VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Slow Leak (tire) Question

Okay, maybe dumb questions, but first experience with tube type car tires. I have a tire that gets pretty near flat in about 3 days.

1) Can a leak be patched similar to a bike tire?
2) What’s a good source for a replacement tube (5.00/4.75 - 19)?
3) Good source for tools to remove the tire from the rim?
4) Once the tire is off/tube out, anything should I should be looking out for?

Also had the unfortunate realization that my side mount spares are really only for looks, since any pressure in them also makes them impossible to remove from the wells....

Thanks

1. Yes
2. Coker Tire or any tire company that specializes in vintage tires and tubes.
3. I had my 19" tires removed from the rims at my local tire shop.
4. Cracks and age checking in the tubes. Tire tread. Age checking and deterioration on the tires and etc.

Thanks! Tires were nearly new when I bought the car last summer, and appear in good shape. May go with that tip on taking the wheel down to the local tire shop and have them remove the tire.

yeah, maybe they just replaced the tires (rubber) and not the tubes.

on my 1929 i got new tires, tubes, and flaps. all from coker

I also acquired a vintage tire changing tool :) pretty neat contraption, have yet to use it though

Jerry's tool is for disc wheels and wood wheels with detachable rims only, and is used to compress the split rim to allow removal of the tire. If you have wire wheels, you won't need it. The tire store will probably be able to deal with demounting your tire if you have wire wheels, but probably not if you have disc or wood wheels on your car. For them, either a tool like Jerry's or several pry bars and patience are needed.

You can also remove the tire from your wire wheels at home with a couple of pry bars and extreme care not to cut or pinch the inner tube. Check on the internet for Youtube videos on how to do it.

One point to add to the Junkyard Dog's excellent list. When you disassemble the tire from the rim and remove the tube from the tire for a patch repair, check on the inside of the tire wherever the leak was in the tube for something stuck through the tire that caused the initial puncture and be sure it is removed before reassembly.

Hope that helps.

All the Best, Chip

Thanks guys! They are wire wheels.

You should be able to break down the wire wheels easily. Unlike tubeless wheels there is no ridge around the rim to hold the edges of the tire like tubeless ones. Once it is deflated just lay the wheel on the floor and walk on it to break the tire from the rim and use some flat tire irons to remove the tire (being careful not to pinch the tube as previously stated).

When you have the tires and tubes removed from the wheels make sure that each wheel has a gutter strip in place to protect the inner tube from the heads of the spokes that are inside the gutter part of the wheel.

Would that be the "19 X 5 Inch Flap" that Coker sells? Thanks

I recently saw an interesting youtube video about mounting tires to old motorcycle rims .

One tip the guy had was to wire wheel the inside of the rim to get rid of any sharp rust spots that would make the tubes leak air.

On my 1947 Simplex bike, I followed that advice and then brush painted the inside of the rim (Rustoleum black) to preserve the metal.

Then, came the tire flaps (gutter strip) and tubes.

Cheers, Dean

[/quote]Would that be the "19 X 5 Inch Flap" that Coker sells? Thanks[/quote]

No the 5" wide one is for split rims. The rim strip you need is about 1 to 1 1/2" wide and fits into the drop center of the wire wheel.

No the 5" wide one is for split rims. The rim strip you need is about 1 to 1 1/2" wide and fits into the drop center of the wire wheel.
[/quote]

Thanks! I just saw a rim strip on one of the Coker tire tech videos and was going to ask what the difference was.

I have heard of people using the wide rim flap on drop centre wheels when the rim is really pitted bad but otherwise the thin strip is all that is needed to protect the tube from the spoke ends.

I think somewhere in the 30/31 Chevrolet Service news had a write up on how the change the new drop center wire wheels. It shows one example of doing it on the car which I have yet to try. Best thing I did was let everything warm up in the sun so the rubber was pliable. I bought a couple of long tire tools at a motorcycle shop and tire changing lube at NAPA. I think it was called Ryglyde or something similar. It does get easier the more you do.

Dave

Yes the tube can be patched same as a bike tire and that may be a good place to get a tube repair kit. Most automotive tire places don't even have the tire patch kits or know how to repair a tube type tire. If the tube is old probably best to replace it with a new one . In addition to the above be sure that you get the correct tube if you do replace it. On some rims the tube stem fits in the center and on others they come out offset. Don't depend on the sales person to know exactly what you need as they can make mistakes or lack knowledge. If you learn how to change the tube and tire yourself you will be less stressed when a problem arises.

Thanks for all the input, it's much appreciated!

What do you use to protect the rim from damage from the tire iron? I've seen plastic rim guards for motorcycle and bike rims, and others use a section of garden hose or plastic from a milk jug or similar. My rims aren't pristine, but would like to keep as as nice as possible.

I protected my newly powder coated rims by threatening the life of the tire man who mounted the tires!