Tire talc

[gearboy]

Years ago, most shops mounted tires and tubes with tire talc, so as not to introduce any more moisture than already in the ambient air. Most shops today just brush on some detergent and water, or anything water-based. We called our local NAPA dealer and a couple other parts houses, but none carried tire talc. One tire shop says they've used baby powder for particular customers, "race cars and antiques (that's us!)," for the last decade, with no problem.

Now, this is perhaps a niggling detail, but that's the nature of cars. A retired aircraft mechanic (and Cord-owning) friend mentioned seeing an informal adviso in some do-it-yourself journal for light plane owners a couple years ago on "changing your own tires and saving money," suggesting that owners use tire talc, not baby powder, but didn't cite any particular reason.

The only ingredients listed on Johnson & Johnson and other major brands of baby powder are "Talc, fragrance." I'd imagine baby talc is just super pure tire talc. Is the fragrance petrochem-based, and could that cause a problem with tire and tube material?

Can anyone else using baby powder like the tire shop i spoke with report decades of uneventful motoring with no deleterious effect?

Meanwhile, imagine there are plenty of jokes regarding autoholics powdering their four-wheeled babies. [color:\\"black\\"]

(We know many race cars, and museum cars, have tires filled with nitrogen for stability, but that's another matter, perhaps a little much for most of us, and not the question above.)

[6219_Rules]

Hi Gearboy,

I called a local tire wholesaler who handles tire talc. He says it is still available from Camel Industries and he does sell it though very seldom. Apparently truck drivers will use it.

It was originally used to keep the real rubber inner tubes from sticking to the wheels and tires so the tube would rotate properly. Baby talc would not work because it cannot withstand the heat. He is looking into the chemical properties for me. I will post that when I can get it.

OK I got the skinny on tire talc at least as far as it goes. According to Pete at Tire Source in Boulder, an SCCA supporter and provider, that what they genereally use IS baby powder and that it works fine, unlike the above. However, some manufacturers include tire talc with their tubes and insist that it be used. Check out Classico Tubes in England, they should be on the web, and ask about French talc (silk) which they use.

Classico Tires

I hope that helps. It appears that it is a petrolium distallate. Hey I figure if baby talc is good enough in a Bugatti's tires it should work OK for our needs! <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

[gearboy]

Thank you, sir, for your diligence and insight. I should clarify. We knew talc was used to aid installation without chafing the tube, not to absorb moisture. But most tire shops we've seen in recent years use soapy/detergent water as the lubricant to aid tube/tire installation. And that, of course, is the LAST thing we want in our wheels, where preservation is the byword.

So your contact says baby powder's kosher; he's been using it for years with no problems. That's what we hoped to hear, tho' we'd still be curious what the light plane journal writer was concerned with if any of you omnivorous technocrats and Renaissance men might bail us out. [color:\\"black\\"]

[Guest]

I worked in several GM Dealerships in the sixties and seventies and they all used Ru-Glyde for mounting tires. It was a fantastic lubricant for that purpose.

[Restorer32]

I grew up working in Dad's tire shop from about 1956 to 1970 and NEVER heard of tire talc being used as a mounting lubricant, only as an antistick to keep natural rubber tubes from sticking to the inside of the tires. Natural rubber tubes were still in use then. I think I remember Michelin tubes (and tires) being natural rubber. The talc would often form itself into little balls if the tires were mounted tubeless. These were great ammunition for a slingshot and hurt like Hell if you were hit with one. I can still distinguish a natural rubber tube from a synthetic by the sound it makes when dropped on the floor. Anyone else remember that ?