Why Do I Keep Getting Flat Tires and Other Tire Questions

I just walked about two miles home after getting the second flat tire in a week. Not a puncture, a flat caused by an internal failure of the tube. Yes, I know I need a jack. On the list.

The facts:

- All tires, tubes, flaps are brand-new.
- All have occurred on the same wheel.
- Nothing external punctured the tire.
- The tube seems to be pinching on the interior of the tire (according to the tech at GCR), which I've never heard of before.
- I'm running 30 front, 35 rear (this wheel is the passenger side front).
- The truck was aligned a couple months ago, drives straight & true.

Questions:

- Has anyone else had such a problem with a tube pinching & puncturing on the inside of the tire?
- Would applying baby/talcum powder to the tube prevent this?
- Where can I have these (multiple expletive deleted) wheels rebuilt for tubeless tires?
- If a tire isn't marked "Tube Type", can one assume they can be run tubeless? If the answer to this question is "no", then I have to disregard any answers to the previous question: another set of new tires isn't in the budget.

Off to retrieve The Curse and and buy a jack at HF...

Thanks for any help provided, and happy holidays.

Tires are indeed marked "tubeless", so one question answered.

Are the tires radial tires or bias ply? Are the tubes correct for the tire type?

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Originally Posted by jeeper

Are the tires radial tires or bias ply? Are the tubes correct for the tire type?

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They’re STA Superlugs. Bias, IIRC. The tubes I got from Summit, and I don’t know what type they may be.

Tubes must match tire type.

Very carefully inspect the inside of the tire, could be you did pick something up, it's just small and not noticable.

When mounting, you could gently inflate the tube, before assembling the rim. Not much just enough to make sure it is centered and wrinkle free.

A little talcum powder could help, but if the tube is catching something, that won't help.

Only place I know that still may do rims for this truck is Stockton wheels.

Sent from my SM-S920L using Tapatalk

I have Superlugs. I keep 50 lbs in them, front and back. Never had a problem yet.

As mentioned above, the tubes are whatever Summit sells. I would assume a radial tube would be marked as such, and these weren't.

I have to conclude the techs at GCR checked the interior of the tire for thorns, nails, etc.; I've done all the tire work I ever intend to on motorcycles, so I'm probably not going to have the opportunity to check the interior of the tire.

I checked the Stockton website & they do build up wheels for M715's. I don't like the way they look, however, and wish I could find someone who could competently build up tubeless wheels with the centers out of my split rims.

Thank you for your advice.

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Originally Posted by kyken

I have Superlugs. I keep 50 lbs in them, front and back. Never had a problem yet.

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I had 'em on my Hercules M37 back when they were made by McCreary: never a problem, even from steering with my right foot or being chained up.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nailhead

- Has anyone else had such a problem with a tube pinching & puncturing on the inside of the tire?

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Had that happen on a bicycle I had when I was 8. dad got tired of buying patches and told me to put some air in it before I put it back together, like 67Smith said.

I had a shop mount mine up, the old man running the show yelled at the boys to hit the insides of the wheels with a buffer wheel to clean them up, said it'd puncture the tube. But mine were really, really bad. Those old tires and tubes were put on when the truck was still in service.

My guess is you have some debris in the tire that is puncturing the tube after installation. I have seen this happen before. Clean the inside of the tire really really good. then check that the flap is also free of sharp pointy things.

You can get radial tubes from Universal Tire. They are thicker than the bias ply tubes.

I pull the valve core and inflate the tube before installation. Reinstall the valve core after the lock ring is installed.

With a duck bill hammer and two lock ring tools it only takes a few minutes to breakdown a tire and put it back together. You can get the tools from kentool. I use a deadblow hammer to seat the ring. Make sure the joint in the lock ring is 180 degrees opposite the valve stem.


FYI: If the tire hasn't been removed for 50 years it might take a little (lot) longer to get it off the wheel.

I appreciate all the help, guys, but I have to make clear that I am NOT going to be doing any tire work on this or any other vehicle, EVER (bicycles being a possible exception). Attempts at motorcycle tire work led me to conclude that I have NO business messing with such things, because I have ZERO patience for it. NONE. Things get thrown. Hard. Heavy things.

