Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Hi,

Maybe a stupid question...

All of my cars do have tubeless tires except the Packard.
All tubeless tires are inflated at approx. 30PSI ( 2.1 kg pressure or Bar ), then the contactsurface that the tire makes with the road is limited at a few inches. At the Packard there are tires with "inner"-tires in it ( don't know the correct english name for it ). I've checked also the tire pressure and put them also at 30 Psi, but then the contact surface is maybe 4 to 5 inches...? I think the tires must be extra inflated?

Till what value of pressure may I inflate them?

The tires installed are:

Broadway Wide White H78-15 4-ply polyester
Whitewall tubeless M5-49 68-0145-737-1

Why are there inner tires installed at tubeless tires?
Can I find out how old these tires are?
Are these 'Broadway' tires OK, or is it rubbish?

Thanks!

Xavier

The pressure Packard recommended was 24 pounds cold which is a bit low in my opinion and like a lot of other cars, probably specified with a lower pressures for comfort. I would not think 30 is too high but again it depends on the tire and it's maximum pressure rating, driving conditions and how comfortable you are.

The inner tires, or as we call them inner tubes, were very common up until the mid to late 50's. A lot of the wheels of the time could not hold air for tubeless tires because of the way they were made so the inner tube was necessary. Some may have kept using them mostly from habit long after they were no longer needed. 56 Clippers came standard with tubeless tires so am not sure why yours would need tubes unless there has been damage to a wheel so it won't hold air or maybe the tire is punctured in a place it can't be patched to hold air or the last owner just felt more comfortable having them.

I am not familiar with your tires but for the last several years over here, there has been a date of manufacture required to be cast into the rubber along with other information such as tread life, service rating, max pressure and so on. Is there any sign of something like that on yours.

My general starting point when installing new tires that I've not previously had experience with is a cold inflation pressure about 4 psi lower than the maximum load pressure indicated by the tire manufacturer. Based on driving experience I sometimes adjust that a bit but I think that's a good place to start with.

There is an old trick for finding the correct pressure. Get a tire crayon (most tire places have them) and take a drive to get your tires up to running temperature. Draw a couple of lines across the tread and take a short drive and then check your lines. If the center of the line is worn off and the edges remain your pressure is too high. If the edges are worn off and the center is still there your low.

Quote:

Here's a website that explains how to decode the date of U.S. manufacture (if your tires are new enough to have one).

Determining The Age of a Tire

Look CLOSELY on the tyre to see if has "tube type" or "tubeless" molded into the tire. Also, look for "Blem" molded into the tire.

Some tubeless tires (no inner tire) come out of the mould wrong and require tubes. This was not uncommon up until about 10 to 15 years ago.

definitions:
Tube or inner tube = inner tire.
"tube type" means inner tube required.
"tubeless" means NO inner tube required.

A SLIGHTLY underinflated tire will make the car handle better in a straight line (at speeds above 40 mph). But the more overinflated a tire becomes the more the car will wander from side-to-side in a streight line (over 40 mph).

On real curvy hiways it is best to run the tires a bit over inflated to avoid wearing the outer edges of each tires prematurely.

My '54 Clipper had tubes in the tires when I got it. This was because the tire bead area on the rims was rusty and would not seal correctly. After media blasting, and painting they have held air for over a year now.

Up until 1954 all tires required inner tubes. The first car to fit tubeless tires as standard equipment was Packard in 1954. Chrysler followed in 1955 and eventually the whole industry.

Motorcycles and cars with wire wheels were the last to use tubes because of the difficulty of sealing wire wheels.

Inner tubes can be fitted if the tires won't seal due to rusty rims or tire flaws.

Tires with inner tubes tend to run a little hotter at high speeds. This is not an issue with the normal highway speeds of your Packard.

24 PSI was recommended when your car was new but this is too low. It gives a soft ride but 30PSI or 32PSI will make steering easier, improve gas mileage and increase tire life.

The H78-15 tire is a bias ply or bias belted tire that predates the radial tire in America. That number system was typically used in the 60s and early 70s. Unless your tires were specially made for an "old timer" they are very old.

All tires have a date code on them. It is the last 4 digits of the serial number on tires made after 2000.

The date code will be of the format "week of the year, year".

In other words the code date of a tire made today would be "2310" for week 23 of 2010.

Before 2000 they only used a single digit for the year, assuming a tire would not last 10 years.

So in that case the code would be "230"

Tires slowly lose their strength and resiliency as they age. By the time a tire is 5 years old it has lost half its strength even if it appears in good shape. So if your tires are more than 5 years old it pays to treat them with respect and drive slowly and carefully, or buy new tires.

Hi,

Thanks for the answers, I'll take a closer look at the tire itself.
The tires do have the mark 'Tubeless' on it.

My car left Pennsylvania early 1989 to Belgium, since then the car had been driven for less than 50 miles and has been put in a garage for 17 years. I don't think the person who bought the car in Belgium put new tires on it, the tread is still excellent and there are no cracks in the rubber, the tires having the indication "Made in USA", so I think if they were installed here in Belgium in 1989 it would be European styled 'classic' tires, but the Broadway brand I didn't heard of before. So I suppose they were allready installed when the car was still in the USA ( the window stickers are 1988 Pennsylvania tax tags ).

I'll google the Broadway brand... .

Grtz,

Xavier