F150 tire remount

I got a used F150 last November. Had new tires put on shortly thereafter. The spare was bald so I told them to put the best of the removed tires on the spare. Still had a decent amount of tread on it. The rim was pretty rusted from sitting under the truck for a decade or so but figured it was just a spare and I didn't care how it looked. I just left it in the bed for a while as it was winter and didn't feel like messing with it. When I finally went to put it away this Spring, I checked the pressure and it was zero! I sprayed it up and found that it was leaking around the valve stem where the rust kept it from getting a good seal AND in a bunch of places all over the rim. Pinhole leaks from all the rust. I only drive the truck sporadically on weekends so I just put air in it anytime I used it. (Makes me nervous driving without a functional spare.)

A couple of months ago, I decided to get it fixed so I could put it away and get full use of the bed. I considered brazing the holes but realized that was a temporary measure at best even if I got all of them and used rims are only about $15. I did a junkyard search and could find no 18" steel rims. I was quoted $110 for a used aftermarket rim from the tire shop. :shock: OEM was quite a bit more. I found a reman rim for $67 on Ebay. It arrived last week. Surprised how heavy it was. Wife couldn't lift it off the porch (at least that's what she said. :lol: ) Took it back to the tire shop to remount. They wouldn't do it. Said "liability reasons". I told them that THEY put the old tire on the rusted rim originally so why couldn't they just remount it on a new rim. They were willing to do it when I called and got the quote for $110 from them for the rim. So..... last night decided to change it. Tried to break the bead on the old one, used a piece of 2x2 steel tube and drove up on it. (this has worked for me in the past) Bead wouldn't budge. The tread and sidewall was so stiff on the Continental tire that I realized I wasn't getting this one off on my own without a lot of blood sweat and tears and cussing. Called a local auto shop that was still open and the guy said $10 over the phone but he struggled to break the bead (almost stalled the machine) and putting it on the new rim was a bit more work as the Coats machine groaned and strained as it moved around the tire. Filling it, the 2 guys there said wow, this one is really going to pop and they plugged their ears and it sounded like a BIG firecracker going off when the bead set. It was louder than I expected. He was a little sheepish as he mentioned that it was more work than he figured so I gave him $20. Got home and told the wife it was the best $20 I've spent in a long time.

I can't talk about the entire line of Continental tires, but I've got a set that came with my Ford Escape. They seem like a heavy tire.

A lot of places won't mount tires or rims
they did not supply, and it is for liability
reasons. Same goes for parts supplied by a
customer. I still install parts at my shop
customers supply, bit I make it clear they
are responsible for them and there will be
storage incurred should they get a wrong or
faulty part and it ties up a bay in my shop.
The problem with customer supplied parts is
by putting it on at all, I am saying it is
fit for the purpose, even though I did not
supply it. My insurance agent has warned me
I am not covered on liability on parts I
don't supply.

Yeah, I understand that, but... the tire shop had no problem putting the old tire on the rusty rim in the first place. Probably because I was in the process of spending over $1000. I guess when you've got a guy standing in front of you with his CC, what are you going to say? "No, we can't do that?" :lol:

Could have put a tube in it as it is only a spare.