Hey Iowa Tire Guy

[E.B. Haymakin']

I have a very old trailer that I have been using for hay. It is a Miller tilt-top trailer model A rated at 3 tons. It has one axle with dual tires. The problem seems that the wheel/rim assemblies don"t use tubeless tires. These tires all have tubes in them. Three of the existing tires are Firestone LT215 85R16"s Steeltex Radial ASR. I believe the date on them is 1983. They all leak, and need to be replaced-they are old. I have been to 2 places already that don"t want to fool with this. I know the tires on it say "tubeless", but somebody, somewhere (Andalusia, AL. probably the previous owner lived there) put this together. I would appreciate your opinion.

 

[Iowa_tire_guy]

I don"t know really what you want my opinion on. Do you want to try running tubeless tires on the old rims? Are these split rims? What excuses do the shops give you?

 

[E.B. Haymakin']

Two large outfits have said they do not fool with tubed tires, is it really that hard to put a tube in a tubeless tire? Yes, that is what I was hoping to do-put another round of tubeless tires with tubes in them, so I can keep using this trailer. However, my discussions with these "tire places" have been I"m wasting their time because these rims are "ancient". The rims appear to be riveted together, so maybe "two-piece" is a what they are. The place in the rim where the existing tubes come through with the valve stem is odd shaped, I doubt any stem would fit, it is round on one side of the hole, and flat on the other. Has tire technology made the tube unavailable? Is what I am trying to do no longer possible today? If if is am going to keep going around to shops till I find one that will work with me. I want new tires also, I"m not looking in the scrap heap.
Thanks for your time.

 

[E.B. Haymakin']

I have the tires off the trailer also, I spent thirty minutes with my impact, and air compressor beating on those lugs. The rims look sound to me. However old this trailer is I don"t know, but the steel is good all around.

 

[JT]

Other than you would want to put liners in it if it is a 2 piece riveted rim, yes, you can put a tube in a tubeless tire. You might want to go to a shop that specializes in truck tires. If you are going to use radial tires, though I think you need to use a radial tube, from what I have seen and heard, their is a difference. Yes tubes are fun to put in a tire, normally you have to put them in by hand, not using a machine, so that may be why they do not want to do it. you can also pinch the tubes putting them in, and if they do not have a tire guy that knows what he is doing, he will pinch a tube, then they have to replace the tube, repair it, and then not charge you for their mistake.

 

[E.B. Haymakin']

Thanks, that sheds some light on why they didn"t want to fool with me. I think I"m going to keep trying, I was given this trailer, and it makes a great hay wagon.

 

[LenND]

It sounds like those tire shops are just plain lazy. Any of my equipment that has tubeless tires on it when I got it now has a tube in it. I even had tubes in two of my pickup tubeless tires and they were on there when I traded it. Go to a farm supply store (like TSC) and they will have the right size tubes for you.

 

[oleblu]

It sounds like you have rims with lock rings and MOST places won't work on them because they are dangerous. FIRST, they were dangerous when they were new IF they were not assembeled correctly-SECONDly, MOST tire personnel aren't properly trained (if at all) to work on these rims, and LASTLY, a lot of tire stores won't work on them because there is huge risk and liability coupled with LOW PROFIT MARGIN. It's easier to have an employee mount and balance a set of car tires with a profit potental of $100 vs. fooling with a lock ring tire and rim and making $25-$30 (or less) in the same amount of time.
Been there, done that-- tire shop slave.