The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Inner tubes or tubeless?

Opinions needed. I'm getting ready to put tires on 16" OEM style steel rims (4 1/2") and was planning on putting valve stems and using tubeless tires. The bead surfaces are good and I'd seal up the rivets, but since I'd like to just deal with these tires once, I'm thinking I might just use inner tubes and be done with it.

What do you guys think? Going tubeless seems to be problematic for quite a few people.

Dan

Dan,

I have done this on two sets of original 1954 6.50 x 16 OEM 1/2 ton Chevrolet rims/wheels.
Cooper and Goodyear - LT 215/85R16 Radial - black-walled

Cooper set, with radial inner tubes (and and valve-stem protectors) is it at least 12 years old (at least 10K miles).
Goodyear set, which did not need inner-tubes, is only 5-6 years old (but, no driving on them yet).
Both are garaged vehicles.

I have to "play" with the psi to achieve the best balance between easy "tracking"/steering and no "wandering".
Due to the relatively narrow wheels, they do not look like low-profile radials, and they help cruising MPG because they are 31.5" rolling diameter.

I have no regrets, and no concerns, regarding using truck radial tires (with or without tubes). They are much better than any bias ply tires I have used.

I'm running tubeless radials on the stock 16" wheels without any problems. The truck is a 49 3100. I cleaned the wheels up, especially around the lip where the bead would seal but didn't apply any sealer around the rivets. I've got approx 7K miles on them and any air I've added was/is minimal, they hold air very well.
The tire brand is Crosswinds and the size is 215 85R-16. With trial and error I've settled on 35 psi which gives the best steering and still has enough sidewall flex to absorb the bumps.

Thanks for the replies guys, great info. You're leaning me back toward going tubeless. I'm also going to use 215/85/16 so your comments are that much more useful to me.

Google “safety bead rims”. Read the first 20 results.

Many tube style rims do not have safety beads.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/safety-beads-on-wheels.984221/

https://www.tyresizecalculator.com/wheels/wheel-rim-profiles

Maybe we should have a new found/learned fear of contorus inadequos"?

I'll know about it, when it ever happens someday.

In what way does it make it "safer"? You get a flat and the tire stays relatively in place?

From what a friend who operates tire shops here tells me inner tubes bought in the past 2 or 3 years have problems and aren't the same as they once were.

Note: the tubeless valve stem for these wheels is 5/8" (.625") diameter and the stem you need is the 415 which are growing less common all the time or the 425 if you want a 2 inch long stem. Your tire shop may have some around or they may not. It wouldn't be a bad idea to get some at your FLAPS and have them with you. The ones made by Milton are good and usually around $2 or so.

I'm tubeless on OEM 16" rims, same size as Tim LT 215/85R16. The rims are closer to 4.5 or 5" in width. The tires went on as-is with no special attention to the rims. Although I think the tire guy wirebrushed the bead.

Two of the four rims seem to lose air slowly. So I guess I need to clean and seal up the rims a bit.

Another thing if you're going from a tube type to tubeless is to clean the area around the valve stem very well. If it was rusted (common with tube type the valve won't seal as it should and will leak slowly. The "slime" product will sometimes stop that.

After 40 years of riding on bias ply tires mounted on artillery rims on my 3/4 ton 1939 Chevy stake truck, I switched to tubeless radial tires last fall. I was able to find 4 original 15" artillery rims. Had them sandblasted and powder coated. Artillery rims have rivets galore. It's been a year now and I've experienced no air pressure loss. What a difference the radial tires make versus the bias ply. Handling and ride comfort was much improved. Should have done the change years ago.

Rick

Nice. Based on this conversation I've ordered the correct valve stems and will plan on using tubeless radials. I'll report back on how well they work but I'm a lot more confident now..