There have been past forum discussions on repairing OLD Cattrax- the kind with rustable steel tubing for wheels. The tubing corrodes and air won't stay in. These tires have the small central hole, also the rubber valve that takes an inflating needle- valves also shot.
Since the tires are glued to the steel tube--- there is a problem to get inside to put in a large tube.

Comments or references to useful posts welcome.
Newer Cattrax have plastic wheels.

steel tubing? Are you sure you're not talking about the aluminum tubing and aluminum wheels? Mine are relatively new and are all aluminum and are still the modern cattrax standard (plastic wheels are cost affective but provide a rough ride).

Do the tires have a 'chevron' style tread?

Are the tires glued to an aluminum rim or are the side walls all rubber with no aluminum showing?

J

Yes- All 4 tires from both sets have the old Chevron pattern. Tires are apparently permanently glued to rusty hole-filled metal pipe- no metal showing. I was thinking about sawing thru the pipe to put a tube inside, then epoxying up the saw kerf + fiberglass to the original ID. Kind of a pain, eh?

Those are a pain. Unless you can do the repair super cheaply and easily I'd start saving for a new set. Get the standard Cat Trax with the pneumatic tires. They run around $420. The next step is after you do all of the work they'll start leaking and there is no way to put tubes in that style. Your fix sounds reasonable though a lot of work. Good luck man.

J

I had a set of that type of catrax. What a PITA. Do youself a favor and buy a new set. You'll never regret it.

If your axle and bearings are still in decent shape all you will need is 2 new tires and rims.

Those tire-wheel combos with the steel sleeve vulcanized to the tire were used on early honda three wheelers. What you need to find is the upgrade wheel which is aluminum or the same thing catrax uses. Then get a set of smooth or your favorite tire tread pattern. Look for a very early atc 90 three wheeler honda wheel. Check motor cycle, atv suppliers.