MTFCA Forum

This 30 x 3 Firestone Non-skid tire was purchased new in 2020. Unfortunately someone (could have been me) thought it needed a hole for the valve stem because the old tire had one. Frustration set in trying to mount it and the thought was the tire wouldn’t seat due to the metal valve stem and the hole somehow kept getting bigger . As Mr. Gump says “stupid is as stupid does”. My assumption is an expensive lesson learned, you don’t even need a hole for the valve stem, but this tire is ruined. I do have a tube flap but don’t believe that will matter, it will pop when pumped up.

Just thought I would reach out before taking it to the trash pile in case there are other thoughts. It has duck tape on it only to hold the sides together for a better idea of the hole size.

It's certainly ugly, but I'm not sure it's ruined. As long as the steel cord in the bead is not broken, I would try mounting it and see how it seats.

I agree with Jerry. If the cords aren't damaged, you're good to go. I don't suppose it matters, but if you want to put the valve stem through that hole, it's no problem. As you now know, when you inflate the tire the stem will fit between the beads whether it's in the cut or not. I don't believe Ford used flaps with clincher tires, and neither do I. If your rim is good enough (Ford used new rims) a flap is a needless complication. If the rim is a bit rough, a strip cut from a defunct inner tube is good. I believe Allan has told us that more than once.

There is NO steel cord in a clincher tyre bead. The bead needs to stretch to go on the rim. Only straight sided tyres have wire in the beads. This then demands that they have to be fitted to a split rim, like a 26 T, or to a well based rim like 27 T wire wheels.

With the skinny beads on clincher tyres of today, it is not necessary to cut the valve stem relief at all. The problem is in the fitting technique. If one side of the tyre is fitted to the rim first, then there will be difficulty fitting the tube/valve stem. When you pull on the tyre to put the tube in, it pulls the fitted edge of tyre over the valve stem hole, occluding the hole in the rim.

This is not a problem if BOTH sides of the tyre are fitted at the same time. Simply air up the tube enough to hold its shape and stuff it in the tyre. Then drop this assembly over the rim with the valve stem down the hole. Use whatever clamp you have to hold BOTH beads and the stem in the rim and then lever BOTH beads on, working away from either side of the clamp until the whole tyre is on. At the last, one bead may pop on first. Just be careful levering the last little bit of the second bead over the rim. Hot weather is a good friend to make the tyres more supple. Proper tyre fitting lube is your even better friend. Your best friend is a set of Blockley tyres.

Hope this helps.
Allan from down under.

I agree with the consensus that it is not ruined. Once mounted, I think you will be pleasantly surprised that it will work just fine. Good luck.

Allan wrote: ↑

Wed May 28, 2025 8:31 pm

There is NO steel cord in a clincher tyre bead. The bead needs to stretch to go on the rim. Only straight sided tyres have wire in the beads.

Hope this helps.
Allan from down under.

I stand corrected. You are right. I confused the two tire styles.

Steve, it's nice to know someone reads my posts!
I agree the tyre is most likely still useable, but I would mount the cut area first, both sides together, perhaps with the valve stem close by. That way the cut area will already be mounted in the clincher, held in place by the clamp I suggest. If any levering load was placed on the cuts, the bead would likely break altogether.

Hope this helps.
Allan from down under.

May I ask why such large chunks were dug out of the tire. Would not a drill bit been have been a lot neater and performed the same function?
.

The tires are not ruined. I've seen worse hack jobs on tires that I have removed. But those tires worked well as modified, well enough to wear out the tread before any other failure. I have also notched that edge for clearance around the valve stem (as told to by my dad), but I was a bit more careful with my utility knife to give a more tailored fit.

Keep crankin',
Eric

maybe they were removing enough rubber to balance the weight of the valve stem?

and they are crosseyed?

Bruce I agree with the majority, you’re good to go & money saved. The clinchers are named for what they do, that edge clinches under the rim lip & as long as your rim edge isn’t sharp you should get regular service out of it. Just be sure you air it up to seat it well. I listen for a small noise & then inspect to be sure I’ve seated the tire all the way around. It may not be correct but I over inflated the tube/tire then let the air out down to 60lb plus go around the edge with a rubber mallet. Maybe overkill but that’s what I do.
Good luck. Best John

Allan I can’t confirm but I bet most folks read your contributions. You’ve got a lot of years in applied experience that hasn’t killed you yet ha, so you’re either awful lucky or awfully correct. Best John

jiminbartow wrote: ↑

Thu May 29, 2025 9:30 am

May I ask why such large chunks were dug out of the tire. Would not a drill bit been have been a lot neater and performed the same function?
.

Brain faze…..

Flame me if you want, but I disagree that there is never a need to grind some relief in the bead of a clincher tire. IF you are using tubes with rubber valve stems it's possible that damage from contact can occur. In my case it wan Hancock Tubes in Universal T-Drivers.

I had two rubber-stemmed tires go flat and in each case I discovered the valve stem was cut on the sides where they had contacted the bead. The tire shop ground a small relief which worked fine until I got smart and bought a set of brass stemmed Blockley tubes. If you have brass stems you don't need to worry about grinding a relief.

The stem was cut on both sides Only a small relief was required

I have no experience with skinny front wheels used on US production T's. Our Canadian sourced cars come with 30 X 3.5" all round.

The distance between the rounded inner width of the rim beads on these rims measures at 2- 5/8". The wide foot on the two beads of my 70"s, old stock, Olympic tyres measures at 2", leaving a gap of 5/8" between the beads when mounted. This gap is wider with the modern tyres. The valve stem hole in the rim is 9/16", still smaller than the distance between the bead edges, so the bead does not occlude the valve stem hole when fitted.

Tim's problem with failed rubber stems may be down to the TR 135 valve stems used on the tube he showed. These are more modern stems, fatter than the longer, slender rubber stems usually used. These fat stems are a tight fit in the rim hole. There was a time when the only stick on replacement stem was a short TR 135, which meant having to use a valve stem extension on a T. It also meant the rim hole had to be enlarged. The safest bet is to fit an old time brass valve stem.

Allan from down under.