Spoke caps puncturing inner tube?

[MilesA]

Not on a TR but thought the query might be relevant to others here.

A friend has chrome spoked wheels on his classic car. Recently experienced a couple of punctures to the inner tubes. Initial suggestion from his spanner men is that the spoke caps can cut through the 'gaffer tape' on the inside of the wheel and so puncture the tube. They haven't examined the wheels yet, but in anticipation I thought I would ask  for your thoughts,  I have not heard of this before (but then I have never run spokes).

How likely is this to be the cause of the punctures and what is the solution?

Miles

[stuart]

5 minutes ago, MilesA said:

Not on a TR but thought the query might be relevant to others here.

A friend has chrome spoked wheels on his classic car. Recently experienced a couple of punctures to the inner tubes. Initial suggestion from his spanner men is that the spoke caps can cut through the 'gaffer tape' on the inside of the wheel and so puncture the tube. They haven't examined the wheels yet, but in anticipation I thought I would ask  for your thoughts,  I have not heard of this before (but then I have never run spokes).

How likely is this to be the cause of the punctures and what is the solution?

Miles

Very unlikely thats the whole point of rim tape, unless the spokes have been wound right in when re-spoking and not trimmed off properly.

Stuart.

[RogerH]

Hi Miles,

should be interesting what you find.

The spokes should not poke through the nipple. The nipple should have a smooth rounded surface.

On top of this there should be a quite stout rubber band.

 

Roger

[MilesA]

Thanks both for the prompt responses. Have to say I was pretty sceptical, which is why I thought it might be worth arming my friend with knowledgeable feedback from the Forum.

Miles

[Drewmotty]

Possible if the tyre fitter really did use Gaffer Tape.

I recently came across a set which had been equipped with masking tape which had subsequently been painted over!!! The other culprit can be PVC tape which goes hard over time and breaks up especially when subjected to the heat generated by the tube interacting with the tyre when subjected to hard use. The 'masking tape' wheels also had the outer spokes taped over.....dodgy practice as the tyre bead should sit on the rim and into the outer spoke holes to help locate the tyre radially on the rim.

A proper rim tape in the well and plenty of french chalk is the way to go, combined with quality tubes devoid of patches and tyres cleared for use with tubes by the manufacturers.

All recently learned from a conversation with the nice people at MWS.........it all sounds reasonable to me.

Edited October 29, 2019 by Drewmotty

[Waldi]

Too large diameter inner tubes will also give issues.

I fail to understand why people use duct tape for this.

Waldi

[ChrisR-4A]

1 hour ago, Waldi said:

Too large diameter inner tubes will also give issues.

I fail to understand why people use duct tape for this.

Waldi

+1   

for oversized tubes, many tyre shops only carry a limited stock of tube sizes as hardly any vehicles use tubes today and if faced with finishing a repair will fit what they have in the correct diameter which may be far too wide resulting in folding, friction and a blowout.

I had to stop my local shop doing exactly that and then waited 24 hrs for delivery of correct size tubes.

Chris

[MilesA]

Thanks for all the responses which I have passed to my friend to arm him in discussions with his garage.

 

Miles