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-   -   Labels inside of new tires (https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=331820)

mhsprecher 10-08-2023 12:43 PM

Labels inside of new tires
 

1 Attachment(s)
Someone else posted about this, but I installed new American Classic Radials on my car with new Hartford tubes. In my reading I saw a suggestion to remove any stickers or labels on the INSIDE of the tire. I had my tires mounted, so I didn't do that.

On my 115 mile trip to Hershey last week I had a flat tire. I changed it and made it to Hershey. When I took the tube out of the tire to see what the problem was, there was a small cut in the tube. I checked inside of the tire and found one of those little tables floating around near where the hole in the tube would have been. Looking at the tube, the split in the tube was framed with markings the same size as that little label. I went to Coker and explained what happened and they gave me a new tube.

We had a discussion bout the hole in the tube. For some tires, they put a label on the tire about removing those little stickers before you mount the tire. Who knew? In any event, I suggest removing those stickers just to be sure.

Oddly enough, the guy parked next to me on the show field had new American Classics and he had had a flat, too. I shared my experience with him. I now need to dismount all the tires and make sure there are no labels and check the tubes for potential problems.

Gary WA 10-08-2023 12:53 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

Good information to know!

Gene F 10-08-2023 02:03 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

I wonder if the glue grabs the tube?

mhsprecher 10-08-2023 03:14 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gene F (Post 2261143)
I wonder if the glue grabs the tube?

I don't think so, but who knows? The motion of the tire moves the label around and somehow there is a hole in the tube. It doesn't make sense to me.

I put Excelsior radials on my town sedan a few years ago and I have driven lots and had no problems. I don't know if those tires had labels in them. I am not going to dismount them to find out. After ten years of driving Model A's, I have never had a flat until now.

goldie 10-08-2023 04:25 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

My experience with British cars and wire wheels taught me a few things.
Remove all stickers and the adhesive that is left behind. Wipe the inside of tires and exterior of tubes with tire talc (available at Aircraft Spruce). Make sure the installer is very familiar with inner tubes. In over 50 years never had a flat with my tubed tires, tubeless tires many flats.

Synchro909 10-08-2023 04:51 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

I learned in 1996 to remove those labels when we borrowed a car for a rally in NZ. We had 3 flats in 2,000 miles on new tyres and tubes. Every one of them matched up with a label in the tyre so out came the labels. Boy, were they stuck on well - ridiculously well.
I have never fitted a tube since without first making sure those labels are removed while I curse the manufacturer the whole time. I still don't know why they do that $#!T.

Y-Blockhead 10-08-2023 04:56 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

Good idea to check the insides of tires before mounting. I did not find any stickers inside my American Classics, but I did find a warranty card in one. I'm sure that would not end well if left in there.

w.michael 10-08-2023 05:30 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

I had my American Classic Radials in service for a little over two years when I suddenly had three flats within three months. In all three cases the leak in the tube was an abraded area that corresponded with a sticker inside the tire. WHY WOULD THE MANUFACTURER DO THAT? It’s a known problem with a tire that is going to be used with a tube—so why??

W. Michael

mhsprecher 10-08-2023 05:52 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by w.michael (Post 2261193)
I had my American Classic Radials in service for a little over two years when I suddenly had three flats within three months. In all three cases the leak in the tube was an abraded area that corresponded with a sticker inside the tire. WHY WOULD THE MANUFACTURER DO THAT? It’s a known problem with a tire that is going to be used with a tube—so why??

W. Michael

And why wouldn't Coker know this? The rep I spoke to at Hershey said that he was unaware of this problem with Model A tires and tubes.

goldie 10-08-2023 09:00 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

The stickers inside the American Classic radials I installed several months ago were difficult to find. I had to use a flashlight to find them, they were small and were coated with a black film. A quick look and you will miss them.

larrys40 10-09-2023 09:08 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

Did I talk to you at Hershey about this. I had the 32 coupe for sale next to Coker. It was an odd occurrence. The Hartford tubes seem thin to me.
Larry Shepard

Chuck Sea/Tac 10-10-2023 02:06 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

Another problem I encountered with Goodyears. The flag emblem is raised a bit inside the tire. Took about 8000 miles to wear a hole in the tube.

mhsprecher 10-12-2023 07:37 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

3 Attachment(s)
Quote:

Originally Posted by larrys40 (Post 2261464)
Did I talk to you at Hershey about this. I had the 32 coupe for sale next to Coker. It was an odd occurrence. The Hartford tubes seem thin to me.
Larry Shepard

Larry, we did discuss this.

