Help! I have had my 1969 XKE for 30 years with the same Dunlop Elites, p215 70 r15, on the factory wire wheels. There is probably 5k on the tires but I am overdue to change because of the age. I see lots of tires available but need suggestions about where to get tubes. I need to get “liners” or “flaps” or whatever they are called, because of the wire wheels. What is the correct term for them? Where to buy them? I have a shop that will do the mounting, but I have to provide the tires, tubes, etc.? I am in Reno, Nevada. Thanks for your help.
Michelin radial tubes are widely available for about $40 each. The rubber ring to cover the spokes is not necessary. Simply buy a couple of rolls of high quallity PVC electrical tape, like the 3M products, and put one or two wraps of that over the spoke ends. I’ve never done it any other way, and never had a problem.
Whatever you do, DO NOT exceed 20 mph on those tires!!
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I used Lucas Tire for my XK150 tires and tubes:
I’m very happy with their service.
They’re in Long Beach so shipping to you should be easy and fast.
A friend bought a car with 30 year old tires. He drove it home several tens of miles at 60 mph, to discover on arrival most of the tread was gone. He vowed not to repeat that circumstance.
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Lucas Classic Tires have Michelin Tubes and thick rubber rings to cover the spoke ends. I recently bought 5 sets of each and am happy with the quality. I think the tubes were around $30 each. You can get other tubes for about half that, but the Michelins appear to be more robust, so I opted for them. Please do not drive on 30 year old tires …
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… AT ALL. Ever.
Message received.
The ‘inner’ wheel liners are sometimes referred to as “rim bands”. Moss motors sells them.
https://mossmotors.com/rim-band-155-165-15-tires?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=free&utm_campaign=shopping
Like anything else, with tubes, you get what you pay for. You don’t need a blowout or flat and for the money, get good ones. Here is a chart to know what size tube:
You also may be able to order from that place.
Did the Lucas tires come already filled with smoke or had it leaked out by the time they were received?
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Thank you to everyone who replied. I think that I am pretty much set to go. I bought Vredestein tires from Tire Rack and tubes and liners from Moss Motors. My appointment to have them mounted is on 7/14. I need to have the car ready for Hot August Nights car festival, which is the first week in August here in Reno. I did see something about putting talcum powder inside. Exactly where does that go? And is there anything else that I need to know? My cassette player broke last summer and I am going to make another post about where to find another one. I have a ton of good cassettes and really dont want to switch to a modern format. Thanks again to everyone.
Make sure there are no labels or stickers inside the tires then liberally apply talk to empty tire carcass, roll around to equally distribute.
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Just talked with the agent at Michelinman.com… they no longer make inner tubes for automobile tires… bike, motorcycle, etc… but no auto tubes… Both coker and Summit have them, coker uses a Chinese brand, and Summit uses a US brand… both around $18 apiece… I ordered mine from Summit
Did you check with Lucas Classic Tires. As I mentioned earlier, I bought 6 Michelin Tubes from them a few months ago. They still show them on their web site “15F13 Michelin TR-13 rubber stem tube” - $35 each so not cheap, but not paper thin either.
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I just bought 15E13 TR-13 Michelin tubes from Lucas yesterday. Thirty-two bucks apiece.
I got my Vredestein tires from Tire Rack, $1200, and my tubes and liners from Moss Motors. The tubes were $30 each. I dont know the brand. I could have gotten them a little cheaper from Coker but the guy at Moss Motors seemed more knowledgeable about Jaguars and exactly what I needed.
I also give them a few bounces too, gives it all a good dusting then. Mount and fill with air , let the air out to spread the tube around (no wrinkles)
Cheers
Yes, you must remove all wrinkles or it will spring a leak.
You’ve got to live somewhere you aren’t afraid to die.
Ukrainian poet Serhiy Zhadan
I bought Classico tubes from the UK: https://raceandrallytubes.com/
I believe Moss may now sell them.
—Drew
I was told that best practice is to inflate the tube then deflate it again before filling for real. I leave the valve core out for the first inflate/deflate then put it in for the final pressure.
Or at least that’s how I did it for years before going tubeless with sealed rims.
Is it required to always use tubes on our wire wheels? I’m about to order from Moss or SNG or Coker and some list the wheels as tubeless.