Who makes a good inner tube?

[crazyal]

I have to replace the tube on my backhoe's front tire (11L 16). It went flat on me about a month ago and because the sidewall is still I didn't notice right off and damaged the valve stem. I bought a replacement from TSC (travelers 11L 15/16) but it was one that fit both 15" and 16" wheels and, in my opinion, way too small. I had to fight to stretch it onto the wheel. I'm not sure if I put a hole in it or it came that way but it would only hold air for about a day. When I removed it and aired the tube up to find the leak the tube looked like it was extremely thin in that area. On top of that when I inflated it it didn't even look close to being large enough.

I've looked around some but most brands are ones I've never heard of. I assume they are made in Asia somewhere (not that I'm against that). The Travelers tube seamed to use a rubber that wasn't stretchy. I did come across a Firestone/ Bridgestone tube catalog that says they are based in Arkansas. When you pull up the catalog they show Bridgestone brand, Firestone brand, and imported tubes. I'm not sure if I should assume that if it's not listed under "imported" it's made in the USA. It's about $20 extra for (what I think, is a USA made tube.

I can also step up to the next size tube. It's 12.5l 15/16. It's not much bigger and I have seen several no name tubes that listed it as using the same tube.

 

[kenmac]

I have not been able to find any made in the USA tubes... Korea is stamped on the ones I've bought.. I have never seen a tube that fits a 15''and or 16'' rim.. All I've ever seen either fit a 15'' or 16 '' rim.. I bought my last tube from advance auto parts.. fits 16'' rims, made in Korea I believe

 

[boggen]

many tubes are "multi fit" as you put air into them. the blow up like a balloon and fill in the area. most of tubes i have had to deal with roughly i guess 12 tubes in my life time. maybe 20 total thinking abit more. the tubes had to be stretched a little bit over the outside rim / bead area of the rim. but were not "tight" around the inside of the rim. in all thought the tubes once tire was on. would more likely have a couple folds some place inside the tire.

i have had a couple tubes get holes in them. to what you might call "surface rust" around rim. and/or i got a nail / screw or something punching a hole in tire itself and through tube. but fail back out. these cases i really never saw a leak. until i got the tube out and put air into it. and sprayed tube with soapy water to see if there was any leaks in it. ((normally reason for taking tube out was due to a much bigger hole put into the tube)) the bigger hole was normally due to a large nail / thorn sticking into tire and through the tube. once was due to tube / tire slipped on rim, and took out the valve stem area.

i generally have used plain old dish soap. as a lubricator to get tires on / off / over the the rims. along with just using soap to clean up things with a little water to wash stuff out.

i have had to drive on the wheel a couple times, in order to get the bead to properly seat better, and then dealt with air in tire as bead set correctly.

i did have a couple issues during putting tire back on, and getting beads to seat. were tube wanted to get pinched between bead and tube. and needing to suck out air from the tube. a couple times, and or just get enough air in tube so tube would less likely get pinched.

with this being a TLB.... i am wondering if you are not running a proper pressure in tires / tubes. more so when you are using the FEL (front end loader) and allowing tire to get to flat to point it is about ready to pop off rim. due to not enough pressure in tire.

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i would think your front tire on your case 580K TLB is small enough to take into some local auto store say pop/mom shop. and have them pull tire off on one of there tire machines. and clean it all up both rim and tire and put a tube in it for you.

i realize i am being rude with above and next line... but thinking perhaps you are overlooking something. maybe getting wrong tube or something. hence taking tire to a local shop.

 

[crazyal]

The flat originally happened because the air pressure was slightly low. It really wasn't an issue until I moved a large rock that was on the edge of being too large to lift. Both front tires squatted a fair bit. I'm sure as the tube rubbed the inside of the wheel, it had some usual rust. Since I was busy and didn't want to deal with breaking the lug bolts free to remove the wheel I just popped one side off, cleaned up the rust, got any dirt/ rust out of the tire, and installed the tube. Since it held air I had to get a good load of dirt in the loader so I could put a lot of weight on the tire to break the lugs free. I had to use a 3/4" breaker with a 5' section of pipe. This time I removed the tire, broke the bead and putted the tire off. I used a wire wheel to remove any rust that I didn't get off, used a grinding wheel to remove anything even sharp on the wheel's bead, and some POR15 on the inside of the wheel before giving it a good coat of paint.

Both times the tube fit so tight around the wheel that it was extremely hard to make sure the valve stem wasn't crooked. The second time, being in my shop, I did a much better job. The tire stayed inflated for several weeks without issue. Just the other day I went to use it, didn't think twice only to find it was flat again. Of course the valve stem is no longer sticking out of the hole. It's possible that the patch didn't hold because it has to stretch so far but I can't say I've ever had a problem with them not holding.

I'm thinking of just getting the Firestone branded tube and hope it's made in the US.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Maybe the thread should read "Does anyone make good rubber anymore?". I looked into this matter a year or so ago and found that they make "FORESTRY" tubes. A little rich in price for me.

 

[boggen]

see attached diagram...

A = rim (blue = outer edge were bead of tire goes), (RED = inner diameter of the rim)
B = TUBE
C = rim (red) is bigger diameter than TUBE inside diameter.
D = rim (red) is smaller diameter than TUBE inside diameter.

i can understand streching over the outer edge of rim (blue). but...
seems you are saying you are having issues with C. and tube inside diameter = to small. or am i missing reading what you are saying?

so question is... is manufacture of tube mis-labeling tube sizes? stuff gets messed up all the time on different specs on large amount of products out there.

 

[4570Man]

I would just take it to a tire shop. The local shop usually charges about the same as a tube would cost, and I don't have to fight with a tire trying to mount it.

 

[crazyal]

Well i ordered the Firestone tube from a local guy, should have it by the weekend. We'll see where it's made and if it fits better.

I suppose it could have been a mislabled tube but my guess is there's one or two factories in China or Korea spitting these out and anyone who wants to can buy them and put their name on them. The TSC tube took two hands to stretch it enough to get into onto the wheel. Once on it was so tight on the smallest part of the wheel that it was very difficult to slide to line up the valve stem with the hole in the wheel. I took my front tire from my Kubota to a local tire shop but this one is pretty heavy. It's fine just rolling around but not something I would want to lift. I haven't used my truck in about 3 months and let the inspection lapse (I accidentally cut one of the wires going to the ABS sensor so I just ordered a new one to pass inspection). Since the tire is too large to go into any other vehicle without a lot of struggling I really would have to wait until I get the truck road legal before I could get the tire fixed.

I've never had issues with tubes before. I've done thousands of motorcycle and bicycle tubes. I've even replaced both rear tires on my backhoe, the tire alone weighed almost 200lbs, and had no issues with the tubes. I even drove over a nail with one of the front tires and had to remove the tube to patch it with no issues. What I don't know is if Case got tubes specific for a 16" wheel vs the 15"/ 16" tubes everyone seams to sell now or if the TSC tube was unusually small. I'll know by the weekend and report back.

 

[kenmac]

I don't know about case, but I have never seen a tube that would fit a 15'' or a 16'' rim.. All I have ever bought were either for a 15'' rim and or a 16'' rim.. The tube in my tractor is only a 16' rim. Many yrs ago, I worked in a tire shop.. Never installed a 15'' tube on a 16'' wheel

 

[DJ54]

I bought 2, Firestone 7:00-15 tubes about 6 months ago. Made in China. I did use one about 2 months ago on my IH 990 MoCo tire. Seemed very flexible, and fit the rim nice. A lot I'd imagine has to do with the specs they have to meet.