Tubed or Tubeless

[oldie]

I have an MY2010 Defender cab/chas with heavy duty pack which means i have an ex factory GVM of 3500kg, helper springs in the rear and no TC

My heavy duty steel wheels are stamped "Tubed". I take it that this means I must use tubes in my tyres. Right or wrong ?

What is the difference between tubed or tubeless wheels/rims ?

Oldie

[JDNSW]

Tubed or tubeless can actually be used on any rims - provided they are airtight. (some rivetted rims that are not airtight)

However, there seems to have developed a policy by tyre fitters to not fit tubeless to tyres that do not have a raised safety ridge on the bead seat, probably rising from liability concerns.

Worth pointing out that the safety ridges were developed long after tubeless tyres started to be fitted, and when they first appeared had nothing to do with tubeless or tubed tyres.

[goingbush]

I was surprised to find safety rims on my 1949 Fargo Ute, assumed they were custom made but subsequently found Dodge invented the safety rims in 1937 , way before tubeless tyres were in common use in 1955 in USA.

I've ran my LandRover series and Defender rims tubeless ever since I started using radial tyres , (30 years) Even with rivets. Though Ive only just swapped to Wolf rims which are the first Landy rims Ive had which actually have safety rims.

[BreakingBad]

I think you will struggle to find a tyre shop that will fit tubeless tyres to tubed rims. Like JDNSW said, it's probably to do with liability concerns.

[JDNSW]

There is no real issue - if the pressure is low enough for the tyre to come off it will whether it has a tube or no, so I fail to see a valid reason for not fitting tubeless tyres to wheels without the extra bead.

[DazzaTD5]

Tubed or tubeless can actually be used on any rims - provided they are airtight. (some rivetted rims that are not airtight)

However, there seems to have developed a policy by tyre fitters to not fit tubeless to tyres that do not have a raised safety ridge on the bead seat, probably rising from liability concerns.

Worth pointing out that the safety ridges were developed long after tubeless tyres started to be fitted, and when they first appeared had nothing to do with tubeless or tubed tyres.

Everything John has said here is spot on word for word.

Additionally I point out there is no Australian Standards or law that says a tubeless tyre can't be fitted to a tubed rim.

[DazzaTD5]

I was surprised to find safety rims on my 1949 Fargo Ute, assumed they were custom made but subsequently found Dodge invented the safety rims in 1937 , way before tubeless tyres were in common use in 1955 in USA.

I've ran my LandRover series and Defender rims tubeless ever since I started using radial tyres , (30 years) Even with rivets. Though Ive only just swapped to Wolf rims which are the first Landy rims Ive had which actually have safety rims.

yes, I recently got fitted a set of tubeless tyres to a customers series 1 107 and he just did 3800km to Cooma without a issue.

[DazzaTD5]

I think you will struggle to find a tyre shop that will fit tubeless tyres to tubed rims. Like JDNSW said, it's probably to do with liability concerns.

I've said to customers if the tyre shop knows so little about their own profession then I recommend taking it somewhere else.

Considering tubeless tyres are a tighter fit to the rim than tubed tyres they are idiots to believe there is some sort of greater risk.

[goingbush]

Not to mention that when a tubed tyre has a puncture , it's effectively a tubeless tyre so any argument is moot.

[towe0609]

I've had mixed experience asking tyre shops to fit a tubless tyre without a tube to a 'welded' tubed rim.

One (was a Tyrepower at the time) refused and circumstances meant I accepted their advice and ended up with crap quality tubes inside tubeless tyres. Two have obliged without question/discussion (one was a Beaurepaires and the other the local Bandag truck tyre joint).

I will be going elsewhere in future if the shop refuses to fit tubeless tyres without tubes to my rims. I've never had any problems with the tubeless tyres without tubes on tubed rims - but also have had no need to run extremely low pressures.