Can't use tubes in Weld Wheels Draglites?

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Les Gibson

Les Gibson

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Good morning all!

Need some opinions on this one.

Bought a new pair of Hoosier 32X13.5X15 slicks along with new Hoosier tubes. Rear wheels are 15X14 Weld Draglites. Took the wheels with old Hoosiers on them, along with the new tires/tubes to a local resto/performance shop to have the new tires/tubes mounted and balanced. About an hour after the new tires/tubes were mounted one of the tubes blew. Figured I may have gotten a bad one, so I ordered a replacement. Took it to the shop this past Saturday and it blew almost immediately after install. Not at all happy about that as I was now out over $200! Guy at the shop said it was probably his mistake so they would get me a replacement. They call me a short time ago to now tell me that there is some issue with the wheel and that the tubes won't work in them. They also told me there were no tubes in the old Hoosiers that were replaced.

Has anyone heard of any issues running tubes in Weld Draglites?

Apparently I ran all last season with no tubes in the old tires. Is it safe to run Hoosiers without tubes?
 
I've been running Hoosier slicks in Pro Stars with no tubes for years. Yes, they leak down some between races & I just bring them back to pressure before running again. I've also run tubes in Hoosier slicks with no problems, but not near as long as I've run tubeless. When you say the tire "blew", was it under load running & driving or just sitting on the car? Need a little more information.
 
where does the tube fail? I have to run tubes in some Autodrags and they seem to work fine.
 
Demonracer said:
I've been running Hoosier slicks in Pro Stars with no tubes for years. Yes, they leak down some between races & I just bring them back to pressure before running again. I've also run tubes in Hoosier slicks with no problems, but not near as long as I've run tubeless. When you say the tire "blew", was it under load running & driving or just sitting on the car? Need a little more information.
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They were sitting on the floor in the shop that mounted them. I don't know yet where the tube failed as I haven't seen one yet. Going by there after work today to look at them.
 
Demonracer said:
I've been running Hoosier slicks in Pro Stars with no tubes for years. Yes, they leak down some between races & I just bring them back to pressure before running again. I've also run tubes in Hoosier slicks with no problems, but not near as long as I've run tubeless. When you say the tire "blew", was it under load running & driving or just sitting on the car? Need a little more information.
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Guy said he heard a sound like rain falling and noticed the one tire was going flat.
 
If i had to guess, i would say that the valve stem drilling location in the drag lite might not be compatible with the tubes you have.
I have some centerline auto drag 15x12 that had an extra valve stem hole drilled in them for that reason.
 
Green Slime will cause the inside of the aluminum wheels to corrode, ask me how I know.
 
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Been running tubes in draglites and prostars for 20 years. I had to open up the hole for the valve stem. I mount and balance my own slicks.
 
The Hoosier are pretty good slick , and alot I know do not run tubes in them. I mount and balance my own tires too. I usually coat the inside of the slicks with Palmolive dish detergent, some guys use Dawn or Murphys oil soap. Very little leakage, if any. The last set I mounted, I didn't screw the beads to the wheel, and they haven't moved. But I am running a Hoosier radial slick at 22 psi.
 
33IMP said:
If i had to guess, i would say that the valve stem drilling location in the drag lite might not be compatible with the tubes you have.
I have some centerline auto drag 15x12 that had an extra valve stem hole drilled in them for that reason.
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Yup,
Goodyears on mine, but two valvestems in my Draglites too. The tube needs to lay in there naturally.
 
I have run my Weld Draglites with and without tubes, both with Hoosier QTP tires....no issues. Yes you can run them without tubes (I did for quite a few years). I now run Hoosier drag radials...no more losing air, and a touch quicker.
 
flyfish said:
I have run my Weld Draglites with and without tubes, both with Hoosier QTP tires....no issues. Yes you can run them without tubes (I did for quite a few years). I now run Hoosier drag radials...no more losing air, and a touch quicker.
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Are you running radial front tires?
 
using tubes, need to coat talcum powder inside of tire. it keeps tube from being pinched. stem placement is very important also.
 
perfacar said:
using tubes, need to coat talcum powder inside of tire. it keeps tube from being pinched. stem placement is very important also.
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I do this for my dirt bike tubes, except I put the powder on the tube. Another thing is once the bead is set, let all the air out so the tube can untangle any areas where it may have folded over itself. After that you should be good to air it up like normal.
 
I've raced with and without tubes. I prefer tubes as it seems to stiffen the sidewall and makes the tire last longer. Tires without tubes usually leak especially over time and you always have to keep adding air, esp with the Hoosiers. Car also seems to be more consistent as far as reaction time goes as well. I've ran Hoosier, but I'm mainly a M/T guy. I get tractor tubes from my local tire shop and mount and balance my own tires. I've used Weld Draglite, Prostars and Centerline wheels thru the years. I sprinkle some baby powder in the tire before inserting tube. I could see you having 1 bad tube, but 2 makes me think the guy mounting the tire is doing something wrong.
 
All's well that ends well. Turns out that the second tube I gave them didn't fail. Went by the shop and got everything sorted out, using suggestions from my fellow racers who posted here. tires/wheels are back in my garage and ready to go back on my Dart. I appreciate the help from everyone who commented!
 
Make sure your tractor tubes meet NHRA requirements I've seen several guys turned away because of wrong tubes. The tractor tubes that were on my car when I bought it were not correct.
 
Blucuda413 said:
Make sure your tractor tubes meet NHRA requirements I've seen several guys turned away because of wrong tubes. The tractor tubes that were on my car when I bought it were not correct.
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Yep, real racing tubes have a nut on the stem that locks the stem to the wheel. Im guessing your tractor tubes dont.
 
33IMP said:
Yep, real racing tubes have a nut on the stem that locks the stem to the wheel. Im guessing your tractor tubes dont.
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My tubes have a nut and stem, but I did have a pair that didn't. Ran them for years and went to many tracks and never had a tech guy say a word to me. Only ever had 1 tech guy really look over my car and he was good tech guy but people always complained he was a ... but he was just doing his job. The one's that were complaining were usually the one's who's car needed something which you'd be surprised how many cars would fail tech if they actually teched cars to the NHRA book.
 
You're absolutely right, I've raced all over this country and I've only had one track do a real thorough inspection on my car. It was LACR in Calif. Even at the some of the national races I participated in it seemed that the inspectors picked out a few items and checked those items on the cars. I was a tech inspector back in the day and every car had to meet all class requirements some people got mad but that's the way it was. The ones who really got upset were the guys with new 57 Chevs that had a bad clutch in them. The early 57 clutches had the propensity to explode and we had to jack up every 57 to insure it had an OK clutch.
 
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