tape ducts because it is crap we would seal joints with duck sealer or on smaller non spec jobs use aluminium joint tape.

Have found this tape very easy to apply on a clean surface it is a lot easier than tapping joints on gas pipelines or lengths of pipe when it was done by hand.

[tbird]

Alan
You may not get much stretch form that gas pipe tape some of it does not have much give in it unless it is being machine applied. It also tends to have a sharp edge on it as it is thicker than the 3M tape.

[Alan H. Tast]

For those who are interested, here's a few photos of the Hankook Optimo H724s and the label that was inside each of the tires.

The person helping me went out of his way to make sure the labels got removed so that there will be one less chafing point for the tubes.

[Richard]

Maybe another option for tape is Gorilla brand tape..It is very thick and also very sticky..It is sold all over..A friend had a plastic bumper being held on for years with that tape,and I am talking in the northeast with snow,rain,heat..Good luck..

[stove]

I went with Gorilla Tape for about 5k miles, and sleepless nights after long trips, led me to dismount the tires, and re-do the lining with proper tape.
I'm glad I did, there was some pretty decent chafing on the tubes, enough so, that I put a couple patches over the worst areas. Heat and movement had "grabbed" the edge of the tape in some areas and rolled it adhesive-side up like micro cigar's.
Use plenty of talcum. After seeing the way the right tape lays down, I have no more "sleepless nights" lol
This is the correct tape. https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/ ... 600&rt=rud

I used the 1.5 inch.

[Alan H. Tast]

How many 30-foot rolls of 1-1/2" tape are needed to do 5 wheels? I got 5 rolls of the 130C this afternoon from a local electrical supply house. Because of my impatience and preference to "buy local" the rolls cost approximately $40/each. At least I can take unused rolls back for a credit. Now I wait for the tubes to show up on Thursday or Friday.

[tbird]

Alan

Are you going to tape the rims yourself or have the tire shop do them? If the shop is doing them make sure that you are there to see it is done right and that they cover all the spoke ends plus any over application of sealer that may exist. They may want to wire wheel the inside of the entire rim if you are not watching.

Long time since I did a set of rims but think that two rolls would do 4 rims.

[stove]

Alan, I did 4 wheels with less than two rolls, so you'll be in the clear with 5 rolls for sure.

You'll probably want to keep some of that tape around for other uses, it's incredible stuff in general.