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T O P I C     R E V I E W mw The beads on the stock chrome wheels on my 93 Lexus GS 300 are pitted causing them to leak. I'm running Michelin ENERGY MXV4+ XSE tubeless tires. Is there any reason I can't use tubes and get rid of this problem? TheTireGuy he problem with tubes in tubless tires is the wheels. Tubeless wheel have a well in the center, called a drop center, so the tire can be "button hooked" on. This means that the tube will try to occupy the drop center when inflated, which would might cause the tube to buckle since the diameter is smaller. This might result in sudden air loss - not a good thing. Plus many wheels have odd locations for the valve making the fitting of a tube impossible. Also, many wheels have unusual shapes inside, making the tube conform to these potentially damaging contours. As a general rule, tubes in a tubeless tire is a bad idea. It might be better to try to seal the area of the wheels where the beads seat. Hope this helps. tireguy sorry, dude, your rim scenario is not entirely correct! still, tubes in radial tires are a bad idea... a radial tire creates lots of heat, and putting a tube inside, the tube rubs on the tire, creating friction, resulting in more heat, which can cause tube failure, and loss of pressure, obviously, if tube failure damages tire. DaveA quote: Originally posted by mw: The beads on the stock chrome wheels on my 93 Lexus GS 300 are pitted causing them to leak. I'm running Michelin ENERGY MXV4+ XSE tubeless tires. Is there any reason I can't use tubes and get rid of this problem? If you haven't already done something to solve this problem, here's what to do: Remove the tire. Mount wheel on a balancer or other sturdy fixture. Use a stiff rotary wire brush on a drill or high speed grinder, and, using goggles and other typically sensible safety equipment, attack that bead with the wire brush. Blast off the flaking chrome and corrosion all the way around on both bead seating flanges. Once this is done, you have nothing but the pitted surface to deal with. Now, using a liquid rubber compound ("Bead Sealer") brush a coat over the pitted areas, allow to dry, mount the tires and fill them with air. Viola! You will have a sealed unit again.