The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Tire time, can I put tubes in my radials?

Thats the question. I NEED to put my porta walls on my wheels. No, its not on the truck, its on my Pontiac. I have a set of portawalls for the car, but need to use tubes I think. The local tire shop says I can't, because my radials will chew the tubes up. They say that they can mount them without using tubes, they assure me they've done this before.... Now, how does the tire seal against the wheel, with the portawall jammed down there? I thought these had to use tubes.

Anyone have some experience with this stuff here?

I have only heard what you have said. Maybe you need a set of bead lockers. LOL

You can get special tubes for radial tires. It's been many years but it seems we used to put porto-walls on with tubeless tires.

i have tubes in my Michelin x tires and they have been in there since august of 1969 yes 69 and no problem except one went flat last year and i put a new tube in.

Many years ago I time and distanced rallied. Radial tubes were required in all tires. It was considered a safety issue. IIRC the radial tubes were a bit more expensive.

Larry

Check with Coker Tire in Chattanooga Tenn, they can advise you and of course sell you what will work best.

GLTya

Terry

I'm running a set of Port-a-walls on my tubeless tires with no tubes. Been on there for 3 years with no problems whatsoever. The port-a-wall mounting lip gives an air-tight seal between the tire bead and the rim.

Port-a-walls will work if you have rims with a wide enough sealing area. Most manufacturers went to a wider wheel designed for tubeless tires in about 1957. The earlier rims were not really designed for tubeless tires and with Port-a-walls it becomes even a greater risk. Port-a-walls were the big thing when I was in high school. If you have the older rims, I would recommend a tube designed for a radial tire.

Well, I guess I'll take them to the tire shop in the next week or so. I always seem to have bad luck when I break down and hire something out.

Thanks.

"Radial tubes" are meant to be used in tube type radial tires, not in tubeless tires. I have personally seen what happens when a tube is put in a tubeless tire, especially when they are run a highway speeds. The friction between the tube ans tire inner liner causes exsessive heat, which leads to sidewall and tube failure, usually within 100 miles at highway speeds.
It should also be noted that with current DOT regulations, it is illegal to install tubes in tubless tires. That is why most tire shops (including the one I work at) will not do it.

i have driven my mga with radials and tubes on the indy 500 track at over 90mph and no tube. the trip down and back was ove a 100 miles at highway speeds. just my opinion. ron

I put tubes (a special type tube made by Michelin) in Michelin tires in 1962, they worked fine, ran over 100,000 miles on the rear of a Corvair sedan. I was told the tubes had an especially wide lap joint because of the constant flexing of the radial tires. Never any trouble, flat, or even pressure loss.

I would say in both cases, the tires were tube type radials, in which case a tube would be fine. However, in a modern tubless tire, installing a tube in it is asking for tire failure. I've seen it too many times. As I stated, it is illegal by DOT regulations to install a tube in a tubless tire.

Comments from Lucas Tire Company who are again stocking these items;

Portawalls, sometimes called slap-ons, Mickies, fake white walls, etc, available in a variety of wheel sizes and widths were originally designed to work on bias ply tires some 50 years ago, not today's radials. Bias tires have a flat rigid sidewall, and a much higher profile (aspect ratio) than radial tires. There is a lesser likelihood of them adhering properly to a radial because of the radius and flexibility of it's sidewall. The lower the profile of a radial, the less likely you will be pleased with the results. Larger radials with a 75 profile seem to work fairly well, but we do not recommend trying them on many of today's popular 60 profiles and smaller. For radials, we suggest the narrower widths, so they won't extend beyond the radius of the sidewall.

Installation is critical and the sidewalls have to be extremely clean to increase your success rate. We recommend a de-greasing agent, not a solvent be used to wipe between the tire and the rim to ensure that the area is very clean. DO NOT use a soapy compound, or the portawalls will slip out during re-inflation. Further success may be achieved by keeping radial tires at maximum allowable inflation and with the use of inner tubes to firm up the sidewalls so they don't flex so much.