Inner tubes - how long do these things last?

[DBT]

Still learning about inner tubes!

I put new tyres and tubes on the car in 2007. Have ran the car frequently and put on about 8000 miles since [2500 of those in a long run upto Thailand and back] and now the tubes are starting give way.

So I have had to repair two in the past month already. The last one we had looked at by a guy who does truck tyres and he remarked that the tubes have been put in without any protection and that consequently they have worn prematurely against the beading line inside the tyres. [Hope I got that right as it was relayed to me second hand after the fact.]

His advice was to replace all the inner tubes and when fitting the new ones to line the tyre first with sheets of rubber from the old tubes.

Sound right? And so did I miss a trick here? How much life can I expect from inner tubes and what preparation do others do when you are fitting your inner tubes? It just seems a little early to wear out I would have thought at 8000 miles

[ply33]

I am certainly no expert but in my experience it tubes should last as long as the tires.

With spoked wheels like mine there should be a "rim flap", basically a wide rubber band that protects the tube against any roughness along the ends of the spokes. I don't recall if that is necessary on pressed steel wheels but I can't see it hurting.

In addition, the inside of the tire should be dusted with something like talc so that the tube and the tire can adjust their position with respect to one another without too much friction. I use baby powder for this.

Probably the tire experts will tell me I have it all wrong, but that is what I have done for several sets of tires and had no issues with the tubes at all.

[keiser31]

Probably what he meant was the wheel liner that protects the tube from the rim. They can be gotten through most reproduction antique vintage style tire supplier and sometimes trucking suppliers.

[F&J]

It almost sounds like the shop wants to put rubber liners in the tire before installing the tube?..and the reference to tire "beads" makes me think of some tires that have a wide "flap" that gets put into the tire after the tube is slightly inflated. You see that a lot on truck tires with split rims.

Tubes should be inflated once, then let all the air back out to help get the wrinkles out, then re-inflate....plus talc is/was used to help prevent wrinkles. Any wrinkle will always wear quickly at the fold, and fail.

[Owen_Dyneto]

You ask "how much life can I expect from inner tubes?".

Properly installed, they should at least outlast a set of tires, or several sets of tires, 15-25 years not uncommon (though it was certainly uncommon in the era of our cars). Last time I installed a set I used vermiculite as a lubricant, but I think talcum powder is just as effective, maybe more.

[Dandy Dave]

It sure seems like the tubes made thirty or 40 years ago were thicker and made from a better rubber that the stuff we seem to be getting today. I have had tractors that had tubes in them that are 40 years old or possibly more, and they still hold air. One that came out of a 1936 F-30 Tractor has been used for a pond tube for the last twenty years. After use, it always gets put away in a dark and cool storage area. Some of the newer lawn tractors that I have worked on have tires that do not last at all. They weather check rather quickly and end up leaking in the sidewalls long before they are worn. I notice that the newer innertubes are not as thick as the old ones were either. Sometimes you just have to take what you can get. Dandy Dave!

[Mark Shaw]

I agree that tubes should last as long as a set of new tires. I had a slow leaking tube in my 38 buick and found that the glue on a paper sticker left on the tube caused the leak. It actually broke down the rubber....

Hey DandyDave, why don't you post a photo of how you found your leak on the BCA PreWar AfterTour?

[DavidAU]

G'day David

About two years ago I bought two new 19" tubes for my 1923 Metallurgique from a Vintage tyre dealer here in Brisbane because one of the original? tubes was leaking around the valve. About 6 months after fitting one of the new tubes the tyre went down.

This is on a car that has not moved out of the shed for about three years. I thought that I must have pinched the tube or it had a sharp spoke end somewhere even though it is fitted with a rubber band which covers the spoke ends. I repaired the leak which was on the inside centre point of the tube and refitted it. About 6 months ago it went down again. I repaired the leak which was near the first one, rechecked the band, inspected the spoke ends, wrapped duct tape around the rim, three months ago it went down again. The hole was near the other.

Frustrated I dismantled every thing, chucked the tube (which had never turned one rev. outside the shed) and installed the other new tube which was the same manufacturer as the first one with "Made in Sweden" written all over its packet. I didn't use tyre levers so I would not pinch the tube, inflated and deflated it and smothered everything in talcum powder before installation. Pumped the tyre to 35PSI and installed it. By the time I put the jack away, cleaned my hands and returned to the shed (15mins) it was flat. You could say I was pissed. On inspection the tube had a leak in exactly the same place as the previous one had, right on the inner centre and is an obvious fault in them. I approached the dealer and he said he could do nothing for me as odd size tubes are hard to get and they buy them from wherever they can get them.

Since then I have purchased another two new ones with the brand name "Custom Classic". These are made in India and feel quite a bit thicker than the Swedish ones. I installed one of these and to date it is holding air.

David

[Guest sayhonkmon]

Hey, I know that this is an old question, but I put innertubes in my 36 Dodge in 1971 and the tires are still inflated today in 2009. My truck has been in storage and was driven up to 10 years ago with no flats. plus the truck was flooded in a hurricane. Innertubes are great. Back in 1957 while in highschool, I would buy recap tires and put innertubes in them; they would last a long time. Of course, for safety, I wouldn't go speeding in the Datona 500 or anything like that, but just for cruising, they are fine. All I can say is buy American innertubes. Mine are Goodyear, made in the USA.

Edited September 13, 2009 by sayhonkmon (see edit history)