first time for me today… I have always heard the horror stories about split rims… and i hate have’n tubes in a truck i run to th dump… BUT it is what i have so…
i usually call the mobil tire guy who comes and patches 2-4 at a time when they will no longer hold air long enough for me to make a run… (glad i have air brakes so i always have air)
so today i know i need to make a dump run monday… and i need to pick up a load of black beauty (going to try that in my black concrete countertops)
so i pull the wheel… have to use the forks pointed down on my bobcat to break the tire down… i get the rim busted down and patch the nail punture… i used my shop vac to pull the air out of the tube…sure mad it easy to get the tube stuffed back in…
I had some wire pull’n lube so i lubed up the rim and tire and rings… everything went back together easy…
now… I have always heard the stories of split ring rims kill’n folks… so i air it up easy… everything is looking good… but… i’m working alone and it’s only noon and no one would look for me til maybe 7pm if i wasn’t around… so i air up… and since don’t have the valve core in… i let it deflate… everything looks good… so i air it up again… put in the core and let it got to 80lbs… but i’m reach’n around to do it… just in case she comes apart… well i’m type’n this so i still have my digits that i had this morning…
BUT what is it that goes wrong that makes split ring rims dangerous?… it seemed pretty simple and i can see for farm use being able to break it down and repair it in the field could be a good thing…
thanks
P
Replies
If not seated correctly, they pop loose, sending the ring bouncing through, and off things quite handily.
If you do another, set the wheel up on a couple of short blocks, and when you get ready to air it up, set the forks from the bobcat down onto the wheel to catch the ring in place if it does bust loose. Also, a long air hose with a screw or clip on feed to the valve stem on the tire, so you can get back twenty feet or so, is kind of handy. When they bust loose it is usually straight out.
You should always inflate a split rim with the rim facing down and your hand feeding the air hose through the hole in the center of the wheel.
If that rim would have popped off, it could do a number on your arm reaching around like that!
Truck repair shops have a fixture made of steel pipe to place the wheel inside of while they inflate it, the thing looks kind of like an inverted U with the legs of the U welded to a metal baseplate. I knew a guy who had one blow up on him and it hit him it right in the forehead...he survived, but it took a couple years before he was normal again.
thats the kind of story i was think'n about when i was doing it :)
p:)
If you're going to keep that truck it would be worth every minute of your time to make yourself a rudimentary tire cage, and the advice about the chuck (clip or thread on to the valve stem, control from a distance with a valve) is right on. That could save you from serious injury.Things can go wrong even on other kinds of rims.Murphy's Oil Soap is what you want to use for bead lube. Less water is better. Murphy's is recognized by tire manufacturers as an acceptable substitute for tire mounting compound, it does not rot the rubber or make it stick to the rim.
I watched my shop guys use a "bead Blaster" about a 10 gallon steel can with a spout/pipe. They'd fill it to 120 PSI and it had a ball valve handle. They poked it at a bad bead and let er rip'.
Geezeuz it was something, it was a bobcat tire IIRC that wouldn't seat. Just one step safer than ether I reckon, but daaammm it was a blast.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
They kill Prophets, for Profits.
A guy I sometimes work with just bought one of those little air pigs. I thinnk this one was called a Cheetah. About $375. Good thing he bought one, because I was thinking I might have to. <G>They are amazing tools.In the chain tray on the semi I carry tire irons, a bottle jack, extra air hose, a tire chuck, a lug wrench, and a couple pieces of 1" and 1-1/4" black pipe (they slip together to make a cheater for the lug wrench)and hope I never need them.As for seating the bead by the side of the road I've heard of guys wrapping the tire with chain and cranking down on it. Haven't done it, don't want to.I've seen the ether trick, man, that just cannot be good for the tire. Scary.My last road service call was (fortunately) inside city limits, cost me $395 for a $225 Chinese tire. Outside city limits, add $3 a mile plus whatever you lose by missing your delivery. There are some places in the Southwest where that $3 per mile adds up fast.
