Take care installing tubes in OEM tubeless tires - lesson learned

[packardv8]

My Toro Timecutter is old enough the tires have age-cracked to the point they were leaking too much. Rather than replace the tires, I bought tubes for the rears and with some difficulty got them installed. All was good for a month and then the left one developed a bigger leak. Knowing it was a puncture, I took it to my local tire store to have the tube patched. They supposedly checked it out and gave it back to me, saying the valve stem on the tube was bad.

I took it back home, wrestled off one side of the tire and pulled out the tube. Airing it up, a quick trip through the bird bath found a hole in the side of the tube. Realizing it couldn't have come from a nail, I pulled the tire off the wheel and sure enough, there were beads of Chicom weld spatter on the insides of the wheel. I should have checked and caught that before installing the tube!

A few minutes on the wire wheel was enough to polish off the little buggers. Took the wheel, tire and tube back to the tire store where they at first weren't sure they still even stocked tube patches; finally one was found in the back room and they patched the tube, mounted the tire and gave it back, no charge.

Bottom line - before installing tubes in originally tubeless tires, check the inside of the wheel for boogers.

jack vines

 

[ILENGINE]

The other thing that I have been seeing a lot the last few years is the cords inside of the tires are coming loose and in the worse tires looks like spiderwebs crisscrossing the entire inside of the tire.

 

[packardv8]

For true. The Chicom tires are junk which self destruct in just a few years. The bad news is that the replacements are also mostly Chicom. That's why I chose to go with tubes instead of new tires.

jack vines

 

[7394]

And fwiw: When I do inner tubes (Harleys still use them on spoked rims) I rub the inner tube down well with baby powder & tube slides in so easily & settles..

 

[ILENGINE]

reported

 

[StarTech]

And fwiw: When I do inner tubes (Harleys still use them on spoked rims) I rub the inner tube down well with baby powder & tube slides in so easily & settles..

And you still able to find the powder? Maybe it was the brand that I used that was pulled from the market.

 

[7394]

It's real old stock, but any powder I'd say would help.

 

[bb770]

Also, air the tire up. Then take the valve stem out , replace the valve stem. Air it back up. Takes the wrinkles out of the tube.

 

[Oddjob]

I do a lot of work on bicycles. Got started at age 8 when my father got tired of fixing all the flats in the neighborhood and fobbed the job off on me. Step one is to put a dab of spit on the valve stem and see if it bubbles. If so, tighten valve stem or replace and job done. Step two is take tube out and find leak by submersing tube in water. Then run your finger carefully around inside of tire looking for burrs, thorns, or metal that caused the flat. Learned that like you did, the hard way. Never thought about baby powder, thanks for that good idea. BTW, baby powder is no longer talcum. It is corn starch, so if you have some of that in the kitchen, no need to buy baby powder for this job.

 

[MowManMow]

If one orders garden tractor tires from Walmarts website they'll mount them free. I always look on their site to see what's available first when they're needed.
I got my Wheel Horse tractor's front tri-rib tires/tubes I bought there mounted free but not tried to get tubes alone fwiw?