Check your new inner tubes

[mhsprecher]

I installed new American Classic radials and the radial specific tubes on my car last week before heading to the Old Car Festival. I drove the 1.5 miles or so from my hotel to the OCF and when I went to park my car, I was told that I had a flat tire! I had just checked that tire at the hotel and it had 35 psi!

I changed to my spare tire and assumed that I had pinched the tube when I installed it. This morning I took the tube out of the flat tire and realized that the flat was due to a defect in the tube! I notified Coker and they are shipping out a new tube, but I wanted to share this with the Model A community in the hope that it might save someone a flat tire.

As you can see from the attached photo, it appears that a patch was put on the tube during the manufacturing process. The tube failed between the "patch" and the rest of the tube.

My reason for posting is to suggest that you look closely at new tubes before you install them to see if there are any defects in them. Hopefully this is a rare occurrence, but checking the tubes may save you a flat tire. I water tested the tubes that I put new metal valve stems in, but not the two that came with the metal valve stems already installed. I don't know if I would have noticed the defect in the tube had I inspected it, but it would not have hurt to have done so.

[Oldgearz]

I can't even imagine getting a "patched" new tube. Maybe you should tell the vendor and suggest a new source for their tubes.

[Y-Blockhead]

Originally Posted by Oldgearz

I can't even imagine getting a "patched" new tube.

I don't think that is a patch. You can see the "flashing" mark go thru the patch and match the tube. That is certainly bizzare tho.

Originally Posted by Oldgearz

Maybe you should tell the vendor and suggest a new source for their tubes.

Not sure how you would go about telling Coker to get a new source.

When I installed my American Classic Radials I got the tubes from Snyder's Never an issue.

[Kurt in NJ]

is there a sticker inside the tire, that will make marks like that and cut the tube

[JRShaw]

I have a Coker tube that looks fine, leaks, and the leak cannot be found! I tried soapy water at the valve stem, all around the body, etc. with no observable results. Any ideas??

[JayJay]

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On tricky ones like that I’ve found that the best way to find them is to immerse the tube, section by section, completely under water in say a kitchen sink or even the bathtub. Sometimes it’s just a bubble every couple of seconds from a tiny leak.

[Rob Doe]

In this case, miles driven don't seem to be the issue, but in my recent personal experience with new tires, and tubes that were inferior, the problem only showed up after 1200 miles and on a couple tubes after 2000 miles. Eventually, all 4 new tubes running in tires on the ground failed at an imperfection in the tube. The imperfections were in the tube when installed, but had deteriorated, almost disentigrated when found leaking.

I'm currently running all new Hartford tubes. They all have well over 1500 miles on them. They were closely inspected and I found no blemishes before installing them. The tires, American Classics from Coker, were inspected and several stubborn little stickers were painstakingly removed.

I've also had a couple difficult to find holes in tubes. I did not succeed by dipping the tube underwater either. I succeeded by putting a bit more air in the tube than I was comfortable with, then using a paint brush and soapy (Dawn dish soap) water on my lap, I slowly painted every inch and watched for a tiny bubble. Voila!

Good luck. Hang in there. It's all part of the modern "Model A Experience", LOL

[mhsprecher]

Rob Doe,

My new tubes are Hartford, too. I neglected to mention that before. i also found another potential problem - a fold or crimp in one tube. I notified Coker of that, too, but so far, so good. I have less than 100 miles on the tires.

As to pumping up the tubes to check for leaks, my experience patching tubes while working in a service station in the late 60's early 70's and also on bicycle tires, the tubes can handle getting pumped up fairly large.

Yes, it is all part of the experience. You should have seen the looks I got taking the tube out of my tire in the hotel parking lot this morning with tire irons. I have used little tire irons for bike tires designed to hook onto the spokes when removing the tire. Oh for something like that for a Model A. Maybe I should make some.

[ronn]

when regarding quality control- what an annoyance!


Would be nice if the folks selling tubes instilled a bit better quality. This is not a new issue and not only by coker. Who wants to take a tire and tube apart more then once?

[springerpete]

My American Classic 21" radials and tubes from Coker are now 5 months on the road with no problems. As many know the tubes come folded in an individual box. With the number of tube issues there are I think it is the responsibility of Coker to remove the tubes from the boxes and inspect them before shipping. This would certainly make their life easier regarding returns and remove the grief from the customers experience. Bill

[Jeff/Illinois]

That is nasty, for an alledged new tube.

I have a new set of tubes on the '30 Roadster from Brattons they are a year old and have lost maybe 2 pounds in that year. Good quality tubes as far as today's standards. These are in a new set of Goodyear Diamond tread tires.

I bought a new set of Goodyear 650-16's from Kelsey for our '36 Ford and my local Illinois Farm Service mounted them for me, and I let them put on the farm tire tubes they use.

They haven't lost any air and it has been 9 months or so. The tubes came with a hard plastic tapered sleeve where it passes thru the rim, I thought that was kind of neat!

I asked Pat the tire shop manager where the tubes came from and he said they were from Vietnam nobody makes them in the US anymore because the big companies decided the sales volume was too low to fool with them anymore.

At least they weren't from China that looks like a Chinese tube in that first picture. Garbage.

[mcgarrett]

I have 2 tubes headed my way from C. W. Moss. They had the best price I could see along with a reasonable shipping rate. I'll be sure to inspect then they arrive.

[ronn]

At least they weren't from China that looks like a Chinese tube in that first picture. Garbage.


while that may be true, some of the new blocks on this site are manufactured in china as well as some BMW motorcycles in entirety. they can make good stuff too, if paid appropriately. Unfortunatelt we all know everything made in America is expensive anymore and leaves little alternative.

[DavidG]

Out of the sixty or so of metal valve stem tubes from Coker that I have used, at least half of them have slow leaks.

[mhsprecher]

The tubes are from China. That doesn't necessarily mean they are poor quality, but they might be. Tubes for radials are hard to come by. The ones from Bratton's are for bias ply tires only, unfortunately.

[henry's 31]

Brattons innertubes are the best in the market.