I have 36 X 3.5/37 X 4 tires on a model 71 Stanley. I have not been able to find the correct size tubes for these tires. Two tire companies have sent me metric 875 X 105 tubes saying they will fit. The are not even close! By my calcs these tubes are 26.18 inside diameter and would take a huge amount of steatching to fit my 29 inch rims.
The tubes that were on the car when purchased (and they look to be recently made)seem to be the correct size so they must be available somewhere!
Can anyone point me in the direction of some correct tubes?

Many thanks
Greg Johnson

Dear Greg, I have bought the same tubes from Universal to fit the tires on my Model R Stanley. They seemed to be an impossible fit, but they made it by stretching. The tubes that I bought go flat after about 9 months of sitting so now if the R is going to sit for very liong, I put it up on jack stands. The reason why is when the tires go flat while sitting on the ground, the clincher becomes unhooked and when I air them up, the sidewall blows out by the tire's bead becoming unhooked and that ruins the tube with a great big "BANG". So if you have to reinflate a clincher that has been sitting flat, jack it up off of the ground first and make sure that the clincher rim is well hooked before putting air to it. The new 36 X 3.5 clincher tires that I bought from Universal, I had to do an impossible stretch to get them on too. I let them warm up in the sun so that they would stretch on easier. I don't see that tire size listed by them anymore.

Greg, We always use 30x3 tubes in the 29" clincher tires . Seems strange but it works.The tube only gets bigger in diameter as you put a little air in it for installation. good luck and 65lbs of air

Hi Pat and Daryl,
Thank you for the recommendations. I am still trying to stretch the metric 875 tubes and am also trying a 36 X 4 tube to see if it is a closer match.
I will also try a 30 X 3 tube per your advice Daryl.
Thank you
Greg

I had to replace a 36 X 3.5 tire tube on my model R today. Coker tire will have them in stock by the first of the year 2010. I bought a couple of their 30 X 3 heavy duty tubes with the straight rubber stems for $13. each. I installed some old metal valve stems that I had on my bench. Cutting off the old stem making as small of a hole as possible and using lots of dish washing soap helped the metal stem head slip right through the small hole for a perfect seal with it clamped in place. I inflated the tube to get a good size to just fit the tire and I left the air in the tube. I lubed up both the tube and both beads of the clincher tire with the dish washing soap/water mix. The tube slipped right in without much of a fuss. Next I poked the valve stem into the felloe hole. I next pulled the clincher bead back behind the clincher and just under the still inflated tube. Making sure that the clincher is gripping all of the way around on both sides, I inflated the tire to working pressure. I could feel the tube slip into its proper place as I inflated it. I did not let the air out of the tube to make sure that all of the wrinkles were out nor did I use a tire flap. AS heavy duty as the 30 X 3 tube is, I didn't need a flap to protect it. I also didn't want to let the air out for fear of the tube slipping under the tire's bead and getting pinched. The reason for putting a new tube in the tire was because the tire had gone low just sitting and I re-inflated it without jacking the tire up off of the ground and inspecting that the clincher was properly enganged in it's lip. About two miniutes after I had inflated the tire, it blew off of it's rim and ruined an expensive tube. The tire was still OK but the tube was ruined. This is the third tire that has blown off of a rim due to being underinflated and with me just adding air. I guess I am a slow learner. I am slowly getting smarted though. :-)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/2009 04:09PM by SSsssteamer.

Hi Pat,

Dishwashing liquid is very corrosive. Years ago my Dad used it when helping me put on tires. The wheel paint faded over time where the liquid touched it and made a blotchy mess. It will eat through the paint and start the rusting process. Last time I put on tires, I used a lot of talc. It worked well. Another suggestion was to use a plastic garbage bag to help the slipping process, but it has to be the thick ones, not the cheap thin ones.

Dear Brad, Thank you for the advice. Maybe your soapy water had acid rain in it? :-) I will have to get out my PH meter and test my Palmolive hand dish washing soap. Hand dishwashing soap is supposed to be mild on your hands, so how could it and water be any worse for the car wheels? I have used it for 50 years starting when I was in the tire business in 1959. I never had an unhappy customer from using the soapy water on their painted wheels. Also, for years, I even used hand dishwashing soap in the wash water while washing my cars. Our automated tire changers have always had attached to their sides, a factory installed jug with a brush for the soapy lubricant for lubricating the bead of the tire. For the big truck rims, we had a 5 gallon bucket with a brush that contained what looked like chassis grease for lubricating the truck tire beads. I have always been doubtful about having grease on the truck tire beads, but that is what that special grease was made for so I did not question it. Talc has always been required for providing permanent slip for the inner tubes to help keep them from chafing and pinching. In mounting this undersized 24" rimmed inner tube over the Stanley's larger 29" rim, special care had to be taken, and that included plenty of soapy water lubricant to get the inner tube safely where we wanted it. if in doubt about your soap effects on the paint, after mounting, rinse with fresh water. Years ago, unfortunately I had whitewall bleach take the color out of the straw yellow wheels on our Ford model A roadster. Happy Ssteaming.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2009 09:54PM by SSsssteamer.

Years ago we use to use Lux laundry soap (white flaxes) and water to lube up wire to pull in pipe’ today they have a wire ease you get in an electric supply store, it’s not suppose to deteriorate any insulation of wire or the pipe you pull it into. Slippery stuff. I never thought to use it. I used whatever I had in the kitchen.

Rolly

If a person doesn't want to use hand dish washing soap in mounting a clincher tire over the clincher rim, then instead use a garbage bag to mount it with. See a video on "You Tube" at [www.youtube.com] Personally I can mount a clincher tire just as fast without tire irons and using hand dish washing soap as a lubricant.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/2009 04:32PM by SSsssteamer.

The best readily available lube for mounting tyres is waterless hand cleaner, the thick stuff with lanolin.

I didn’t use any lube, just leave them out in the sun and they get nice and hot. Mine went on with my hands no tools.

Rolly