Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

A quick question.

I just bought set of 41/2J x 13 alloy wheels for my Elan Sprint... Do they need inner tubes with standard wheels?

Carl

Hi Carl,
with the alloy wheels it depends if they are reproduction wheels or Lotus original.
Imho if they are original without the safety bead you should fit tubes.
Alan

Hi Alan,
Thanks for that. The insides of my rims seems smooth so can I assume they are not safety rims?








(Hope to get to Brittany again next year)

No safety bead so i think you need tubes.
The next Coupe Florio will be 2019. It's every 2 years.
Two of my french friends spoke to you. Michel and Beatrice have a primrose yellow MG TF
A+ Alan

Small world . It was a fantastic event, will certainly be back in two years time. Just booked the Caux Retro [url](http://cauxretro.com)[/url] for next Summer!!
Carl

If fitting inner tubes, make sure the tyres are compatible. I had tubes in my Elan, (std steel wheels with Uniroayal tyres,) & was plagued with inexplicable punctures. It turned out to be slightly raised ribs in a radial pattern on the inside of the tyre carcase cutting or wearing into the tubes with tyre movement. Finally resolved by removing the tubes & running tubeless after my tyre man did some research & was told by Uniroyal that their tyres are not suitable for use with tubes. It seems not many are ! We were a bit concerned that the riveted construction of the wheel rim to centre would not provide an air tight seal, but I've had no more flat tyres & no other ill effects

Regards, Tim

Thanks Tim, I was looking at fitting Uniroyals so may have to reconsider.
Carl

For me the question is without the safety bead the tyre can move off the sealing part of the rim when cornering hard. That means sudden deflation like a blow out Maybe that can only happen if the tyre is low on pressure
Alan

alan.barker wrote:For me the question is without the safety bead the tyre can move off the sealing part of the rim when cornering hard. That means sudden deflation like a blow out Maybe that can only happen if the tyre is low on pressure
Alan

I think the pressure would have to be so low for that to happen, you would have noticed something wrong anyway. I drove on deflating tyres on several occasions while I still had tubes fitted, & never did I have a bead move. I always noticed the car starting to squirm around before that happened & stopped to investigate

Regards, Tim

Edit,
Just had another look at Carls pictures & it looks like there is a slight 'trough' for the beads to drop in on the rims to hold them in place ?

I'd say with a hump like that you should be fine tubeless - much better for dealing with punctures.

Still trying to find out who originally made the wheels? Paul Matty sells similar ones but not 41/2J wide ones, which these are?

Carl

The "J" in the size designation means it was made to the English spec for tubeless tire.
Not many tire shops, especially in the US, know this today.

Roger

Roger, neither did I, I just thought it was a way of describing the width of a wheel?
Carl

Elan45 wrote:The "J" in the size designation means it was made to the English spec for tubeless tire.
Not many tire shops, especially in the US, know this today.

Roger

If that is the case, then according to the Lotus WSM technical data, all Elans from series 3 onwards should run tubeless tyres. (series 1 & 2 - 4.50", series 3 onwards - 41/2J)
I knew the letter code denoted rim profile, but had never heard it meant specifically tubeless tyres, still not sure it does. Take a look at the link, there's an explanation of what all the different letters mean.
https://www.oponeo.co.uk/tyre-article/h ... l-markings

Regards, Tim

Just found this..https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/tyres-advices/wheel-markings

It seems J means the wheel is for a passenger car. JJ for a 4x4 ..

You learn something new every day