Having said that, today I reiterated to the counter guy at GCR my concern that there is FOD between the tire and the tube, and that talc might be a good idea. He said he's going to order a new tube, and we'll start the whole idiotic process over again.

If this repair doesn't hold (and I have no reason to believe it will), I am going to pursue having the wheels modified to run tubeless tires. A guy I know in the resto business up in WY has a source for this, and I am very interested. If it checks out, I'll probably pursue this anyway because I no longer have any confidence in the tube/tire system.

I checked out Stockton Wheel, and if their wheels didn't look so disagreeable, I'd go that route. Still might have to.

Thanks for all the help, everyone. The mystery (AFAIK) persists.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kwai

My guess is you have some debris in the tire that is puncturing the tube after installation. I have seen this happen before. Clean the inside of the tire really really good. then check that the flap is also free of sharp pointy things.

You can get radial tubes from Universal Tire. They are thicker than the bias ply tubes.

I pull the valve core and inflate the tube before installation. Reinstall the valve core after the lock ring is installed.

With a duck bill hammer and two lock ring tools it only takes a few minutes to breakdown a tire and put it back together. You can get the tools from kentool. I use a deadblow hammer to seat the ring. Make sure the joint in the lock ring is 180 degrees opposite the valve stem.


FYI: If the tire hasn't been removed for 50 years it might take a little (lot) longer to get it off the wheel.

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I think a prescription pill bottle is tougher to take apart than that wheel at this point: it's seen a lot of action.

Thanks for the tip on tubes; I checked & they have straight rubber valve stems on them which would seem to make them really difficult to fill.

Also, thanks very much for the tire tutorial. As I mentioned above (pardon the rant-- this tire thing and my Summer of Flat Tires has me pretty well fed up with pneumatic tires generally), I shy away from tire work generally, and-- after reading a gorey account of a split rim installation gone wrong elsewhere on the web-- I'm not yet real comfortable with the idea of messing around with split rim wheels.

Because of my past history with flat tires, I have stayed away from commenting on this thread.

However, the split rim thing makes me jump in. The M715 has split lock ring rims. Not split rims. Very big difference.

You have to get a duck billed hammer. Which really is the only way to do it. Oh, when you buy one, get the fiberglass handle. I started off with a wood handle one and have replaced it several times. Thankfully, the local NAPA store has a bin of them like bats in a sporting goods store. They make fun of me every time I walk in and go to the bin.

The duck billed hammer is needed to get the bead of the tire down 1.5-2 inches from the edge of the split ring. The split ring will not come out of its groove no matter how hard you pry until the tire bead is below it. There is no way for the split ring to come off as long as there is a tire on there.

I have had flats at speed going down the interstate, on the trails, over night with the truck sitting, etc... Nothing comes apart until the bead is pushed down a very large distance. On my M35 trucks, I have actually pulled the valve stem core and driven around just to break the bead loose from the split ring so the hammer work will be easier. Don't fear these rims is what I am trying to get across.

Universal Tire has the correct tubes for our trucks. I just bought 4 in October and mounted them before thanksgiving. Worked fine. They are 900x16 radial tubes with the tr-177A valve stem. part number U71026. $32/each.

These work with the 1100x16 radial tires.

Bob Cowan used to make tubeless wheels using the M715 centers but are I think 8" instead of 6" stock. I have a set and they have worked great.

In the past I have used truck shops to do my tires, because they usually have young knucklehead that can beat the 50 yo tire off the wheel. However, lately I had to do it myself because I can't find anyone nearby that is still working on tube-type wheels/tires.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nailhead

Having said that, today I reiterated to the counter guy at GCR my concern that there is FOD between the tire and the tube, and that talc might be a good idea. He said he's going to order a new tube, and we'll start the whole idiotic process over again.

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Don't know what GCR is, but I'd be looking for a new tire guy. Preferable the old school independent shop, or someone that served.