I am not sure about the thickness of the tubes. I dismounted all my tires and found another tube that was close to failing because of the labels. The pics below include a shot of the labels inside the tire. They are a pita to remove. The other pics are of a tube where you can see it is starting to fail where the label was. I put a patch on it and reinstalled it in the tire.

divcoone 10-13-2023 05:52 AM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

I also had a tube failure from a Coker tire with a sticker that was’t removed. Not all the tires had the sticker.

mhsprecher 10-13-2023 08:35 AM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by divcoone (Post 2262302)
I also had a tube failure from a Coker tire with a sticker that was’t removed. Not all the tires had the sticker.

All of my tires had stickers in them.

Y-Blockhead 10-19-2023 07:41 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

Has anyone contacted Coker about this sticker issue. I have American Classic tires on my Town Sedan and I am now concerned I may start having flat tires.

Ruth 10-20-2023 07:47 AM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

Where are y'all buying Radial tubes? I see Coker is Out of Stock on 4.75/5.00x19 tubes.

Are you using "Radial" specific tubes? Who has them besides Coker?

Joop 10-20-2023 08:38 AM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

2 Attachment(s)
Label on the inner-tube box.

mhsprecher 10-20-2023 12:03 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

Good to see that. Some folks don't read instructions. I guess we are all guilty of that sometimes.

Ruth 10-20-2023 01:40 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

It would be nice to see the instructions on the outside of the tires tho. Not everyone uses Coker tubes.

shew01 10-22-2023 02:00 PM

Labels inside of new tires
 

Ugh! I found a flat this morning. I drove the car 120+ miles yesterday without any problems. I’m guessing it’s a label inside the tire causing the flat. This is my second flat with all new tubes in 4500 miles.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Y-Blockhead 10-22-2023 06:41 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

3 Attachment(s)
A couple of weeks ago I said I have not any flats. (Post #7). Well guess what? I now have a tire with a slow leak so I dismounted it.

Yep, sticker. Actually 3 stickers. (see pictures). Now I am going to have to check the other four. These stickers and the glue they used is not easy to remove. They seem to be made of plastic so they cut the tube.

Coker needs to do something about this.

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...5&d=1698017795

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...6&d=1698017795

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...9&d=1698020586

I recommend anyone that has American Classic Tires check to them before you have a flat. And let Coker know!!

Y-Blockhead 10-22-2023 06:51 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by nkaminar (Post 2263733)
Aircraft Spruce has tire talc which can reduce the rubbing friction wear and heat on the tubes.

I forgot to mention, I saw this mentioned on another thread and ordered their Aircraft Spruce Silicon Talc. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catal...lc05-11180.php I figured it couldn't hurt. Little expensive but it is slick...

Benson 10-22-2023 06:56 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

does lacquer thinner or Goofoff melt the glue and clean glue from tire?

Y-Blockhead 10-22-2023 07:20 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benson (Post 2264471)
does lacquer thinner or Goofoff melt the glue and clean glue from tire?

Not sure what others have used. I used Dupli-color paint prep (because that is what I had) and a Scotch Brite pad. https://www.amazon.com/Dupli-Color-E...58&sr=8-1&th=1

mhsprecher 10-24-2023 10:28 AM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

I used Goofoff. I wasn't real impressed with the job it did, but it is what I had. I didn't want to use anything that might harm the tube or the tire. I just ordered some tire talc yesterday. I used baby powder during the original installation.

Y-Blockhead 10-24-2023 11:38 AM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

1 Attachment(s)
Here is a picture of some of the debris I pulled out of two American Classic tires. Three more to go.

Check your tires closely. I was not aware of this issue when I mounted my tires the first time and didn't check closely enough.

