Why not an inner tube?

[GreeCguy]

More than once, I've seen people get a puncture in the side wall of their tire and end up buying a new tire even though the old one had plenty of miles left on it. The reasoning is you can't patch the side wall of a tire.

What's wrong with using an inner tube? I've used inner tubes for years with no problem at all. Is there some official reason you're not suppose to use an inner tube in today's tires?

 

[Donald]

Its more than holding air, its the integrity of the tire, belts, etc.

Tubes are fine for off road stuff. (Lawn tractors, stc).

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: GreeCguy
More than once, I've seen people get a puncture in the side wall of their tire and end up buying a new tire even though the old one had plenty of miles left on it. The reasoning is you can't patch the side wall of a tire.

What's wrong with using an inner tube? I've used inner tubes for years with no problem at all. Is there some official reason you're not suppose to use an inner tube in today's tires?


Same here. Back in the mid 80s I`d punctured the sidewall of a tire and they just put an inner tube in and it worked out just fine,no problems at all.

 

[Stelth]

I remember people putting tubes in tires in similar situations when I was quite a bit younger. Haven't heard of it recently. I don't think most shops would do it because of liability issues, so you'd have to do it yourself.

I had a '67 Ford P-300 for a while, and it had 16.5" split rims. They required tubes, and it was a lot of trouble. Made me really appreciate modern tubeless tires.

 

[kr_bitog]

Originally Posted By: GreeCguy
More than once, I've seen people get a puncture in the side wall of their tire and end up buying a new tire even though the old one had plenty of miles left on it. The reasoning is you can't patch the side wall of a tire.

What's wrong with using an inner tube? I've used inner tubes for years with no problem at all. Is there some official reason you're not suppose to use an inner tube in today's tires?


My thinking. the main issue is inner tube normally is not designed for low profile tyres due to the shape and may not generate enough pressure to hold the sidewall to the rim as well as generate excessive heat due to friction.
It probably ok for 60 profile or above, but for lower profile (60 or below) and driving high speed, inner tube may pose tyre integrity issue.

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: GreeCguy

What's wrong with using an inner tube? I've used inner tubes for years with no problem at all. Is there some official reason you're not suppose to use an inner tube in today's tires?


Running a tube with an old bias tire was fine and acceptable. But a radial tire flexes a lot more and will actually wear out the tube from the tube rubbing the inside of a radial tire whenever it flexes. Years ago (maybe you still can?), you could get a tube that said it would work on radial tires, but I haven't seen one of those for years. These radial tubes were actually a lot thicker than a tube made for a bias-ply tire. Are the manufacturers afraid of litigation, who knows?
Tubes are still available for a lot of slow-moving-vehicles that are used for off road.

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: Stelth


I had a '67 Ford P-300 for a while, and it had 16.5" split rims. They required tubes, and it was a lot of trouble. Made me really appreciate modern tubeless tires.


I've repaired some of these in my life. It really makes you appreciate the safety cage that you put the tire in when these get inflated. There are plenty of videos on YouTube of these tires exploding.

 

[GreeCguy]

Originally Posted By: Kruse

Years ago (maybe you still can?), you could get a tube that said it would work on radial tires, but I haven't seen one of those for years. These radial tubes were actually a lot thicker than a tube made for a bias-ply tire. Are the manufacturers afraid of litigation, who knows?


As of last year, you could still buy them at Advanced Auto and Auto Zone in these parts - they were about 15 dollars per tube. I'm sure they're still available but maybe not at Advanced or Auto Zone.

About ten years ago, I had a flat tire on an old gang-mower set up. Removed the tire and wheel and took it to a local shop and told them I wanted a tube put in the tire. All the techs said it wouldn't work, even the manager came out and said that it might last for 30 minutes. I bought a tube from them, took it home and installed it myself. I finally retired the gang-mower about two years ago because the deck and frame were extremely rusted, but that tire and tube was still working great.

 

[GreeCguy]

Originally Posted By: Kruse
Originally Posted By: Stelth


I had a '67 Ford P-300 for a while, and it had 16.5" split rims. They required tubes, and it was a lot of trouble. Made me really appreciate modern tubeless tires.


I've repaired some of these in my life. It really makes you appreciate the safety cage that you put the tire in when these get inflated. There are plenty of videos on YouTube of these tires exploding.


A friend of mine was extremely injured due to a two piece rim exploding. He repaired the tube still on the truck and it exploded when he was airing it up after the repair. He lost an eye and most of his teeth and doctors told him he would never walk again. He was stubborn enough that he did eventually walk, but no amount of stubbornness would grow him another eye or a set of teeth.

 

[Errtt]

I've ran tubed tires on prior motorcycles. And the pressure were lower than my current tubeless tire motorcycle. Currently running Metzler 880s (tubeless), and I was surprised how much higher the air pressure is on these, mid 40s vs 30s on tubed.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Kruse
Originally Posted By: GreeCguy

What's wrong with using an inner tube? I've used inner tubes for years with no problem at all. Is there some official reason you're not suppose to use an inner tube in today's tires?


