- Home
- About Us
- Join/Renew
- Member Benefits
- Member Pages
- Log In
- Help
- Museum Store
I came into my garage and found a flat tire, clearly a tube failure. The good news is that as it was parked no damage to the tire or the wheel.
The tire is a Lester 600/650 X 20. Can someone tell me the proper tube size? Is there an alternative to the antique tire vendors with their poor quality tubes?
Also the tire is mounted on a metal disc wheel which has a ring on the outer side. What tools are needed and what is the safe way to remove and replace this ring?
I purchased 6 tires, tubes and flaps from Lester Tire in Long Beach back in 2006 and I have not had a single flat on my Pierce.
Also bought a complete set of 5 for my Rickenbacker and have not had a flat on that car either.
You’re in Oxnard so you’re not too far away, a little bit of a drive but not too bad.
I had everything mounted at a shop near their store that they recommended I go to.
My Pierce has wires and my Rickenbacker has artillery wheels.
Why BUY a tube ?? any tire shop should be able to patch the hole in the tube.. Your current tubes for disk wheels have a 90* bent brass stem.. those tubes are not available. You have to have the brass stem vulcanized to a ‘new’ tube.. the new tubes are paper thin..
Take the wheel tire to a TRUCK tire repair place.. they will know how to deal with the snap-ring type wheels. AND they will be able to patch the hole in the tube. You most likely picked up a nail and punctured the tube..
Sort of like a modern tubeless tire,, you would plug a hole in the tread, not automatically replace the whole tire..
i’d also suggest putting air in the tire/tube and then check the schrader valve in the valve stem.. those can go bad.. use windex or soapy water and put a drop over the end of the valve stem,, if it blows bubbles, it’s leaking..
Greg
Well sometimes a simple matter of a flat turns into more of a saga than one would expect. I wish to thank Craig for his recommendation of Lucas Tires.
I called Lucas and the next day had in my hand two new tubes with the bent nickel metal stem. I went to a tire shop near me which is also located very close to a local antique car museum where they work on wheels/tires for them.
I did have a tube failure while parked, the tube had a 12 inch clean tear. The tire and flap were in fine condition.
Based on Greg’s comments I have kept the bad tube for the nickel stem.
When I took the wheel to the shop they pointed out a six inch long crack in the wheel parallel to the inside rim. Sigh. The shop however know of a welding shop and they handled getting the rim repaired and the new tube mounted. So finally I am good to go back on the road this weekend.
I appreciate the help and recommendations from this group.
Hi James, I’ve seen a crack in this type of wheel many times.. Make sure you check your other wheels for similar cracks.. : old metal, it gets tired.. I suspect the split in the wheel matched the split in the tube ??
BEWARE: Disc wheels have LEFT hand and RIGHT hand threaded studs/nuts.. the ‘L’ and ‘R’ are supposed to be on the end of the lug nuts.. do not fail to look and think before trying t remove a lug nut,, or risk stripping or twisting off a stud..
Greg Long
Greg,
At first I was not aware of left and right lug nuts on the car. But when removing the wheel I was at first surprised at how “tight”” the nut was until I saw the “”L”” and then realized the need to turn in the opposite direction I had been attempting. I dont have fancy air tools so no risk of damage. I cant say anything about the the alignment of tube failure with the crack but I tend to not think so as there was a flap on the wheel and I think it is over the crack but??
I will check all of the wheels per your suggestion. I had checked the spare and it is good.”