Steel Wheels, Inner Tubes & Punctures

I got a set of steel wheels for my TD5. There were a few touches of rust but they didn't look too bad. I replaced the tyres and found these tyres needed inner tubes. I didn't really think anything of it, tyres had inner tubes for decades, so why should it be a problem?

Anyhow, a few thousand miles later and the front nearside tyre gets a puncture. Just one of those things I thought and replaced the tyre.

Now, a few thousand more miles and the front nearside tyre has once again had a puncture.

Is this just a co-incidence, or could it be the steel wheels/inner tubes? And if so, is there anything I can do, like having the steel wheels professionally refurbished, that will fix the problem?

Cheers

Gary

Not quite sure why you are associating having an inner tube = more likely to get a puncture ?
Also it's not tyres that need inner tubes it's if the wheel itself isn't airtight.

If the wheels are in good nick then the tyre should seal on the rim and give an airtight seal.
If the wheels are corroded, sandblasting and painting/powder coating will likely provide a smooth enough rim to seat a tyre to.

I guess the question is - what is the problem with your wheels ?

If you are running inner tubes then a puncture does not require the tyre to be replaced it just requires the tube to either be repaired or replaced (much cheaper than a tyre)

As mentioned above it is the rim style that dictates whether of not you need to run inner tubes or not, but tyres also need to be suitable for tubes, not all modern tyres are and running inner tubes in non-inner tube tyres can cause problems and is not recommended.

If you think the rim is rusting and that is causing the punctures then all that is required is an wire wheel on an angles grinder around the inside of the time and a couple of coats of red oxide primer followed by machine/tractor enamel and it will be good as new. However the rim would need to be very rusted and scaled to be causing punctures in the tube.

Beck said:

I got a set of steel wheels for my TD5. There were a few touches of rust but they didn't look too bad. I replaced the tyres and found these tyres needed inner tubes. I didn't really think anything of it, tyres had inner tubes for decades, so why should it be a problem?

Anyhow, a few thousand miles later and the front nearside tyre gets a puncture. Just one of those things I thought and replaced the tyre.

Now, a few thousand more miles and the front nearside tyre has once again had a puncture.

Is this just a co-incidence, or could it be the steel wheels/inner tubes? And if so, is there anything I can do, like having the steel wheels professionally refurbished, that will fix the problem?

Cheers

Gary

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It isn't tyres that need inner tubes it is certain types of rims. What rims do you have?

Modern tyres often have ribbing on the inside of the tyre. This can cause issues with an inner tube and wear a hole in it. Also most inner tubes are probably not as good quality as they once were.

If your rims don't need tubes, don't run them. But you need to know what rims you have.

Many off roaders run tubes in tubeless rims, as you can run lower pressure without risk of popping a bead off road.

I took a rotted tyre from a series wheel [ good wheel ]the other day and pulled the inner tube. It was still good and a thick heavy rubber much more weight than any tube you get today.

I had exactly the same problem. It's rust. The flakes get caught behind the stickers inside the tyres and chafe the tube. After two punctures in quick succession before I took my 110 off the road I bought an SIII. More punctures. I had the rims blasted and then repainted thoroughly. Wrote that off and bought another, did the same. No punctures in ten years. Recently I sold all the blasted rimes and bought tubeless ones for marginally less than I got for the same number of rims! I did it because a tubeless tyre behaves better with high speed blowouts and I never need to run low pressures.

Beck said:

I got a set of steel wheels for my TD5. There were a few touches of rust but they didn't look too bad. I replaced the tyres and found these tyres needed inner tubes. I didn't really think anything of it, tyres had inner tubes for decades, so why should it be a problem?

Anyhow, a few thousand miles later and the front nearside tyre gets a puncture. Just one of those things I thought and replaced the tyre.

Now, a few thousand more miles and the front nearside tyre has once again had a puncture.

Is this just a co-incidence, or could it be the steel wheels/inner tubes? And if so, is there anything I can do, like having the steel wheels professionally refurbished, that will fix the problem?

Cheers

Gary

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Rust, or other objects inside the tyre.

I have had many more punctures on tubed tyres over the years from objects inside the tyres than from things penetrating the tyres themselves.

