Technical How many of y’all are running Cheater Slicks with no tubes?

I’m looking at the M&H Racemaster Cheater Slicks and it shows they require tubes for street use. I’ve seen where some guys are not running tubes in them. Is that ok, or a horrible idea?

 

I have run several sets of cheater slicks and regular slicks with no tubes on the street. They all said to run tubes, but I chose not to. Biggest issue I ever had was that they might have real slow leaks, but not enough to ever cause me issue. Not sure if it is a horrible idea or not, but I have done it.

 

I'm running them right now, Hoosier Q.T. Pro's, no tubes, no leaks or any other problems. Don't they run cooler without the tubes anyhow? The tires before that were M/T Sportsman Pro's, didn't run tubes in them either, although it says to right on the tire. Never a problem there either. I think it's more of a C.Y.A. thing for the manufacturer. I could see where running tubes could help with high speed stability at the big end of the track though.

 

I used to run bias M/T slicks with no tubes on the street. On the issue of them leaking down, I used to rub dish soap all over the inside of the slick before I had it mounted on the rim. It does work! I had no leaks, or I just got lucky.
I didn’t dump it in there, just enough to lightly coat the inside of the entire tire

 

If I remember right, the one set of actual slicks that I mentioned may have leaked some were pretty old... I was a poor kid that typically picked up used slicks that I just wore out on the street.

 

Awesome, thank you all so much.

 

I've run the MH Vintage slicks without tubes, they work fine...but I never used them on the street. I think the tires are similar construction.

 

I've done this with every set of slicks I've owned, street or strip. The only slicks I've ran on the street are M/T ET Drags, my only advise to add would be, if it looks like ran drive something else!

 

I've had some MH on my 32 for the past 4 years. No tubes and they haven't leaked, even with magnesium wheels. Maybe I'm lucky. I suggest trying without and see if they leak.

 

I have Radir's on my car aswell, it never said anything about a tube. I've been running them about two or three years and they've been fine on the street tubeless.

 

Great info guys. Thanks!

 

Wow! That thing is rad!

 

I'm running pie crust slicks on both of my gassers, and one has made a lot of passes at the drags. No tubes in either car.
I had M&H drag radials on my Austin gasser for years and also ran them without tubes at the drags with no problems. Just don't run the pressure lower when at the drag strip and you wont have any issues.

 

I've been running Coker/Firestone cheater slicks on old American chrome smoothies without tubes on my Model A for close to three years and at least 12,000 miles on them, haven't had any issues.

 

Not saying that you should or should not use a tube on the street, but what comes to mind for me is that the cheater slick is going to be used on some real race cars as well as street cars. I'm wondering if the manufacturers warning might be in relation to the tire changing shape as centrifugal force acts on it at some very high speeds. Some cars are turning speeds way over 100.........these days. I saw a car go off the track once due to low pressure in the tires and the tire collapsed. Watch how tire shape changes when people heat their tires at the track.My guess is that the warning is more for people running lower pressures and higher racing speeds.....just how low vs how high would probably vary with the tire brand. Anyway, thats just speculatin on my part, not any real knowledge .....

 

I'm running M&H Drag Radials also without tubes. So far have had no issues.

 

No tubes and my car runs high 7's in the 8th mile!

 

The guy that owns the Gary Kessler built, yellow '32 highboy, always has MT slicks on it, and drove it on the Midwest Roadsters run last week. Maybe someone has a way to get in touch with him and ask what he's doing? That car is bitchin'!


Not my pictures!

 

Yea, that’s the weird part. M&H says you need tubes for Street use, but not Drag use. Super weird.

 

When I considered buying the drag radials I called M&H's West Coast distributor and talked directly to M&H rep. I asked a lot of questions and he never indicated any issues running them tubeless. The Drag Radials, and my current Towel City pie crust slicks both have heavy sidewalls that prevent them from breaking the bead under hard acceleration as long as you keep the pressure up around 24 psi or higher. I run mine at 30 pounds on the street or strip and never a problem.