Have a buddy with an old drag/street car. Been running Sportsmans with tubes on old Centerlines with screws in the rims. He's finally scraped enough money together to put tubeless radials on it and ditch the tires with cords showing.

What kind of issues, I mean, has anyone done the swap, and what kind of sealing issue is there with the holes remaining?

Have one guy that currently works for, and used to work for another, major wheel manufacturer that said to not use the screws with the radials. I have another friend with a tubbed car and his own shop/business, that said to either cut the screws down for the radials, or run the tubes and the cut down screws with the radials.

I suggested having the holes welded up, but I have a feeling he'd be unhappy with what it would look like, plus, he probably can't come up with the $100 or so, to have the local shop do it. Not even sure his old tubes will fit the new tires, as he's gone a hair smaller in size to avoid rubbing.

Wheel guy mentioned filling the holes with silicone. Buddy mentioned cutting down the screw heads and using silicone to attach them. Um, I don't want those things coming off anywhere around me or anyone I know.


Your thoughts? What would you do? What would you do if you had no money?

I'll see if I have a picture somewhere that shows the wheels. My concern is the angle at which the holes were drilled, I'm concerned about sealing with the tubeless tires.

Holes wont leak. I've run rims with holes and no screws without issue. Now we glue both our slicks and the M/T Radial Pros with purple Permetex. Even with tubes in my slicks the tire doesn't move on the rim enough to matter. It messy but cleans up with brakleen or lacquer thinner.
Doug

Tires dont seal on that lip, if that’s what you’re asking. The radial area is where the seal happens. The axial lip just stops/ locates the sidewall.

He can try using Right Stuff from the inside
(that stuff is super strong) then clear on the
outside to make it look better then glue on
the tires so they dont slide.. thats about the
cheapest way.. but on radials you dont use screws

We, I mean, me......we're more concerned about the sealing, vs spinning the tire on the rim. Car never goes to the track, so that's not an issue. Just want to avoid any leaks. I'll pas the info along.

Thanks!

I doubt you'll have any leakage by leaving the holes open.

Having said that, I've run drag radials screwed to the rim for over 10 years w/ no problems whatsoever. Ran mid 9s for a long time and made a few blasts into the 8s at around 3900 lbs.
Nobody, including M/T, ever advised me not to run screws w/ radials back in 2006 when I started running them.

I have 32 holes in each of my rear wheels (16 per side). I'm now running radials so i just left all the screws out and they don't leak a bit.

I've got some 10 year old drag radials that I use as street tires.

They're mounted on Centerline Auto Drag wheels that have holes for screws, which aren't being used. No problems.

The aluminum wheels on my Ram 2500 leak more than the Centerlines do.

I would tap the holes, pick a short screw with a head that looks good and install with Loctite Red. Cut and smooth any thread sticking through on the inside. No hole to worry about leaking and the screw heads keep it looking nice. Should cost $5.

I run radial slicks on these steel rims and have no leaks at all. I used to have screws in my steelies on the rear and I just put my radial slicks on the steelies with the holes and I have no leaks at all. My car can sit a few months in the winter and still have the same air pressure in them when I get it back out in the spring. I use no screws or tubes with the radial slicks and they work great. Ron

I like this suggestion. I may not have time to tap, screw, file before mounting the tires. If I get time at work tomorrow, I may try to see what's possible before finishing the job. (sigh) crappy tire machine at work has a sticky foot pedal valve for the bead breaker, unbeknownst to me. I don't get out there much. Anyway, first bead, arm came in, wasn't in the right spot, let off the pedal and the arm kept coming. Couldn't get it stopped before it'd pinched the rim. Nice couple rub/scratches/gouges in the satin finish. He was understanding tonight. Said it wasn't that bad. But it happened. Part is already on order to fix the machine. Oh well. Sucks when you're trying to help a guy out.

Again, thanks for the help everyone.

I went from screwed 15x 15 slicks to 14.5x 15xradials and no screws. Probably totaled 50 passes with a best. 60 ft of 1.25 in a 3000 lb car. Never lost any air, and very little if any over winter.

Maybe the radial slicks having more give on the sidewall helps when not screwed to the rims? But us Drag Radial guys, I have a few buddies that hit the tire hard enough at the hit that the tire was moving 1" to 1-1/2" on the rim. I was marking the rims/tires myself before each hit. Maybe because a drag radial does not wrinkle up as much as a slick?

I still screw my drag radials to the rims however. Beadlocks are coming for me this winter anyway.

My Belvedere ran 1.38 short times with slicks on rims that had drilled holes I wasn't using. No problems with leaks.

My Trans Am I launched with a manual on both drag radials and bias ply Mickeys. I will say like 6PK says, that the radials definitely moved around a lot more on the rim than the bias plys did, both non-screwed at the time.

Before I glued the slicks they spun 180 degrees on the rim in 20 passes. Now they move an inch or two then stay put until the tires are done, 125-150 passes. 1.26-1.31 60ft depending on weight.
Doug