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Valves or tubes ?
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 10:15 am
by 581DBP
Took my rims into a tyre fitter and was told "cant put valves in them rims, they need tubes"
These are my 4.5" Fuchs... I had a valve in them before......
What have you lot done before with early 4.5 and 5.5 rims ?
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 11:19 am
by Lightweight_911
Use valves, not tubes.
Correct valve is TR415:
The tyres also need to be fitted/removed from the
rear side of the wheel.
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 11:38 am
by 581DBP
Excellent, thanks mate...
I was trying to avoid just having black rubber ones. Is there any stainless or chrome sleeved valves available ?
Ive been looking at design911 and found these.

Set of four rubber valves with chrome-finish sleeves and embossed Porsche crest.

These valve stems are normally used with hollow spoke alloy wheels which have a smaller valve stem diameter.
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 1:53 pm
by davidppp
They will work with valves...but..
They are not legal, as they have no hump to prevent catastrophic defaltion/shedding of tyre...
So the tye man is correct..tubes are required..
Tubeless will be OK if you plan no accidents (Insurance asessors look for such things to reject claims), and do not do motorsport I guess..
Kind regards
David
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 2:11 pm
by 581DBP
davidppp wrote:They will work with valves...but..
They are not legal, as they have no hump to prevent catastrophic defaltion/shedding of tyre...
So the tye man is correct..tubes are required..
Tubeless will be OK if you plan no accidents (Insurance asessors look for such things to reject claims), and do not do motorsport I guess..
Kind regards
David
Thanks David,
I dont understand what you mean by 'no hump' ?!
I wont be doing any motorsport either as the wheels are going on a 45 year old Volkswagen !
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 5:58 pm
by Alan @ CanfordClassics
This pic may help..
Alan.UK

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 6:10 pm
by davidppp
Hello again.
If you look at the tyre-covered part of a newish wheel, and any Porsche wheel after 1968, they have either one or two circumferential humps behind the tyre bead rim to discourage the tyre from coming away from the rim..which does happen in "normal" road use especially if a slow puncture allows the pressure to fall a bit.
It happened to me once..resulting in my one and only spin on the public road..in almost 40 years of thrashing..a pukka 360 no less..
As I say, an Insurance Assessor would be expected to reject a claim if he found this on any vehicle even if the crash was not caused by it..
Another point from experience..the bling metal valves are also prone to be the cause of disastrous deflation and tyre detachment..I have seen them snap like a carrot with a very minor impact, where a rubber one would just bend back and hold full pressure.
I actually witnessed a big accident involving a Ferrari and Five other cars this very year from this cause.. but I have heard of it several times ..
Stick to yer rubbers boys..
kind regards
David
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 6:37 pm
by Nick Moss
David and the fitter are right. Also any professional who supplies information or parts that could lead to an accident could also find themselves liable. Those are tubed rim, so require tubes for safety reasons. Most fitters would not even fit those valves, even if you tell them that you won't tell anyone or indemnify them. Fit tubes and be safe.
Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2005 9:31 am
by 581DBP
Ok fair enough, you have convinced me.....much as i dont particularly want to fit tubes or have orrible rubber valves....
SAFETY comes first !
Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2006 9:42 am
by 581DBP
Im trying to find somewhere that sells inner tubes, but without much luck ?
Anyone tell me who in the UK (preferably South East) who stocks or supplies them ?
Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2006 9:48 am
by 912uk
I have yet to put the tryes on my 4.5"'s but when i spoke with my tyre guy he seamed to think there would be no probs but he would have to order them in for me.
So I guess ring about once you have a size.
If you get stuck I can push my guy to find out and get some. Southampton/Portsmouth area.
Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2006 10:23 am
by 581DBP
At the moment i have 185/65/15 on the back and 145/65/15 on the fronts...but i am looking to see if i can get 145/55`s as ive been told these are fitted to Smart cars...
Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2006 10:33 am
by JB-L
Might be worth trying North Hants Tyres (they advertise in mags like Bleet Machine or Custard Cart) for tubes.
Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2006 3:41 pm
by early_911
I got my tubes from:
www.vintagetyres.com and would emphasise the importance of getting the right size.
The person who fitted mine nipped one of the tubes so took it upon himself to fit replacement (without telling me). Problem - the size was different, it rubbed on the type and let go on the way to Le mans a couple of years ago

.
I now watch tyre fitters like a hawk.
Phil
Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2006 3:55 pm
by 581DBP
Yep your dead right there, some places are real nightmares...
The last place dropped one of my rims on a hard floor, i almost ripped his head off....and then left without paying the bill.
I`ll try Vintage Tyres and see what they have !
meanwhile, ive just read this post on another forum about tyres etc..
[quote]
Just to let you know, when a friend took his early 911 in to have the tyres fitted on his 4.5" fuchs, he was told that it would be safer to run the modern radial tyres without tubes as they were designed for use without tubes.
He asked them about the safety bead and they said that it didn't make much difference and if you had a puncture with an inner tube then it would deflate rapidly, possibly causing the tyre to come off the rim
However if you had a puncture with a radial not running a tube then it may not deflate at all thus the tyre would stay on the rim, making it just as safe.
The only problem they encountered was the valve hole in the rim which was larger than a standard hole requiring them to use special valves.
Now i'm sure I will get shot down for saying this but I think that there is some truth in what the tyre fitters said to him regarding the safety bead.
Oh! the tyre fitters were also very experienced with classis cars so i'm sure they knew what they were on about [unquote]
Thoughts or comments....
cheers