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...7&d=1698165577

I have contacted Coker Tire. Their response, "This is Ruston at Coker Tire, reaching out regarding your Coker support email. Yes, some of our tires do have an inspection sticker on the inside of the tire. These stickers should be removed before install." Ruston Gunter [email protected]


Benson 10-24-2023 02:12 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

Thanks for responses about Goofoff.

This might work on these labels:

50 years ago I had MANY customers who attached white sticky paper labels to the IBM2314 and IBM3330 removable disk packs and to the disk drive cabinets .

After 5 - 10 years the glue on these labels hardened and became very hard to remove.

Scraping was out of the question because it removed the paint and scratched the plastic on the disk packs.

The best thing I found was to apply original GoJo Hand Cleaner (the original Oily version not the Citrus orange smelling stuff), let it set overnight and the hardened glue became soft and was easily removed.

mhsprecher 10-24-2023 02:57 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Y-Blockhead (Post 2264841)
Here is a picture of some of the debris I pulled out of two American Classic tires. Three more to go.

Check your tires closely. I was not aware of this issue when I mounted my tires the first time and didn't check closely enough.

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...7&d=1698165577

I have contacted Coker Tire. Their response, "This is Ruston at Coker Tire, reaching out regarding your Coker support email. Yes, some of our tires do have an inspection sticker on the inside of the tire. These stickers should be removed before install." Ruston Gunter [email protected]


My situation exactly. The stickers are hard to see. Some are almost black and they are very tough to get off. Not one of my favorite jobs.

By now I have had plenty of experience changing tires. I just had one where the valve I installed was leaking at the valve stem. I tightened the nut on the collar and it stopped, but I put a new tube with a factory installed metal valve stem in it just to be sure. Too much fun.

mhsprecher 10-12-2025 06:22 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

An update on this. I helped a fellow club member with his new American Classic tires. These tires now have a little sticker, around 1/2" square and a rectangular one, 3/4" x and inch or so. The little ones come off fairly easily, but the long ones are very, very hard to remove. It took about an hour a tire. Ridiculous. I used rubbing alcohol, which didn't seem to help much, and a knife to scrape it off. Still a huge PITA. Coker should provide instructions on how to remove them.

Y-Blockhead 10-12-2025 07:15 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhsprecher (Post 2417532)
An update on this. I helped a fellow club member with his new American Classic tires. These tires now have a little sticker, around 1/2" square and a rectangular one, 3/4" x and inch or so. The little ones come off fairly easily, but the long ones are very, very hard to remove. It took about an hour a tire. Ridiculous. I used rubbing alcohol, which didn't seem to help much, and a knife to scrape it off. Still a huge PITA. Coker should provide instructions on how to remove them.

Thanks for the update. So they haven't changed a thing. Fortunately I have not had a problem with the American Classic tires or tubes since I removed the stickers.

It is sad that Coker doesn't care enough about their customers to address this problem. But then again, I suppose they are making some bank on selling tubes.

Fullraceflathead 10-13-2025 10:40 AM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

They apparently could care less and they know that you're gonna end up buying more tubes and possibly more tires if you lose the tires at speed it would definitely tear it up which means you'll buy another 1!!!

gdmn852 10-13-2025 02:49 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

Hello, recently mounted 6 America Classic tires looking for inside tags but didn’t find any.Using tubes from Snyders,so good so far .

mhsprecher 10-13-2025 07:10 PM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

I hope that is the case. Sometimes they are covered in a black coating and can be hard to see. I am sure you will let us know if something happens. ;-)

JayJay 10-14-2025 09:01 AM

Re: Labels inside of new tires
 

FWIW, last summer I mounted up four new European Classics (19”) with new “radial” tubes from Snyder’s. Used new style corn starch baby powder ( I’m sure I have some of the old style talc around somewhere but I couldn’t find it). No labels inside the tires, no problems in about 4000 miles. They seem to be wearing decently, we’ll see.


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