If you don't want/can't afford, to go to tubeless rims, the best way to go is to remove all the tyres and tubes, go over the wheel wells thoroughly with a wire brush, give the wheel wells a couple of coats of red oxide primer, leave to dry, and replace tubes and tyres.

Thanks for these comments, lots of food for thought.

I’d like to stick with original Land Rover steel wheels, so I guess I’ll have to investigate if there are tubeless tyre options, or alternatively I’ll look at refurbishing these wheels and sticking to lower quality modern inner tubes.

I appreciate all your assistance!

Beck said:

Thanks for these comments, lots of food for thought.

I’d like to stick with original Land Rover steel wheels, so I guess I’ll have to investigate if there are tubeless tyre options, or alternatively I’ll look at refurbishing these wheels and sticking to lower quality modern inner tubes.

I appreciate all your assistance!

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What rims have you got? Anything post Series III should be tubeless. Didn’t you say you have a TD5? Are they not the original rims?

300bhp/ton said:

What rims have you got? Anything post Series III should be tubeless. Didn’t you say you have a TD5? Are they not the original rims?

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No, they were just a set laying around at the dealers where I bought the Landy. Thanks for that information, I didn’t know that, it sounds like I need a refurbished set of TD5 steel wheels.

I paid about £60 and £80 each time for four (8 total) 'new take off' tubeless rims one and two years ago. Worth shopping around because blasting prices have gone up a lot around here. Used to be a fiver, about £25 last time!

Also, I think you missed a point. It's the rims that are tubeless, not the tyres. eg welded not rivetted so that they don't leak.

boguing said:

I paid about £60 and £80 each time for four (8 total) 'new take off' tubeless rims one and two years ago. Worth shopping around because blasting prices have gone up a lot around here. Used to be a fiver, about £25 last time!

Also, I think you missed a point. It's the rims that are tubeless, not the tyres. eg welded not rivetted so that they don't leak.

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Tubeless rims have bigger holes for the valves too. Because the valves are seated direct in the rim, rather than going through the rim from the tube.

Having had very numerous tyres of both types, I agree with your earlier post, tubeless are better overall. I haven't had many problems with tubeless tyres, and punctures are repairable provided they are in the tread part of the tyre, not the sidewall.
Once the initial cost of the rims is out of the way, tubeless cost less over time, I imagine that kind of tube is about 20 quid now, so an extra hundred quid on a set of five tyres.

Turboman said:

Tubeless rims have bigger holes for the valves too. Because the valves are seated direct in the rim, rather than going through the rim from the tube.

Having had very numerous tyres of both types, I agree with your earlier post, tubeless are better overall. I haven't had many problems with tubeless tyres, and punctures are repairable provided they are in the tread part of the tyre, not the sidewall.
Once the initial cost of the rims is out of the way, tubeless cost less over time, I imagine that kind of tube is about 20 quid now, so an extra hundred quid on a set of five tyres.

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Oh yes, I forgot about the valves - and good point on tubes cost.

(I've got four verry verry nice used ones that I might be persuaded to..... oh, never mind).

boguing said:

I paid about £60 and £80 each time for four (8 total) 'new take off' tubeless rims one and two years ago. Worth shopping around because blasting prices have gone up a lot around here. Used to be a fiver, about £25 last time!

Also, I think you missed a point. It's the rims that are tubeless, not the tyres. eg welded not rivetted so that they don't leak.

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It isn’t the rivets. Tubeless rims have an extra bugle/ridge for the tyre bead to sit in. Tubes rims don’t have this.

300bhp/ton said:

It isn’t the rivets. Tubeless rims have an extra bugle/ridge for the tyre bead to sit in. Tubes rims don’t have this.

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As above, Tubeless on the left, tubed on the right. There are also diferances in construction riveted vs welded but the important difference is the additional ridge to keep the tubless tyre bead seated.

Rivets can leak. Spokes do leak. Probably the main reason that wheels had tubes.

boguing said:

Rivets can leak. Spokes do leak. Probably the main reason that wheels had tubes.

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Maybe, but that is not the defining aspect of a tubed rim vs a tubeless one. It is all about safety of having a seat area for the tyre bead on a tubeless rim. It is dangerous to run without tubes on a tubed rim, but is ok the other-way round.

Use tubes with rim tape if you worried. My steels had tubeless but i did clean the bead land before fitting.