Tires: Tubeless Tyres, rubber manufacturers association, tubeless tire

Question
Hi,

Could you please tell me the concept behind tubeless tyres. What exactly happens when it is punctured and how to fix it.

Regards,
Harishankar V L

Answer
Basically the innerliner of a tubeless tire is made out of the same material as a tube.  The rim is designed to be complete sealed when the tire is mounted.

Repairing a tire is covered by a Rubber Manufacturers Association wallchart.

you can get it at: www.rma.org

There are lots of good details in the wallchart, so I suggest you get a copy.

But the basics are:

1)the tire must be inspected for signs of underinflation (and perhaps scrapped)

2)the damaged area can only be 1/4" long,

3) the damaged area can only be in the tread area, not including the outermost ribs, (otherwise the tire should be scrapped)

4)  the damaged area has to be reamed out

5)  the reamed hole has to be filled with a plug

6)there has to be a patch to seal the inside.