How can you tell the difference between wheels made for tubelss tyres, and wheels for tube tyre?
I have an ex-army (Sankey) trailer fitted with Goodyear Hi-Miler 6.50 X 16 6ply tyres. But they're old and cracked, so I want to replace them with BGF tubeless tyres. It doesn't say on the existing tyres 'tubeless', so I'm guessing they're tubed. The wheels are standard Land Rover steel.
If I have to use tubes, can I use them with tubeless tyres?
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If I have to use tubes, can I use them with tubeless tyres?
I have always read NO.
IIRC it is because the inside of tubless tyres are not smooth and can cause the tube to fail
Maybe they could be buffed to stop this happening?
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Spot on Henry K. If you look at the valve on the existing rims you can tell whether thay are sealed to the rim or free to move i.e. they have a tube. Check the valve hole diameter in the rim to ensure a tubeless valve will fit. I am led to believe the some commercial cross ply tyres still use tudes legally. Regards Peter
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I had a look at the valve, and it appears to come 'through' the hole, rather than sealing around it. Having spoken to a few people, it does seem that the ridges inside tubeless tyres can rub the tube, although the consensus seems to be that on a low speed/miles trailer it wouldn't necessarily be an issue, at least not for quite a long time. But it's not really something I would be entirely happy with.
However, does it mean that i can't fit tubeless tyres, without tubes, to the existing wheels, or is there something fundamentally different in the wheel design that prohibits this (other than the valve hole diameter)?
Does anyone know the correct diameter for tubeless valve, as I haven't a spare wheel without a valve already in it.
As it happens, I've got a job on tomorrow at a Kwik-Fit depot, but I'll say no more as I don't want to fall foul of the naming/shaming rules. Lol.
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It's a matter of the wheels being air-tight more than anything else - the tyres will slowly deflate if there's even a slight leak. If I were you I'd either buy new wheels off ebay, or stick with the tubed tyres.
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cant you get wheel flaps for these rims?so the tube doesnt rub on the rim
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you will find that old land rover wheels mostly have the centre dish rivited in as opposed to welded on most wheels therefore not air tight , there are a lot of 4x4 tyres which can be run tubed or tubeless and indeed many off roaders fit tubes to allow running at very low pressures which could cause tubeless tyres to come off the rim and deflate.it is not the ribs alone which cause problems with tubes but the flexing of the sidewalls chafing so running a trailer at say 40psi would eliminate the problem
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I've seen tubeless valves in a number of different sizes.
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Thanks for all the help guys.
I spoke to the 'tyre expert' (his discription, not mine!) at Kwik Fit, and he reckoned there was no problem fitting tubes to tubeless tyres, as long as the tyres weren't punctured, as the puncture hole/split can cause rubbing. But they don't sell tubes.
I also sopke to a guy at a local independent tyre place, and he also seemed to think it wouldn't be a problem on a trailer, but wouldn't recommend for a decent vehicle. He also said there are 2 sizes of valves, thick and thin. I had a closer look at the wheels, and they are indeed rivetted, so I guess I'll go with new tubes, pump them up a bit, and see what happens.
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Try www.agrityresdirect.co.uk for tubes, they have a huge range at reasonable prices.
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yes there is different size valves for the car/van wheels to commercial vehicles, personally id rather have tubeless tyres due to the fact if you get a puncture in a tubeless it stays up long enough to get it fixed ,if it as a tube in it goes flat straight away, we had to buff the rubber strength ribs off inside the tyre to fit a tube to a real pain!!, best thing id do is remove a tyre clean the rim up give it a coat of paint fit a valve and mount the tubeless tyre thats what i have on my trailer.good luck
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Many years ago I inherited a BMW2002 TII. It was fitted with tubeless tyres, but with tubes. I had several punctures and one motorway blow-out (thankfully accident free).
Never had a problem after I got rid of the tubes. - but I never investigated the real reason for the problem.
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if you get a nail in a tubeless tyre it goes down slowly, if it as a tube it goes flat almost instantly due to the air escaping through the valve hole on the wheel rim!! not with tubeless it only can escape through the punctured nail hole so takes slower to go down, much safer!!!
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yes you can use tubeless tyres with tubes .land rover rims run tube type tyres on earlier models because the rims do not have the sealing edge on the rim if you run them tubeless they will deflate ,i can guaruntee it. michelin do a fat valved tube which fits the landrover wheel perfectly ,i am guessing you have the wide valve rims go to car
www.chris-longhurst.com/carbibles/tyre_bible.html this explains it fully Nick
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You used to be able to get an adaptor so that a "thin" valved tube could be used in a "wide" valved hole.
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Well the jobs all done now with 'fat' valve tubes.
What a difference radial tyres make. It used to tow with a 1 ton load and barely moved about behind the car. Now it bounces and sways like it has no dampers. Even with the max 50psi in the tyres they still squash a lot, and the trailer just moves around on the tyres. The old crossplies I took off only ran at 30psi and barely squashed at all with a 1 ton load. Now I know why the army stick on those skinny old fashioned tyres, 'cos that's the only way you can load the trailer up and still tow at normal speeds.
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