The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Wheel issues, Help!

It was time to replace the tires on my 52' 3100. I wanted to keep the truck original but have the advantages of new radial tires. After sandblasting, repainting, and mounting the new tires I found that the wheels are leaking in the area where the two separate pieces touch (these are two piece wheels, 15 x 5.5), or near where the rivets are. My question is has anyone had any luck sealing these wheels so that I can use tubeless tires. Original wheels are hard to find in good condition so I really don't know what to try next. Any advice is appreciated, thanks

Many dealers such as Coker and Universal add a tube to your tubeless tires in the sale if you are using modern sized radials.

If you want radials for those wheels, you need to get tube type radials with the proper tubes and flaps. Coker does list tube type radials, not sure if they have any rated for trucks, though.

That information is in total disagreement with the manufacturers, as well as DOT codes. If you must use tubes in tires not made for them, do so at your own risk.

Thanks for the advice fellas, I am really trying to aviod tubes since that would defeat the purpose and advantages of tubeless radials. I'm wondering if there is any kind of sealant or epoxy that I could use, any thoughts?

I'm also not sure why Coker would say it okay to use a tube in a tubeless tire. I was always under the impression that the tire would overheat and fail prematurely. But I'm not a tire man. But I wouldn't put tubes in a tubeless tire.

I agree completely with Roy above. As for sealing leaks in odd situations, I have used fiberglass resin (on bare steel) with good results, but I can't say I've tried it on wheels....yet.

After re-reading the original post, I beleive what is being delat with are single peice wheels, rather than the 2 peice split rim. I noticed that it's mentioned that they are leaking around the rivets. Sounds like they might be loose. I have heard of guys peening the tight to get them to stop leaking. You may also consider seeing if you have anyone in the area that can install a vulcanized rubber band in the drop part of the rim, like they do on tubeless wire wheels, to seal them up.

I have tubes in my Micheline X radials that i put on my MGA in 1969 and only had one leak and that was 2 years ago and i put a new tube in it that i got at Tire Barn. yes i put the tires on in Aug. of 1969 same tires.

Ron,

My guess is that you voided your warranty by using those tubes.

Joking/jibing aside, do you store (park at home) your MGA in a garage? I ask because my concern about my 7 year old Cooper LT radials (with tubes) is their age. I've read that people should check date codes and not buy-or-use(?) tires that are more than 6-to-10(?) years old.

" . . . The danger of old tires has been known since at least September 2003 when the British-based Tyre Industry Council issued an unprecedented warning that previously unused tires should not be sold if they were more than 6 years old, and that all tires should be replaced 10 years after their manufacture.

It is curious that European and Japanese automobile manufacturers warn of this danger but NOT U.S. tire manufacturers. For example the Volkswagen manual states “WARNING – old tires can fail in use, causing loss of vehicle control and personal injury. Replace tires after 6 years regardless of tread wear.” . . . ".

Tate I've had success sealing rims with silicone sealant,also JB-Weld

for age, various US companies recommend replacing tires at 6 [Ford] or 10 [tire association] years - for light vehicle tires there is no legal requirement, the date codes are for manufacturer warranty purposes - transport operators, particularly busses, do limit the age of tires, but I've never found any legal requirement for it - tires should be replaced when they show signs of deteriorating, like UV chalking and cracking

back in '69 when they were still uncommon in the US, radials normally used tubes, the proper type of tubes, which no doubt is what any tire dealer would supply today - if tubes in tubeless radials were illegal and unsafe, they wouldn't be marketed code TL means tire can be used tubeless, code TT means tire must have a tube

Bill

Bill,

I have a set of 6.50x15 6-ply bias-ply truck tires that have been stored in a garage for 35+ years (less than 5,000 miles on them). Do you think I should throw them away or give them away? No cracking/checking or chalking.

that'd be a puzzle after that many years, but out of the sun they should still be as good as the technology was then - might be of interest to someone with a vehicle they trailer to shows

the bias tires on my bus show no date, so are pre-2000, probably over 12 years old [when the bus was last on the road], but with virtually no wear showing they'll stay until I get into long hauls, when I'll get radials - I made some covers for the ones on the south side, sunlight is the main bane of rubber

and another aspect: on big rigs it's illegal to have recaps for steer tires, but recaps [Bandag] are commonly used for the drive tires and Bandag doesn't care how old the cores are, just the condition they're in

Bill

Thanks again fellas, I'm gonna try some J-B weld first and see what happens

I thought I was bad using the same frond tires on my Volvo Amazon since 1988!!!!
Jianis

I'd suggest using something a little more flexible than J-B Weld. Try some Marine-Tex sealer, after getting the area around the rivets beadblasted to remove any paint that would interfere with the bonding. Marine-Tex stays slightly flexible, and it is used as a thread sealer on some pretty high-pressure applications on inboard boat cooling systems, bilge pumps, etc. J-B Weld would probably crack and fall off the surface if there's any movement at all between the wheel and the rivets.
Jerry

I just had a set of Firestone LT radials installed on my 1952 3100. I asked for tubes to be installed but the tire tech said the rims were in good shape and tubes were not needed. However, they did say that adding tubes would have not been a problem if they were needed. Given the speeds at which we drive out trucks, I don't see excessive heat as an issue.

I would recommend some clear silicone sealant. I've used it on the inside of my wire wheels (tubes with radial tires) on my 67 MGB to seal the spoke heads. Works great.

UPDATE! After much debate I decided to try JB-weld. Just a thin layer directly over the top of the rivets on the inside of the wheel. It seemed to bond very well. Got the tire remounted and ta da, no more leaks! Now just looking foward to getting the ole 52' back on the road. Thanks again for all of the advice