What follows was lifted from the Didiamondback tire site - dbtires.com
Wives tale or fact…
Are radial tires safe for my stock rims?
It is a common question for us to offer proof that Diamond Back Classic radials can be installed tubeless on older rims. I do not know how I can offer physical proof, however, I can offer an opinion based on my 35 years of experience.
The issue that needs to be discussed- can a radial tire be installed tubeless on an older rim, and will radial tires cause older rims to split? Let's look at our answers to these two questions.
The first radials were imported to the US in the late 1960's by Sears. These tires were manufactured by Michelin. Because of the improvement in ride, handling and safety these radials became immensely popular. These tires were sold by the hundreds of thousands by Sears nationwide. Neither Sears or Michelin ever specified that these tires had to be mounted on different rims—these tires were sold in numerous sizes for every make of American car and most were mounted tubeless.
The first American company to build radial tires was BF Goodrich in the late 1960's. BF Goodrich spent millions on the development and advertising of modern radial tires. Again, BF Goodrich never said that radial tires had to be mounted on specialized rims. Radial tires were installed on the stock, OE, rims. Were there any problems? Not to my knowledge.
Let's step back a few years to 1957. This was the first year of the tubeless tires developed and manufactured by BF Goodrich. These tires were built to work on existing rims. There were no rim modifications to accept their new tires.
The point to be made is: throughout the development of the tubeless tire and the radial tire, there was no parallel development in rim technology.
In my years in the tire industry, I have not seen a tubeless radial tire that has caused an original rim to split or malfunction.
Bill Chapman
President CEO
