Posted by Keith in Washington [108.162.246.30] on Wednesday, June 01, 2016 at 12:38:28 :
I am just about done mounting my new Michelin XLs. I had to order new tubes and flaps as 3 of the tubes were bad. I had the tubes with long rubber stems that are offset 3/4". Bad idea do not use them. What I found is that the flaps, which are a little thin in my opinion, is pushed out through the slot in the rim which causes the tube to fail at valve stem.
I ordered tubes with centered metal stems and new flaps which are much thicker at the valve stem from Universal Vintage Tires. I is not easy to find 9.00 X 16 radial tubes and flaps these days. Yesterday I was putting the tubes and flaps into the tires before mounting them and got to the last one. Bummer the last flap is the wrong one. So I have to wait until next week when the replacement flap arrives to mount the spare. I am mounting the tires on combat rims which means I can do it myself. So the carryall will be back on the road later today.
I have not decided what to do with the 9.00 X 16 Michelin XLs that I took off. Yes they are more than 6 years old. I am considering either just selling them or looking into recapping them with a street tread and picking up more combat rims. Three of the tires are just fine and have been regrooved a little. The two that were on the front are worn on one side due to a bad toe adjustment.
When I first mounted tires to these combat rims there was lots of rust. I had to sandblast them then repainted them. This time when I dismounted the tires, after 15 years, there was absolutely no new rust on the main rims. However there was some new rust on the rings. Almost all the new rust was on the inner edge of the rings. So I used a hammer to break away any deep rust then wire brushed and treated with rust killer. They look fine with new paint.
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