Show Me Your Tubeless Conversion

I'll be watching this thread. Tubeless tires should be better all around if the conversion of the spoked wheel can be done efficiently enough.

I was thinking about running another layer over rubber over the nipples because as was mentioned they will leak around the threads. However it may be overkill and some RTV on just the threads might be enough.

Also I am planning on powder coating my rings so I'm not sure if the powdercoat would make it through the vulcanizer. Or if powdercoating after I do the rubber would cause problems.

I dunno I am brainstorming here and I am pretty sure there is a way I can make this work.

o1marc said:

Tubes can chafe inside the tire causing heat build up and pressure change. They add weight to the total assembly. 2 negatives about running tube. I have powder coated a number of spoked and 3 pc. car wheels that are sealed from the manufacturer. The manufacturers told me to just use standard Black RTV sealant to reseal them.

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thats all i did on my volks when i rebuilt them. When i got them they leaked bad. Pulled them apart, ultra blacked them and bolted them back together. Never had a problem.

with muli piece wheels you are just sealing the mating surfaces together, i think youd make a right big mess of spoke nipples doing the same process hahaha

SaltCityCafe said:

I was thinking about running another layer over rubber over the nipples because as was mentioned they will leak around the threads. However it may be overkill and some RTV on just the threads might be enough.

Also I am planning on powder coating my rings so I'm not sure if the powdercoat would make it through the vulcanizer. Or if powdercoating after I do the rubber would cause problems.

I dunno I am brainstorming here and I am pretty sure there is a way I can make this work.

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but it is a bad idea to try to seal the threads, a spoked wheel is a living thing and will need maintenance/adjustment
why not vulcanise a strip to the assembled wheel ?
before you assemble the wheel,before you lace it, coat the tops of the nipples,the part that will be in contact with the strip of rubber, with something like a spray-on graphite coating

SaltCityCafe said:

I was thinking about running another layer over rubber over the nipples because as was mentioned they will leak around the threads. However it may be overkill and some RTV on just the threads might be enough.

Also I am planning on powder coating my rings so I'm not sure if the powdercoat would make it through the vulcanizer. Or if powdercoating after I do the rubber would cause problems.

I dunno I am brainstorming here and I am pretty sure there is a way I can make this work.

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You are literally trying to reinvent the wheel. Why?

This is really simple. Powdercoat the rims first, because the heat of powdercoating would fuck up any sealant.

Lace the wheel next. Don't try to bed the spoke nipple into a rubber sealant. You want to be able to re-true the wheels later if you need to.

Use my method. It's tried and true. Why try to come up with another method that will glue your nipples to the rim AND might leak?

AlphaDogChoppers said:

You are literally trying to reinvent the wheel. Why?

This is really simple. Powdercoat the rims first, because the heat of powdercoating would fuck up any sealant.

Lace the wheel next. Don't try to bed the spoke nipple into a rubber sealant. You want to be able to re-true the wheels later if you need to.

Use my method. It's tried and true. Why try to come up with another method that will glue your nipples to the rim AND might leak?

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Actually I think I did a horrible job of explaining it. More or less what I am thinking of doing is really similar to your method. I just had a brain fart and didn't think it totally through. The one thing I was trying to do differently is use the vulcanizer and the products I have available to me at work. More of less making all of this free for me. Maybe what I need to do is just track down a spoked wheel and give it a try and see what happens before I do it to the wheels I plan on using.

In the mean time Alphadog would you mind posting a few more pics and giving a more detailed explanation of how you built your vacuum table thingy. If all else fails I will try your method......I know damn kids have to tinker instead of going with what works LOL

HollywoodMX said:

I have the tubliss setup on my yz. It's bad ass. The problem is you have to refill the tubeless tube with very high psi. Then you have to check up on all the time to make sure its holding a bead. But the less rotational mass was noticeable and it would be another reason to go tubeless verses tube.

The Italians make tubeless wheels. Get the check book out though.

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did you run the rim locks still or no?