Quality innertubes.
 

Does anyone know of a reputable company that has the skills to manufacture quality innertubes? Plenty of us are frustrated with faulty tubes and would gladly pay a premium if they could be mounted once and be done! Put me down for Ten sets.

Re: Quality innertubes.
 

Inner tubes have sort of gone the way of breaker type ignition system components. There are less and less companies that manufacture these products in the western world and I don't know of any american company that does. I have the same problem with 16" tubes for motorcycles. I've been purchasing the Michelin brand tubes but they may be made in China as well. When a person googles for information, it's mostly Chinese sites that come up. Thailand, India, and Vietnam make a lot of rubber products too.

Tubes to fit 19" and 21" tires are likely all made in Asia. It's a niche market that won't generate kind of payback that major corporations want.

Re: Quality innertubes.
 

so why dont you manufacture them yourself? youre in Canada where it is less expensive to manufacture then here in the US.

Re: Quality innertubes.
 

When I bought my radials from Cocker I also got tubes and sleeves. I did not mount the tires myself but used my local country garage. They commented on the heavy tubes. I have had no problems. They are for radials but I think they can be used for non radial tires. My A has 21" wheels. Bill

Re: Quality innertubes.
 

You might check Bratton's. I understand their tubes are good for bias ply tires, but not recommended for radials. I just bought some radials for my 28 from Coker and got new tubes from them, too. I have not mounted them, so I don't have any experience with them, yet.

Re: Quality innertubes.
 

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I now have somethings to check out.
If I get into making them myself I'll be sure to let everyone know!

Re: Quality innertubes.
 

Got mine from Snyders 22 years ago, never had a flat, no nails and no pot holes and no blow-outs. I have inside tire flaps too.

Re: Quality innertubes.
 

I remounted my tires a few weeks ago. In the process, I managed to get tears in three of the innertubes. I was absolutely careful, but dang...that was really, really frustrating! The innertubes I removed from the car were from the 1960s and, as far as I know, never had an issue. I almost thought about remounting them, but my common sense side told me no. :D

Re: Quality innertubes.
 

Maybe in the long run we need to step up a notch and have suppliers offer tubeless rims and tubeless radial tires. Wow that would be radical!

Re: Quality innertubes.
 

I bought a set from Bratton's about a year ago, and am very happy with them.

I think in a year they bled down about 3 pounds of air, about like my Wards tubes from the 70's.

Bratton's tubes are made in Vietnam and are better quality than the Chinese crap.

Re: Quality innertubes.
 

CT and others, I have been dealing with substandard Model A tubes for the last few months. Years back, I bought a motorcycle with spoked wheels and soon learned the frustration of changing a rear tire with a tube. I traded for a tubeless wheeled motorcycle.

Recently, I learned via YouTube that there is now a conversion kit for spoked motorcycle wheels to go tubeless. I'm wondering if the 30-31 19" wheels could use the similar technique to seal the rims. I suspect the sealing would work, but don't know if the new radial tires would seal along the beads.

Comments??

Re: Quality innertubes.
 

Jeff, I fell for the same line from Bratton's. The key is how many miles have you driven them in the year you've had them???

I purchased the tubes you describe about 6 months back, they have imperfections in the tube that look like a stamp of a sticker of some sort, but it is molded into the tube. This is where they fail, next to or in the impression. I am still running one of the tube that was patched at the impression failure. It had a second impression next to the first, and I went ahead and patched that one too. So far so good, for about 2000 miles.

Search the tire inner walls for stickers and remove them.

Re: Quality innertubes.
 

If you look at any rim from a modern car, there is a ridge just in from the rim where the tyres sits. That is a safety feature designed to stop the tyre coming away from the rim, allowing it to go flat in an instant. That is most likely to happen in a corner and can be fatal. Here, it is illegal to run a tubeless tyre on a rim that does not have that safety ridge. I just wouldn't do it anyway. I like living too much.
If anybody is happy driving a death trap like that, go ahead. Just stay away from me.