well heres something to talk about

ericlb

Well-known Member
im putting new tires on a truck....now it aint just that simple, first the truck, its a 1957 chevy 1 and 12 ton, then there's the 3 piece wheels, not that hard if you grew up working on those, but the tires! believe it or not they came on the truck! in 1957! now bald as a baby's.... and hard as a rock, some rott too, the first one is done after 8 hours of beating using my loader bucket and a tire slide hammer, the wheel cleaned up just like new, as did the rings, so, anybody got any ideas to make it easier?, power tire changer isnt a option the only one in the area has a kid who never saw a 3 piece wheel let alone knows what to do with it
 
Pour some penetrating oil on the beads a day or so ahead of time. It will soften/loosen the rust so it will come off easier. Don't be afraid to use the oil. Fuel oil would also work. Just something to soak into the rust. It can all be cleaned off after disassembly. Driving the beads down some will make the rings come off easier. I am guessing you have the ring with the square rod around above it.
 
Well if you where close to me I have what you need for that job. I salvages a truck tire bead breaker tool years ago and it makes short work out of a job like that
 
You state 3 piece rim, is Tharp the widow making split rims? If so why not get some replacements now before installing new tires? You safety or anyone else who works on it is worth a lot.
 
(quoted from post at 13:06:50 09/14/18) You state 3 piece rim, is Tharp the widow making split rims? If so why not get some replacements now before installing new tires? You safety or anyone else who works on it is worth a lot.

Are you nuts? According to some on here you ain't manly unless you use stuff like that..........

Rick
 
Only good use I've found for WD40, other than drying wet ignition systems.

Cut a bunch of short wooden wedges, 2-3 inches long. Drive them between the tire and wheel, 3 or 4 per tire. that just opens up a little space for the WD40 to get into. Let set for a while, overnight if you can. Makes them come off a lot easier.

And to the earlier poster: 3 pc are not the widow maker. twoThat's that silly two piece that only comes apart/goes together in one specific way. But they can be dangerous if the groove and lock ring are not cleaned well and properly seated before airing. If you don't have a cage, a chain through the center hole and over the tire several times will work.
 
not the widowmakers, the term refers to a specific type of rim that firestone made in the 30's thru the 60's these rims split right in the center, in what would be the well area of a modern tubeless rim, the killer rep comes from when a tire is mounted, you cant see weather the 2 halves of the rim are actually fully seated in their locking ribs, the rim explodes if its not, and somebody gets killed, of course thats why they make tire cages but its still a type of wheel you dont want . those rims are now 40 to 70 years old and rust has weakened them even more, as for lock ring wheels there in use today, there fine, as long as, the man working on them knows what hes doing and has actual experience doing them, as opposed to watching a u tube video on it, us older people worked on split rim wheels for decades, next the pieces of the rim and ring need to be in good condition not bent rusted or warped there is more to check but i done need to post it here
 
(quoted from post at 12:08:26 09/14/18) im putting new tires on a truck....now it aint just that simple, first the truck, its a 1957 chevy 1 and 12 ton, then there's the 3 piece wheels, not that hard if you grew up working on those, but the tires! believe it or not they came on the truck! in 1957! now bald as a baby's.... and hard as a rock, some rott too, the first one is done after 8 hours of beating using my loader bucket and a tire slide hammer, the wheel cleaned up just like new, as did the rings, so, anybody got any ideas to make it easier?, power tire changer isnt a option the only one in the area has a kid who never saw a 3 piece wheel let alone knows what to do with it

Work in direct sun, let it heat the tire as much as possible. Lube of some kind, I use ATF with some diesel mix, but use something. Get a real split rim hammer, not a slide hammer. Stand on the rim/tire, and beat the beat with the hammer on the split rim side. If you have another truck, you can drive over the tire, just outboard of the rim edge to push the tire down. Rotate, and do it again.

Flip it over and do the same. I'm working on 20" road grader splits right now. It's a lot of work, but bash it into submission. I'm using my truck to drive on to the tire, and compress it down, then rotate a bit and do it again.
 
I had some grader tyres like that.

First one I chainsawed the wheel out of the tyre. Then you can get at the beads to cut them.

For the rest I made a 4-legged heavy frame that just goes over the wheel. Our FA 10 dozer blade has quick drop valves so it provided the big hammer. A lot easier to move the frame around than the wheel and tyre
 
One of the tires on grandpa?s 1935 Chevy rain truck was an original as well. I feel your pain. That one took me days.
 
I've used a loader bucket with down pressure. But don't put the bucket against the tire. Put a short 2x4 on end next to the bead with some down pressure from the loader. You may have to turn the tire 1/4 turn once or twice. I've also put them in my big shop press but they are kind of heavy to get lifted in to position. I've also used a hydraulic jack on the bead under a rear axle housing on a tractor. Some times it is amazing how much weight you have to take off one rear corner of a tractor before the bead will break.
 
got it apart pretty easy, the only pain was i thought i had the front bead broken, when i pushed the outer ring down and removed the inner ring, the outer ring was still attached to the tire, ! try that sometime, ive never had that happen, if you do, the secret seems to be pry the ring out past the wheel and insert a piece of 2 x 4 wood between the tire bead and the wheel, then using the tire hammer or slide hammer get after it,right on top of the wood block, i soaked the beads in a mix of diesel and pb blaster over nite, it will pop off, the back bead was soaked too, i got the hi lift jack, mines a good old one, on one side, stuck it under my bucket truck bumper which was parked handy, then a small loader bucket on the other side, hit the tire with the slide hammer and it popped down, spent a couple hours cleaning all 3 pieces to inspect and i feel more safe when everything is clean going back together when its time to inflate the thing
 
We ran into the same prob on a 1934 Dodge with 6x 24 tires.? What solved the prob was lots of Coke Cola dumped around the bead, let it set over nite. All six tires came off easy then.
 

Ian has the right idea, only a reciprocating saw is easier than a chainsaw I think. Five minutes to cut the two tires off, then grab a cold chisel to cut the beads. Fast, easy, simple.
 
Would this work? You can borrow it!
a279812.jpg
 
One of the tires on grandpa?s 1935 Chevy rain truck was an original as well. I feel your pain. That one took me days.
 

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