The guy I had do mine was young, but in a old school kind of shop, and was a wrench in the Marine Corp. He was excited to play with something odd he hadn't seen since he was in. He did the disassembly and reassembly, and I ran the wire wheel on the grinder cleaning up the inside of the wheels once they were apart.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kwai

Universal Tire has the correct tubes for our trucks. I just bought 4 in October and mounted them before thanksgiving. Worked fine. They are 900x16 radial tubes with the tr-177A valve stem. part number U71026. $32/each.

These work with the 1100x16 radial tires.

Bob Cowan used to make tubeless wheels using the M715 centers but are I think 8" instead of 6" stock. I have a set and they have worked great.

In the past I have used truck shops to do my tires, because they usually have young knucklehead that can beat the 50 yo tire off the wheel. However, lately I had to do it myself because I can't find anyone nearby that is still working on tube-type wheels/tires.

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Misread the tube listings on their website-- thanks.

This wheel has received the last tube it will be getting from me: the tire is fixed with a new tube courtesy GCR and if it goes down again in the near future, I'm going to either wheelsnow.com or Pico Wheel in Chatsworth CA to get the stock wheels rebuilt to run tubeless tires. Probably ought to do that anyway.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by farmer

Don't know what GCR is, but I'd be looking for a new tire guy. Preferable the old school independent shop, or someone that served.

The guy I had do mine was young, but in a old school kind of shop, and was a wrench in the Marine Corp. He was excited to play with something odd he hadn't seen since he was in. He did the disassembly and reassembly, and I ran the wire wheel on the grinder cleaning up the inside of the wheels once they were apart.

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GCR is the Firestone/Bridgestone national chain of truck/heavy equipment tire shops. They are the only ones I've found around here that will touch what I call split rims.

Trouble is, their techs are young enough to be ignorant of the term "dial-up", and I can't help thinking this is part of the problem I'm having. I doubt they've worked on a carb, set a point gap, or done a valve adjustment, either-- wrong generation.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Barrman

Because of my past history with flat tires, I have stayed away from commenting on this thread.

However, the split rim thing makes me jump in. The M715 has split lock ring rims. Not split rims. Very big difference.

You have to get a duck billed hammer. Which really is the only way to do it. Oh, when you buy one, get the fiberglass handle. I started off with a wood handle one and have replaced it several times. Thankfully, the local NAPA store has a bin of them like bats in a sporting goods store. They make fun of me every time I walk in and go to the bin.

The duck billed hammer is needed to get the bead of the tire down 1.5-2 inches from the edge of the split ring. The split ring will not come out of its groove no matter how hard you pry until the tire bead is below it. There is no way for the split ring to come off as long as there is a tire on there.

I have had flats at speed going down the interstate, on the trails, over night with the truck sitting, etc... Nothing comes apart until the bead is pushed down a very large distance. On my M35 trucks, I have actually pulled the valve stem core and driven around just to break the bead loose from the split ring so the hammer work will be easier. Don't fear these rims is what I am trying to get across.

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Apologies if my terminology isn't accurate but all semantics aside, if I roll that wheel into a tire shop here in town, the guy at the counter sees "split rim" just before he says "hell no". I might as well be bringing a pistol into an airport.

Tire is fixed with a complimentary new tube provided by GCR. Got a jack at Harbor Fright, and I'm going to pick up a breaker bar & 1" socket today. This weekend, I'll drive around some back roads & shake it down. I'm not really looking forward to it. I'll update on the outcome.

Thanks everyone for all their insights & happy holidays.

Wonder how a safety ring wheel would work at the airport?

Same to you. I got a set of STAs from summit for my 1960 Dodge power giant that shares wheels with the 715, but have not mounted them yet. Hope it will work out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hardmission

Wonder how a safety ring wheel would work at the airport?

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What's that?

I figured out a sure-fire cure for punctures, everyone: don't drive the truck. :eek:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hardmission

Same to you. I got a set of STAs from summit for my 1960 Dodge power giant that shares wheels with the 715, but have not mounted them yet. Hope it will work out.

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The ones I had on my M37 were trouble-free for years in the foothills of rural Wyoming, a place that works tires really hard.