Inner tube problem

[chas036]

I have a JD 720 with 15.5 x 38 tires. Last fall a had a slow leak at the end of the year which i just ignored until this spring. Three weeks ago I decide to to take the tube out to see what was causing the leak. It was a small tear that looked like a stress tear about a 1/8 inch on the inside upper sidewall of the the tube. I checked the inside of the tire at that location and I saw nothing protruding that would cause a puncture or tear. Since the tube looked like the original tube, I just assumed that it was a stress tear from age .

I bought a new tube that was for both bias and radial ties sizes 13.8 to 15.5. The rim is completely clean with no rust and I installed the tube. The tire inflated perfectly and the tractor sat a week before I used it. Yesterday the tire was fully inflated with 25 ibs and I used it to do some mowing. When I parked it after an hour,, the tire was still inflated. When I looked today, it was completely flat. I tried to inflate it and I heard a lot of air rushing out around the valve stem, so I dicided to remove the new tube to take a look.

Unseated the tire and removed the new tube . I saw that it had exactly the same type of tear as the old tube and in the same spot. No puncture hole , just a tear like it was under stress. Again I looked inside the tire and saw nothing protruding that would cause this tear. I am at a loss on what would cause this. I am not going to buy another new tube, so I will patch this tube and try again.

Attached you will see photos of the tear. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[CraigWis]

Do you always put 25psi in the Rear tires? That is more then what I air my rears up to. 14 psi on rears
maybe you have just a little bit of a dimple in the tire. and with that psi it rubs a hole in the tube
When I used to work on Tubed Truck Tires we would put Baby Powder in the Tire the help from rubbing

 

[caterpillar guy]

Looks like it might have been pinched when prying the tire back on and would seal for about a day as it takes time to leak around the stem on an inflated tire. I've had that happen before and had tires that would also trap air between the tube and tire and took a couple days to leak out so the tire would go flat or nearly once inflated again it stayed up then. I would patch it and reassemble being more careful not to pinch the tube. One way is to inflate tube till it will just hold it's shape then pry bead back on for the last side. Also start on the opposite side from the stem doing the stem area last.

 

[Jim.ME]

To me, the crescent shape visible from lower right to the upper left looks like the tube didn't fully stretch out and had a wrinkle in it. The hole is in the deep part of the wrinkle and caused by the sharp bend in the wrinkle flexing. Powder heavily to help the tube move around and straighten out. If you can get a slightly smaller size tube 38" tube, it will need to stretch a bit more and generally the wrinkling will not occur. Radial tubes are best these days.

Edited to correct spelling

 

[olddavid]

To me, the crescent shape visible from lower right to the upper left looks like the tube didn't fully stretch out and had a wrinkle in it. The hole it in the deep part of the wrinkle and caused by the sharp bend in the wrinkle flexing. Powder heavily to help the tube move around and straighten out. If you can get a slightly smaller size tube 38" tube, it will need to stretch a bit more and generally the wrinkling will not occur. Radial tubes are best these days.

I agree. Another trick my Dad taught me was to inflate the tire to pressure and then let all the air out. Then inflate it again to pressure. It allows any folds in the tube to work their way out.

 

[Jim.ME]

I agree. Another trick my Dad taught me was to inflate the tire to pressure and then let all the air out. Then inflate it again to pressure. It allows any folds in the tube to work their way out.

Agreed on inflate, release, inflate. I generally do that 2-3 times. Just didn't think about or mention as to me that is SOP when dealing with tubes.

 

[Ellis Kinney]

Visually inspecting the tire may not be the best way. I would run my hand over the entire area and try to feel a rough spot or thorn or wire. Ellis

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I have a JD 720 with 15.5 x 38 tires. Last fall a had a slow leak at the end of the year which i just ignored until this spring. Three weeks ago I decide to to take the tube out to see what was causing the leak. It was a small tear that looked like a stress tear about a 1/8 inch on the inside upper sidewall of the the tube. I checked the inside of the tire at that location and I saw nothing protruding that would cause a puncture or tear. Since the tube looked like the original tube, I just assumed that it was a stress tear from age .

I bought a new tube that was for both bias and radial ties sizes 13.8 to 15.5. The rim is completely clean with no rust and I installed the tube. The tire inflated perfectly and the tractor sat a week before I used it. Yesterday the tire was fully inflated with 25 ibs and I used it to do some mowing. When I parked it after an hour,, the tire was still inflated. When I looked today, it was completely flat. I tried to inflate it and I heard a lot of air rushing out around the valve stem, so I dicided to remove the new tube to take a look.

Unseated the tire and removed the new tube . I saw that it had exactly the same type of tear as the old tube and in the same spot. No puncture hole , just a tear like it was under stress. Again I looked inside the tire and saw nothing protruding that would cause this tear. I am at a loss on what would cause this. I am not going to buy another new tube, so I will patch this tube and try again.

Attached you will see photos of the tear. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

My tractor tire shop recommended using rust dissolver and Flex seal.
I used black Rust-Oleum and the applied flex seal
I'm not a big fan of green slime. However I bought bicycle inner tubes filled with green slime.
No more leaks.

s

 

[MM-TX]

To me, the crescent shape visible from lower right to the upper left looks like the tube didn't fully stretch out and had a wrinkle in it. The hole is in the deep part of the wrinkle and caused by the sharp bend in the wrinkle flexing. Powder heavily to help the tube move around and straighten out. If you can get a slightly smaller size tube 38" tube, it will need to stretch a bit more and generally the wrinkling will not occur. Radial tubes are best these days.

