Re: radial tires on antique wheels

Posted by rblum On 2013/5/29 16:57:21

Would like to add my 2 cents to the conversation. Purchased a 52 200 sedan about 7 years ago. At the time the car had 4 almost new radials on the car and everything seemed alright but I would develop mysterious leaks. I would go into the garage and a tire would be completely flat for no apparent reason. Seemed to happen only after I washed the car. What I discovered was the holes for the air stems were slightly larger in diameter than the stem. When you washed the wheel the stem would be displaced just enough to cause a slow leak. The stems were brand new and purchased when the previous owner bought the tires.

I put tubes in the tires and never had the problem again and it's going on 7 years. I rotate the wheels once a year, keep the tires properly inflated and I don't "baby" the car when I drive it. No dry rot issues presently. I don't pretend to be an expert on anything but feel that there is no need to get too technical with this stuff. You do what works within reason and I would be the first one to "cease fire" if I thought there was some sort of safety issue. BTW, the wheels are fine, apparently just not designed for tubeless tires. Suppose truck stems may work but just did not go in that direction. Just my 2 cents.