Thinking about putting tubes in my MT's so I can store the trailer & car without having the tires go down.

What is that going to do to how the car reacts and what changes will I have to make with air pressure?

I know of no downside to running tubes.

The second part of your question is impossible to answer. You could bolt them on and need zero adjustment, love em from day one, or the car may require a shock adjustment or pressure. It won't require much though.

A better question might be, ... Is there any downside to tubes.

I'm an expert so we'll have a good debate... There is no downside.

When you first bolt them on the air trapped between the tire and tube will leak out overnight. This might make you think there leaking. Just air them up one more time to a set pressure.

Use baby powder when you mount.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Thank you Sir

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Originally posted by Quick Dawg:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Thank you Sir

Anytime

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Original post
I know of no downside to running tubes.

This was fixed with a tire plug while on the car in less than 5 minutes. Over 75 runs on the tire before it was replaced with no issues. Seen and done this same repair at the track also.

3 down sides to tubes that I know of!

- added costs

- Pinched tubes will eventually fail and leak, although care during installation can reduce this risks. BTW this usually occurs at the worst time... That's Murphy's Law so blame him.

- Can't fix a flat with a tire plug where you can without tubes! Got a nail in one, it was a fairly new tire also, plugged it and within two runs you couldn't find the plug, ran the tires until they needed to be changed, no issues.

So Mike the Expert, Wrong again or you need glasses.

As for your MT's leaking, did you soap them? In general I have found soaping helps, the newer the tires are the better and the warmer temps the better. I have run MT's for a number of years now, 3186's,3195,3196 and now 3197. During the racing season I have never had issues with flat tires. End of the race day, pump them up to 10 psi or so and they still have 6 plus the next week, also note that some of the pressure loss is due to a much cooler tire sitting in the trailer. In the case of a two week sit, they still have 4 psi. But the real deal here is simple for me, they are the best tires by far for my deal, nothing even comes close,,, so it is not the end of the world to add air once in a while when required. I see no reason for tubes as the con's out weigh the pro's! But that's my opinion.

quote:

I'm an expert so we'll have a good debate... There is no downside.

I 2nd the plug thing ………

Probably plugged a dozen tires in the last few yrs both mine and friends.

What happens when you puncture a tube ????

Consider soaping MT tires with Walmart brand Ultra 3X dish liquid. Compared to Dawn dish liquid, this stuff gels up and will plug up the end of the bottle dispenser if dispensed daily during the week. I use both the Walmart 3X and Dawn liquids to wash dishes by hand daily.

Last summer I installed MT tires on DBL rims for the first time since 2012 and soaped with Walmart 3X. They did not leak all summer and have been sitting in my trailer since December and sill have the same 10 psi in them.

As others have said...
aside from being heavy & primitive, you can't plug them. I got a cardboard staple in a slick with 4 runs on it and plugged it. I ran it for another 120+ runs.

[/QUOTE]

I 2nd the plug thing ………

Probably plugged a dozen tires in the last few yrs both mine and friends.

What happens when you puncture a tube ????[/QUOTE]
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11 of them were probably at Englishtown! That place was notorious for that!

quote:

Originally posted by TOP38:
3 down sides to tubes that I know of!

- added costs

- Pinched tubes will eventually fail and leak, although care during installation can reduce this risks. BTW this usually occurs at the worst time... That's Murphy's Law so blame him.

- Can't fix a flat with a tire plug where you can without tubes! Got a nail in one, it was a fairly new tire also, plugged it and within two runs you couldn't find the plug, ran the tires until they needed to be changed, no issues.

So Mike the Expert, Wrong again or you need glasses.

As for your MT's leaking, did you soap them? In general I have found soaping helps, the newer the tires are the better and the warmer temps the better. I have run MT's for a number of years now, 3186's,3195,3196 and now 3197. During the racing season I have never had issues with flat tires. End of the race day, pump them up to 10 psi or so and they still have 6 plus the next week, also note that some of the pressure loss is due to a much cooler tire sitting in the trailer. In the case of a two week sit, they still have 4 psi. But the real deal here is simple for me, they are the best tires by far for my deal, nothing even comes close,,, so it is not the end of the world to add air once in a while when required. I see no reason for tubes as the con's out weigh the pro's! But that's my opinion.

I'm an expert on tubes not screws. Meaning I've never had a screw in a slick. If I did, tube or not I wouldn't split the cords with a plug, I'd patch the tire and buy a tube, or repair the tube properly too with a patch.

I like my chances for making a safe lap down the track when I'm using my own natural instincts in the decision making of when to abort a run, I'm certainly not gonna turn those duties over to a plug splitting cords, which could lead to an aborted run into the wall or even worse my opponent.


