Thread: Series 3 standard rims - tubed or tubeless?

Tubed

If you want to check if you are running tubed or tubeless, look at the valve stem. On tubed tyres the stem has to pass through the hole in the rim, with tubeless the valve stem is much thicker so it won't pass through the hole completely.

I ran tubeless on all my series LR's and never once had an issue. Pat

Originally Posted by isuzutoo-eh

If you want to check if you are running tubed or tubeless, look at the valve stem. On tubed tyres the stem has to pass through the hole in the rim, with tubeless the valve stem is much thicker so it won't pass through the hole completely.

It is a rubber stem on mine but it doesn't appear to "seal" through the rim as such, like the more modern type. It certainly isn't they type that has the metal stem like on the split rims. So I guess from that it could be either.

Not sure on the legality but, like pat303, I ran tubless with no issues.

The interesting thing is that back when SIII were new, we all ran tubeless tyres on the standard rims.

One of the tyre experts out there will know, but i believe the angle on the bead of modern tubeless tyres is different to the angle on earlier tubeless tyres.

The other issue with tubeless tyres is that the inside of the case isn't smooth like the inside of a tyre designed for tubes. The coarse ribs of the tubeless tyres abraid the tube reducing it's life. So you are damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Diana

BTW: If you are ever considering lowering the tyre pressure on tubed tyres. Get the tyres fitted with 1 size smaller tube. i.e. a 6.50-700 16 tube on a 7.50 16 tyre. This reduces the chance of the tube being pinched between the tyre and rim at low pressures.

As Diana comments - tubeless tyres were run satisfactorily on the same rims as were designed for tubes since WW2 - as far as I know the only way in which "tubeless" rims differ is in the presence of a raised rib to help retain the tyre on the rim. Invented in about 1960, or a bit earlier, this did not become common until perhaps the 1980s, more or less coinciding with the general adoption of tubeless tyres, but originally at least unrelated.

I can see no way in which a tubeless tyre on a standard S3 rim would be any less safe than a tubed tyre on the same rim - once the pressure is insufficient to hold the tyre onto the shoulder, the presence of a tube won't make any difference. The extra rib may add to safety, but I would question whether this is a practical rather than theoretical improvement.

An entirely separate question is that many Series rims are rivetted to the wheel disc rather than welded. These are not necessarily airtigt, although a good coat of paint should ensire sealing. And, as with any rim, the sealing surface needs to be smooth, not rust pitted.

John

Thanks Diana and John, It's always good to get a bit of background.
The other issue I have heard is that, as well as ribbing, the tubless tyres often have stickers on the inside which left in place can create problems with friction (heat) on a tube. Not sure of this validity just passing on what I have been told.