Rim Liners?

[Dick Steinkamp]

What are your recommendations on the use of rim liners? These are the 1 1/2" wide rubber strips that go around the inside of the rim supposedly to protect the tube.

I know all the suppliers sell them, and I use them on my British sports cars to protect the tube from the ends of the spokes that poke through the rim, but it seems like they may not be necessary in a Model A rim with the welded spokes.

Thoughts?

[CarlG]

I used them, cheap insurance.

[H. L. Chauvin]

Thoughts?

1. Does it hurt your feet to wear socks?

2. Inner steel surfaces of 80+ year old rims can vary from smooth to rough.

3. How long will it take for a sharp piece of rim metal to wear a hole in a rubber inner tube?

4. At 45 mph, how long will it take for a tube to go flat and cause an accident?

5. Reply No. 2 , appears to be a good "thought" .... cheap insurance.

In not thinking too deeply, no doubt, many, many, more "thoughts" can be "thought" of for rim liners.

[Dick Steinkamp]

I've got them on hand, so no additional expense to install them with my new tires. The tires/tubes I removed did not have the liners.

Is there any downside to using them might be a better question.

[H. L. Chauvin]

Surely many thousands of Model A's traveled thousands of miles without them; but a "thought " for a downside appears a bit difficult.

[Art Newland]

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You don't want to get a flat up at Artist Point do you? Better put them on.

[jm29henry]

I use them! !!!

[J Franklin]

I use them and if the rim is real rough you should consider flaps. I believe the car came with liners when new.

[Dick Steinkamp]

Originally Posted by J Franklin

I use them and if the rim is real rough you should consider flaps. I believe the car came with liners when new.

The Model A Instruction book, page 36 says "Caution: never use a tire flap when mounting tires on Ford Steel spoke wheels."

I wonder why this is the case and if the advice would change with less than new wheels.

[H. L. Chauvin]

Hi Dick,

Thoughts? Just a wild guess.

Never "thought" of the page 36 remark; however, prior to WWII much of the rubber used for rubber tire tubes was pure rubber extracted from caoutchouc trees, and imported from Annam; i.e., the then central colonized region of today's Vietnam.

My grandfather, born 1867, bought his first car in 1912. From what I saw in our old barns, was that the old pure red rubber tubes touching old pure rubber tubes could breakdown chemically after time and become cohesive where pure rubber could stick to pure rubber like glue with heat.

Very possible prior to WWII, pure rubber tubes, with friction heat in tires, could stick to pure rubber liners; hence, where removing pure red rubber tubes stuck to pure rubber liners could turn into a mess.

Prior to toughening of rubber with early chemical vulcanization, this pure rubber was very sensitive to ultraviolet rays and heat.

When I got my Model A in 1958, all of the 15 tubes in the 15 tires were red rubber, (with patches), but none of the wheels had rim liners.

FWIW: Old red rubber tubes made far better sling shots than modern vulcanized black rubber tubes.

[Benson]

After powder coating wheels last summer I FOUND sharp edges of powder coat inside where liners are placed.


06-07-2016, 03:23 PM #7 Benson
Senior Member

Join Date: May 2010
Location: Central Highlands, Cen~Col
Posts: 1,180


Re: powder coated wheels
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce
Our powder coater puts a wire all the way around the rim and hangs it from a loop in the middle. The finished product has a wavy line in the drop center where the tire flap snaps in. You'll never see the wire mark when the tire is mounted.


This is "same same" as my wheels were done ...

One word of caution ... in case you use tubes and do not use a "tire flap" :

On three of the 5 wheels I had done recently there was several very sharp pieces of Powder coat left where they removed the wire ... Sharp enough to cut an inner tube.

Since this is inside the wheel / tire I just chiseled off the sharp edges and painted the bare metal with LustreCoat fuel proof glossy paint.

It dries in 20 minutes to the touch and completely in 24 hours. Just in case some water gets inside the tire!

[Synchro909]

I've taken to running liners after a had a series of flats caused by the spokes pulling off the rim and taking a bit of the rim with them. Liners wouldn't have stopped the problem but I think would have stopped the tyre going flat as quickly as it did.

[johnbuckley]

Is adhesive tape - "Gaffa Tape" or "Duct Tape" over here- an OK alternative?

[Ron Lachniet]

I used duct tape when I put new tires on last year and after about six thousand miles I haven't seen any problems. The reason I put the tape in was that after powder coating there was still some rough areas inside the rims.

[fundytides]

Dick. I think a "tire flap" is a different animal. Back in the day we used to use a flap to line the tire if the casing was broken or torn so that the tube wouldn't get pinched by the tire. Many otherwise unusable tires could be run for a few more miles especially during the war years when new tires were not available. Not especially safe but usually did the job. I was able to run a model A tire that had a silver dollar size hole in it by using a flap. Worked until I was able to afford a better used tire.

[barnstuf]

I am not an expert but I am old enough to have lived thru the 1930's depression years. A rim liner to my knowledge is for a drop center wheel such as the Model A wheels. A flap is for mostly flat surface rims, such as for trucks or large heavy older passenger cars. A tire liner was used to prolong the life of worn out tires.

In 1954 I purchased my 1929 Phaeton which I still own. The original owner was a farmer who during WWII qualified for new tires and they were S 2 synthetic rubber tires. They had been mounted with no rim liners. All was well until I made a 2000 mile trip and had three flat tires all caused by lack of rim liners and were caused by chafing. I strongly recommend rim liners.

By the way those WWII S 2 synthetic rubber tires wore out one by one after 45,000 to 50,000 miles. One is still on my spare.

[ronn]

two words-

duct tape...............

[Dick Steinkamp]

Thanks, guys. It sounds like most use them (or duct tape). I have them so I'll use them.

[CarlG]

The wheels that came with my pickup had some sort of adhesive liner applied that was a b***h to get off when I went to have them powder coated. I just used the big "rubber bands" I got from Coker when I went back with my new radials.

[Dick Steinkamp]

Originally Posted by CarlG

I just used the big "rubber bands" I got from Coker when I went back with my new radials.

I got mine from Bratton's but I'm sure they are the same.