I might split the cords with a pug on a trailer tire in order to make it to an exit or rest area to change the tire but I wouldn't ride down the hwy with it unless I had to. And I'd cut back the speed.

That's how people end up upside down with racing.

Nah, I'll pass, I'm on the exponential growth program where's no room for losses.

The only thing i've seen from soap being rubbed on the inner sidewall, is soap bubbles forming on the sidewall when the car is washed.

I have no problem with anyone doing it no tubes or anything else however they chose to. That's one of the coolest things about drag racing, everyone has a different approach, one winner. This is just my approach.

The downside of a screw in a slick isn't the tube. The downside of a screw in the slick is the down time at the track fixing the slick, with safety as the top priority in mind.

I generally would say to never run tubes in a racing slick. I believe Hoosier said that at one time on their web site.
But Mickey Thomson:
https://mickeythompsontires.co...5EAAYASAAEgI-TfD_BwE

So maybe I'm just relying on old information. Even mickey says it alters the way the sidewall reacts...making them stiffer.

We run tubes in our MT 33x10.5s we went over 250 runs on them and the sidewalls held up well.

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Originally posted by ActionRacingPhotos:
We run tubes in our MT 33x10.5s we went over 250 runs on them and the sidewalls held up well.

What kind of car and how fast?

quote:

Originally posted by Bucky:

quote:

Originally posted by ActionRacingPhotos:
We run tubes in our MT 33x10.5s we went over 250 runs on them and the sidewalls held up well.

What kind of car and how fast?

2650lbs Vega going 5.8x/9.2x tires still had holes left in them.

I will try to answer OP's question.

It does stiffen sidewall up some which may make car react a little quicker and may not wrap up tire as much. That means you may be able to run about .5 lbs less air.

Tubes do add weight to car but on newer MT tires they are better at holding air. Not sure what they did different but it helps. also using dish washing detergent helps.

I am no expert... ok got that out of the way
I only run Hoosiers but I have had them leak when not soaped but never had one leak after being soaped. I learned long time ago to always soap my tires the first time. Cheap insurance.
I have run plugs many times in tires and never had an issue, been 168 mph with plug in tire.
I have plugged trailer tires, car tires and even Atv tires and run them till worn out, never replaced just because of a plug. Atv tire had 14 plugs in it and still held air.
If you put tubes in tires without headlocks or rim screws and the tire moves on the wheel there’s a good chance of ripping the stem out of the tube.
Just my nonexpert opinion.

quote:

Originally posted by green1:
I am no expert... ok got that out of the way
I only run Hoosiers but I have had them leak when not soaped but never had one leak after being soaped. I learned long time ago to always soap my tires the first time. Cheap insurance.
I have run plugs many times in tires and never had an issue, been 168 mph with plug in tire.
I have plugged trailer tires, car tires and even Atv tires and run them till worn out, never replaced just because of a plug. Atv tire had 14 plugs in it and still held air.
If you put tubes in tires without headlocks or rim screws and the tire moves on the wheel there’s a good chance of ripping the stem out of the tube.
Just my nonexpert opinion.

You're a Non-tube plug expert, you're not fooling anyone NOW, especially me!

Be careful with this because lessons in life are sometimes painful. Here's a story which is a prime example.

A guy is sitting in the staging lanes at Sunshine with his door wide open looking to the right at his delay box. You know where I'm going with this already! Now, this isn't the first time the guy left his door wide open sitting in the staging lanes, in fact it happened so frequently I always said to myself this guy must be a hard worker to wanna put a door on his car.

You know what finally happened right? Yep! How'd ya know the poor guy got his door ripped off the car! Second thing I thought after I saw the car was wow! This guy must be an extra hard worker because the door took out the front fender too! First thing I thought was that sucks! The guy became an expert at keeping his door shut after that deal.

Hold on we're not done! Another guy walks up looks at it (all these guys are good people, he was just joking) and starts laughing. He gets his door ripped off the next week!

I'm looking at all this madness thinking damn these guys must be hard workers! LoL!

The dude that laughed became an expert at not laughing I'd bet! He was back the next week with a new door too! Hard workers!

We all got a little brighter in two weeks just Being witnesses to that madness!

Peoples brains do not comprehend exponential growth. This is a big problem for those who don't comprehend it.

If you go out there and take a risk to anything other than your own natural abilities. You're digging yourself a whole deep enough you may never crawl out of if something goes wrong, due to taking that risk. Especially if someone gets hurt.

If you plug a tire and something goes wrong, seriously wrong. The decision to plug that tire will be brought to light.

That's a real hole, not a make believe one, because you gotta live with yourself.