Definitive Answer on Inner Tubes

66Beetle

A2OC Donor
Please can any expert give me a definitive answer on Inner Tubes ? It’s NOT for the A2 but for the 1966 Beetle. 155 80 15 Tyres are getting more difficult to find. The ones sold as “ Classic Tyres “ can be very expensive. So I looked at the 165 65 15 Winter Tyres currently on the A2 and thought Hmm. How would they be on the 1966 Beetle ? I would like to give them a try but of course the Rims on the Beetle are NOT for Tubeless Tyres. Only for Tubed use. I’ve seen a lot of people saying Inner Tubes are “ Illegal for Road Use “. That is obviously rubbish as all cars had Inner Tubes for the first 60 or 70 years of cars !

I have seen 15” Inner Tubes listed as fitting multiple Tyre Sizes with the same Tube Size, including 165 65 15 Tyres but is that correct ? I have read somewhere that you can not use Inner Tubes with Low Profile Tyres but down to 70 and even 65 Profile are OK.

Please can an expert advise ?

Thank you,

Steve
 
Surely the original tyres on a '66 Beetle would have been tubeless? According to one source they changed to tubeless in 1956. Judging by the price of tubed tyres, the cheapest option would be to buy some tubeless wheels if you don't already have them.

RAB
 
O.K. Thank you for getting me thinking again. The Wheels In question are not 1966 Wheels but up to 1965 Solid Wheels for the big Domed Hub Caps. ( 1966 Wheels were 1 year only 5 Stud, Slotted with Flat Hub Caps ). After a bit further investigation the earlier Solid Rims I want to use have Flattened out areas around the Valve Holes, which are for Tubeless Valves to Seal. Tubed Rims do not need that Flattened out bit for the Tube Valve to just stick through the Valve Hole. Seems the identifier of a Tubeless Rim is the “ J “ in the Rim Size e.g. 4 J x 15. No J means it’s not for Tubeless. Never knew that until today.
 
If I remember correctly if the tyre says tubeless on it then you cannot legally use a tube in these tyres - this is from memory from some 20+ years ago so I may be remembering it wrong

Cheers,
 
I certainly remember being pulled up on an MOT in the past because the tubeless tyre had a inner tube fitted in it. It was a fail until I swapped the wheel for the spare and hide the then spare from the MOT tester :) then it passed

Cheers,
Paul
 
Sounds like all the info has been “ lost in the mist of time “. What I remember from when I had a Lotus Cortina was that the danger with using Inner Tubes on Performance Cars was from Inner Tube “ Wind Up “ under hard acceleration, or was it at high speed i.e. difference in speed between the Tyre and Inner Tube could neck the Valve off resulting in a Blowout. That may be why Tubeless Rims and Tyres were invented ?
 
Got that job done as well now. 66 Beetle “ Solid “Wheels sandblasted back to bare metal. Taken to Greg at Top Wheels Lancaster and powder coated in a certain shade of White. Tubeless Tyres fitted back on with new Valves. That’s another thing I did not know - they used a larger diameter Valve on these, some old Land rovers, and Tractors. The flat square bit of the Rim is, as previously stated, for the Tubeless Valve to seal to the Rim.
 
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