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MG MGB Technical - Trouble with Tire Tubes - Suggestions needed

Hello Folks:

I have had 3 flats in the last four weeks. I am driving a wire wheel 71 B. I have the wheel bands fitted inside the rims and the surface is clean inside the wheels. Since there is no ferrule where the tube stem exits the wire wheel, the stem is subject to chaffing I fear.

Three flat tubes - tubes that are less than a year old. These are size 13/14 tubes manufactured by firestone - or atleast stamped that with that brand.

Any suggestions on what the problem is? These are being fitted by supposedly competent tire folks.

Just looking for some missing point - the last flat was at 2:00AM and involved a 2 mile walk home in the rain.

Jeff
J Delk

Are the tubes marked "Radial tires" ? Will give constant aggro otherwise. Michelin are dear but they work.

Where is the leak - at the stem?
Finding the source is aleays the first step!!
If so, it is easy to smooth the hole. Get a long small machine screw, cut several small squares of abrasive cloth, about 5/8 -3/4 square, put holes on middle, stack them on the screw with small washers between them and a nut to hold. Put that in a drill and use it as a "mop" in & out of the hole. It will nicely clean and radius the edges. Such a tool is amazingly useful and effective for finishing holes in all sizes and cheap to boot.

FRM
FR Millmore

Fletcher is absolutely right regarding tubes specifically made for radial tires. I had the same experience on out TD when using standard tubes in radial tires - the really bad part of that experience was that we were traveling at the time.

Even with tubes designed for radial tires, it can still be a bit of a trial when using them in tires mounted on wire wheels. Nowdays most tire shops will chase you out when you mention the w/w words. we found that out when going to California in our MGB and experienced tire problems (I was even carying spare tubes at the time). My final solution was to go to alloy wheels and tubless tires. If you want to stay with wires, consider getting a set of Dayton wire wheels - they can be used without tubes. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Could be your wheel tyre guy is no good. try some else, in the mean time you could carry a can or two of puncture repair, tyre weld. These worked very well for me. As David says/implies, Dayton is fabulous. They are the best that there ever has been. I'm trying to rationalize spending the money at the moment! The only real impedement is that the guys in sales arn't as good as the guys in production and don't read their customer emails.
Peter

These one-size-fits-all tubes available at most modern tire shops simply won't work in our cars. I had the same experience years ago with my '76 w/w B. I couldn't run 200 miles without a flat tire. At the time, Moss was selling Italian tubes that were the proper size. When they arrived, immediately I noticed they were MUCH thicker and heavier than the "Firestone-Goodyear-Whatever" variety. The day I installed them, my flat-tire problems abruptly stopped. I drove over 50,000 miles after that with never another problem.

I guess Moss no longer sells these, but I suspect Coker Tire would have some good tubes. Hopefully, somebody who has done this more recently will be able to answer the question.

As for me, I'm hoping I can avoid wire wheels for the rest of my life anyway. They look nice but for me, they're a pain in the butt.

FWIW,
Allen
Allen Bachelder

Jeff-
Yes, by all means use tubes intended for use in radial tires, but here's an ol-timey-mechanic's tip: dust the inside of the tire and the exterior of the tube heavily with talcum powder. The stuff will act as a dry lubricant to reduce chafing.
Steve S.

By all means follow the suggestions above:
Deburr all sharp edges.
Use only radial tubes.
Talc both tire and tube.
Also don't pinch the tube!

It also helps to 'burp' the tire after it's been inflated to seat the tire bead. Once inflated, remove the valve core and let the pressure out of the tube. Move the valve stem around (gently) while it is deflating. This lets any air out that gets trapped between the tube and tire causing a bubble. Repeat until no more air escapes around the valve stem.

Good luck,
Tom

BTW - This is exactly why I finally got my own tire machine. The yo-yo's around hear professed lots of knowledge about tubes, but didn't understand a thing about them. The last straw was when I had one ask if I knew my wheels had tubes in them and he wanted to know why. Had to explain the wheels had 60 spokes (ie, 60 HOLES) and tubes were the only way they'd hold air!
Tom Sotomayor

Jeff

I had a very similar problem with my 67 B GT with wire rims. Three held air perfectly and the 4th had three flats in three weeks.

I put in new band on the rim, put gas pipe tape (2" rubber tape) on the parts of the inside of the rim not coverd by the band.

Ran a nylon stocking around the inside of the tire to assure there was not a fine burr or something that was wearing on the tube.

Even had the shop put powder to reduce friction. It held all the way down to Gattlinberg, but failed about 300 miles from home.

I ended up buying new chrome wires. So far, no more problems.
BEC Cunha

Hey Guys - Thanks so much for all of the tips and good advice. I checked the tube and it says "radial/bias ply" - so I am going to check the inside of the wheels and look for areas that might be causing the problem. I'll also check the inside of the tires for those ribs. I'll also burp the tire before refitting. I never had problems in the 80s with wire wheels - I think the problem is the tire folks as Tom mentioned.

I'll let you know what I come up with.

Car is running great with the K&N and new richer needles and the deleted front muffler. Enjoying 4,500 RPM drive and it revs well. Just need to keep air in the tires!

Thanks again

Jeff
Jeff

Jeff'

What needles are you using? I just switched to K&Ns. My AUD550s already have ABD needles. The only richer ones that I know of are AAAs and I'm having trouble sourcing them.

BTW, I'm still suspicious of your tubes - even if they say "radial/bias ply" on them.

Thanks,
Allen
Allen Bachelder

A note about the talcum powder mentioned earlier. Find an unscented product if you can, the perfumes might have some affect on the rubber. We used a talc specifically designed for tubes back in my younger days. Some called it 'French chalk' so you might find it under that name also.
Bill Young

Allen,
You can get AAA needles from Joe Curto in NY (718-762-7878). I bought some about a year ago from him. Really great guy to deal with. Or drop me an email. I have the needles still and they only have 50 miles on them or so. They ended up being too rich for my needs so they're sitting unused.

Tom
ausserdog *at* hotmail *dot* com
Tom Sotomayor

You can get unperfumed talc from any dive store, or from a building supply (used for chalking lines) or from a good pharmacy (used as the basis for other things).

Perfume in talc rots rubber, which is why divers never use it on their suits.
dominic clancy

Jeff;; Check the inside of your tire for a little square info block. some tires had this and it scraped away on the tube. The ones that I have seen were 1"x3/4" and appeared to be vulcanised to the inner body of the tire.
Sandy Sanders
Sandy Sanders

This thread was discussed between 05/05/2007 and 07/05/2007

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