Running a tube with an old bias tire was fine and acceptable. But a radial tire flexes a lot more and will actually wear out the tube from the tube rubbing the inside of a radial tire whenever it flexes. Years ago (maybe you still can?), you could get a tube that said it would work on radial tires, but I haven't seen one of those for years. These radial tubes were actually a lot thicker than a tube made for a bias-ply tire. Are the manufacturers afraid of litigation, who knows?
Tubes are still available for a lot of slow-moving-vehicles that are used for off road.


I drove a rollback that ran 10.00R20 tube radials...as I recall, you could use a radial tube in a bias tire, but not vice versa.

 

[The_Jeff]

Saw an MG with wire wheels that required tubes, and radials. Not really sure how that should be handled. Even the retro tires that try and look like old Polyglas etc are more often than not radial.

Also took a bunch of weight to balance.

 

[CapriRacer]

There seems to be a bit of mis-understanding here.

First is that in the old days, there weren't any tubeless tires. They all used tubes - because the wheels were not sealed - or sealable.

But there was a whole system in place to deal with tubes. First is the location of the valve. Typically it was at the center of the tube, so there had to be a hold in the center of the wheel. Nowadays, the valve hole is on the side of the wheel, not the center.

Second was the use of a flap - a piece of rubber between the tube and the wheel to protect the tube. Believe it or not, but the tubes move slightly and particularly on wire wheels and their spoke ends, there had to be something to there.

And lastly, "holding air" should not be the criteria for a successful tire repair. The reason why sidewall damage is excluded from the repairable area is that sidewalls undergo a complex motion that tends to develop tears in any discontinuity (read up on "Stress Concentration" on Wikipedia).

 

[berniedd]

10 years ago, a tire in my Honda developed a slightly out of round condition. I'd just bought that 9 year old car, and money was tight then. So I had the tire shop put in an inner tube. It cured the wobble and out of balance problems. But months later, it had a flat and the cause was found to be that the inner tube had been pinched on itself at the sidewall area, and developed a leak.

I got wiser after that, and now buy used tires instead. The secret is to know how to evaluate used tires. First, I never buy used tires more than 4 years old. Most manufacturers now recommend 6 years is the maximum age tires should be used. After that, they may not be safe anymore. Second, I never get used tires that have been patched/plugged before. Too much risk if you ask me. Third, I eyeball the tire all over for evenness along the tread. Uneven wear and any dry rot are not acceptable. Fourth, I examine the inner and outer sidewalls for evidence of cracks or breaks in the plies. Fifth, i have the tire shop mount it on my rim and have them balance it. While the tire's rotating on their machine, I make sure it doesn't have any out-of-round condition or abnormal bulges on the tread or sidewall. Last, I ask the seller to give me a money-back warranty, even if it's only for a week. While some balk at this, a reputable vendor will usually agree to it. Any defect will probably be evident in a few days of tire use.

 

[Wayne]

-

More than once, I've seen people get a puncture in the side wall of their tire and end up buying a new tire even though the old one had plenty of miles left on it. The reasoning is you can't patch the side wall of a tire.

What's wrong with using an inner tube? I've used inner tubes for years with no problem at all. Is there some official reason you're not suppose to use an inner tube in today's tires?

 

[Wayne]

I like you had new tires put on my 2014 Suburban. About a week later I noticed my left rear tire was going flat. So I put air in it a little while later it was low again. So I filled it back up with air check it over to the tire shop where they found a small nail in the sidewall. So I asked if it could be repaired, they said no you need a new tire. So I took it over call my local mechanic I told him there was a nail in the sidewall. I asked him if he could repair It? He said yes. First he said use a plug patch to fill the hole. And I will put in a inner tube. I have never had a problem with that tire and holds proper air pressure. About two months after that I had the other rear tire go flat. Had to put a tube in that one too. About a week ago I had a flat again on one of the tires that has the tube. I had run over a screw are punctured the tube. So he patched the tube,reinstalled the back into the tire I haven't had any trouble since. I have run tubes in a lot of cars and never had trouble

More than once, I've seen people get a puncture in the side wall of their tire and end up buying a new tire even though the old one had plenty of miles left on it. The reasoning is you can't patch the side wall of a tire.

What's wrong with using an inner tube? I've used inner tubes for years with no problem at all. Is there some official reason you're not suppose to use an inner tube in today's tires?

 

[Traction]

For countless reasons, it is a TERRIBLE idea for anything flying down the interstate.

 

[Rmay635703]

Having a leaky rim inner tubes work great and never leak.
Sadly a pain to install and removes the tpms

Can’t explode since the tire still has a bead but could start to leak again if it wore

 

[Jetronic]

More than once, I've seen people get a puncture in the side wall of their tire and end up buying a new tire even though the old one had plenty of miles left on it. The reasoning is you can't patch the side wall of a tire.

What's wrong with using an inner tube? I've used inner tubes for years with no problem at all. Is there some official reason you're not suppose to use an inner tube in today's tires?

the inside of the tubeless tyre is air tight, except for where the damage is. This means that if you put an inner tube there could be pockets of air between the inner and outer tube, and they could move relative to each other. You risk a blow out.

 

[PandaBear]

Probably due to friction and heat, integrity of the tire when you are going 118 mph (T rated) or anything stupid, getting people killed, then blame you for your $10 hack that now ends up as a 500k lawsuit.

Seriously, tires went radial a long time ago for a reason. We then add cap ply and all that stuff to make them good, no reason to go back to inner tube.