I am sure that once again, my sorry digest reading butt is late on this but
what the heck. Safety rims have a ridge below each tire bead that locks
the bead against the rim. Anyone who has watched a tire mounted has heard
the "pop" when the bead seats onto the rim. This is the bead being locked
by the safety rim. Older rims did not have this positive lock to the rim.
On an older rim, it would be hard to mount a tubless tire because the
safety rim seals the bead and allows pressure buildup whereas a non safety
rim would not seal unless the bead was tight against the outer portion of
the rim. This issue is somewhat alleviated on LBC rims because in general
we are levering tyres that are much wider than original onto the rims.
Around a corner, the safefy rim holds the tubless tire tight regardless of
air pressure whereas the old rim relies on air pressure to maintain the
seal between the rim and the bead. If cornering forces ever overcome the
force exerted by air pressure against the tire bead and rim, immediate and
catastrophic deflation occurs and your car is skidding across the groun on
hard parts. Remember, it doesn't take a very big opening to let air out so
the argument that the same treatment would cause the tube to extrude
between the tire and the rim doesn't really hold water. The tires don't
move that far. In closing, I would strongly recommend against using
tubless tires on non-safety rims. The moment that they would fail could
very well be an emergency maneuver and that would not be a good time.
I have been haunting Barnes and Noble even more than usual lately in hopes
of snagging a copy of MG World. They carry other "World" books so I
figured that one would show up sooner or later. Well, last week I noticed
a copy of Mini World. I had never seen this magazine befor so this week I
finally bought a copy.
I have what I call a 50% interest in Minis. This means that, if you could
buy one for about 50% of what they typically sell for, I would have one.
Anyways, the Mini book is very entertaining and has great adds for spare
parts. If MG world is similar, I can hardly wait until one is available.
I don't know if I would subscribe since I limit myself to a set number of
magazines/clubs and I would have to drop another one to subscribe to it but
we will see.
My only real complaint was the price. I am not very superstitious but I do
have your typical Eurocentric Christian background. When the magazine rang
up $6.66 including task I thought that maybe this was a sign that I should
never buy a Mini :-( I would assume that MG World will be similarly priced
so we will have to see how willing I am to tempt fate when it hits the
stands.
I took the A out last night and drove it to work today. Tommorow also
sounds like a good MG day here in Minnesota. Phil really hit the nail on
the head about driving LBC's in a snow storm. The world shrinks around you
and you really feel in touch with the car. Before anyone asks, I will tell
you that yes, my hood is up. I put it up for storage while it is still
somewhat warm so that it doesn't shrink any more than it already has.
Besides, when you livie in Minnesota being cold and wet isn't the novelty
that it is in other parts of the country ;-)
Regards,
Bill Eastman
61 MGA
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