Edited to correct spelling

Does look like a crease. The place being the same might be coincidence but there might be something not as obvious as something to puncture the tube encouraging the tube to wrinkle right there. If that crease was already there that tube just got hot sitting in the warehouse folded up.

 

[MSD]

When you install your new tube, sprinkle a generous amount of baby powder or corn starch on the tube and in the tire itself. This will help keep the tube from getting a crease in it as it slides easier. Also fill with air to stretch the tube and then let it out. Rotate the tire and refill with air. Will help prevent it from creasing again.

 

[DanielW]

I agree with all others that said it seems like a crease from install that pulled. Lots of powder, several inflates/deflates (make sure you deflate fully). Another trick is to very (very) lightly run a J-cloth or painter's cloth all around the inside of the tire and see what it catches. Anything that catches it even slightly could cause a tube to rip over time. You'd be surprised what the cloth catches on that you won't see or feel with your hands.

Also look at the outside of the tire opposite to the puncture to see if there's any witness of something going in the tire. Sometimes a thorn or sliver of metal can be embedded in the tire wall. It may not stick out enough to see or feel on the inside. But it may poke its way out when there's a load on it enough to puncture the tube. That's a big problem for us with hawthornes.

 

[caterpillar guy]

Take a close look inside for what look like fibers from the side wall. I had a set of tires that after they got so old they would cause a hole. I patched a tube in one tire about 3 times and each about a year apart. The tube would look like it was just chaffed a bit at the hole and there were fibers from the side all not stiff or picky just there and I would have a flat tire . I finally glued a piece of tube over the outer diameter of the tube most of the way around. After about 4 years of fooling around with it right when I needed the tractor I bought a new set tubes and all, then sold the old ones tubes and all. o more problems with flat tires now. Been a couple years now. I'm now looking for a cheap set of used 18.4-38's for my 856 as one looks lik it could give up any day and the other is worn about out on tread. The worst one is loaded. I may just drain it so It doesn't make a big mess if it does blow out.

 

[Ray,IN]

I have a JD 720 with 15.5 x 38 tires. Last fall a had a slow leak at the end of the year which i just ignored until this spring. Three weeks ago I decide to to take the tube out to see what was causing the leak. It was a small tear that looked like a stress tear about a 1/8 inch on the inside upper sidewall of the the tube. I checked the inside of the tire at that location and I saw nothing protruding that would cause a puncture or tear. Since the tube looked like the original tube, I just assumed that it was a stress tear from age .

I bought a new tube that was for both bias and radial ties sizes 13.8 to 15.5. The rim is completely clean with no rust and I installed the tube. The tire inflated perfectly and the tractor sat a week before I used it. Yesterday the tire was fully inflated with 25 ibs and I used it to do some mowing. When I parked it after an hour,, the tire was still inflated. When I looked today, it was completely flat. I tried to inflate it and I heard a lot of air rushing out around the valve stem, so I dicided to remove the new tube to take a look.

Unseated the tire and removed the new tube . I saw that it had exactly the same type of tear as the old tube and in the same spot. No puncture hole , just a tear like it was under stress. Again I looked inside the tire and saw nothing protruding that would cause this tear. I am at a loss on what would cause this. I am not going to buy another new tube, so I will patch this tube and try again.

Attached you will see photos of the tear. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Tractor rear tires must have a rim liner in them to prevent such damage. Downside; these liners are NLA as all tractor tires today are tubeless. Some owners use an old tube to make a replacement liner now.

 

[caterpillar guy]

I would not say all tractor tires today are tubeless. I know of new tires being put on with tubes because otherwise in a few years they are leaking through the tire and going flat on a regular basis so the solution is tubes from new. My brother put 4 new tires on his 7140 with tubes i them for that reason. I also have a love hate relationship with tubes. the tires are so cheesy that they go to leaking through the sidewalls in a few years yet the tubes are also so cheesy they don't hold well either. Tubes solve the sidewall problem yet the tubes then sometimes go bad from seem splits and such. I have use several Doberman brand tubes with good results so far over the last few years now. I see a lot of tubes in new tires on tractors for those reasons now.

 

[Jim.ME]

Tractor rear tires must have a rim liner in them to prevent such damage. Downside; these liners are NLA as all tractor tires today are tubeless. Some owners use an old tube to make a replacement liner now.

I have found very few rear tractor tires that have tubes in them, with liners, even those 50 plus years old. A rim with a good surface is required, a liner is optional. A liner will not prevent a tube from creasing and may even contribute to that happening in my opinion. Some people wrap rough surface rims with duct tape or similar. My experience has been that liners/flaps were common in multi-piece highway rims to protect the tubes from the rim components, and those liners/flaps are still available from some sources.

Most tires today are made to run tubeless, that does not mean they are not run with tubes in them as well. It depends on the application. Not all rims still in use today are designed for tubeless tires and may or may not hold air if tires are mounted without tubes. JMHO

 

[Ray,IN]

I forgot to say; That inner tube appears to have been improperly installed, it had a fold when inflated. I was taught many decades ago to assemble the tube and tire onto the rim, then inflate to 5-10psi, deflate and repeat, then inflate to your preferred pressure. This eliminates any folds in the tube and allows it to conform to the tire-making sure there is no sideways pressure on the stem.

 

[Duner Wi]

My guess is the tube got pinched between rim and tire bead probably due to rim not centered on bead and lack of lube to get bead to seat easily requiring lots of air pressure. Tube got caught when bead snapped into place.