Don't use a scrader valve on the filler, just a female coupler and a duel male air hose...fills mucho faster.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
They kill Prophets, for Profits.
Like remove the valve stem?Or is there some way to couple the hose to the valve stem without using a tire chuck?This sounds useful.
No, on the pig. Swap the shrader for a female coupler, it may take more than one shot to get the bead, and a coupler lets the pig tank fill way faster. Ya need a short hose male-male to connect to the comp. end female fitting , no tire chuck.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
They kill Prophets, for Profits.
Good trick. Thanks.
How real men seat a bead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wa1CQ3eZRg&feature=related
wrap tire with chain leaving enough slack for inflation, but safety device if it wants to unseatc
great idea.... thanks... IF i ever have to do it again... and I'm sure i will @ $50 min when i call the tire guy... guess it took me an hour but i'd never done one and was scared... I'll have the clip on chuck and stand way back and i'll contain it ....
now that i have done it once... i don't want to be lax... they don't have their reputation for nothing...
btw... I've never like air'n up any tire... i always reach as far as i can and keep my face away... just one of those things i have respect for
thanks
P
.yea respect them bad boys. probably don't want to hear about the either and match trick for in the field inflatation and seating construction equipment tires after they break thier seal.
It's only dangerous if you don't know what you are doing....
I watched a take his cutting torch... let it run in a grader tire that had come off the rim... when he thought he had enough gas in the tire... he lit it....
popped that 8ft tall tire right back on the rim without all that much fire...
the way he did it... it was not the first time.... not one of those things you want to try at home...
but that little bit of info is stored away ... if i ever have to...
i can see there are many ways to handle a split rim where you limit the danger... it went together so easy... i thought it had to be wrong....
p
I had a dirt guy do the same thing. He yelled to his helper "Billy! Get me my can of ether from the truck!"
Sprayed 1/2 the can in his loader tire and threw a match at it from 5' away ... POOF....tire was set. Aired it up and went back to digging. I was surprised but not shocked.
He was the same guy who, when he ran outta test balls for the sewer line he was installing, used a "rutabega" (turnip) jammed into the pipe. Damn if that root didn't hold the pressure for the required 20 minutes. The civil inspector was at a loss for word as he was signing off the card...I love dirt guys and their ingenuity!
ponytl
My tire shop won't change my split rims on my 67 Ford 600.
I bought 4 new rims and tires for about $1,000.
I only paid that much for the truck to begin with. LOL
The Ford died last summer, but it was one of the best investments I ever made.
I don't know how guys do construction without an old truck to do tearout or tearoff.
Rich
this dump truck is one of my best deals... value/use/investment... I got it at the university of memphis auction... 6500 series GMC detroit diesel... 16ft single cylinder dump bed... it was dark blue... but black including the glass from sitting under a sap tree... i looked at it... the drivers seat had a log shoved under it for support... the odometer showed 43k... i asked the schools maint. guy about it... he told me those were the real miles it'd never left campus... the seats get worn out because the drivers never get out and sleep in em half the day... the crew guys toss in the branches ect... but the driver sit's his fat butt in the seat all day.. (just repete'n what i was told)
i put some used tires on it... and i pressure washed it... and we spent a few hours sanding... then masked it off and i painted it with my titan airless with some left over off white industrial enamel (for caustic storage tanks)... painted the frame & stuff black... masked all the decals & stuff...
I can't count the number of dump runs it's made but i have not rented a dumpster (demo...job site) in over 10 years... cost me $66 per load to dump... I also pick up sand & rock for my concrete...
paid $1843 for the truck
$300 tires
(needs batteries now... so $200)
replaced belts $30
paint was free
I'd like to build new sides for the bed (lined grain bed sides now)
I don't know why but this detroit diesel there is no waiting for glow plugs... it just starts... everytime... and i love the air brakes and have'n air for other tires ect... when i need it...
about time to pick up a load of mulch
yep... one of my better deals
P
ponytl
Here is my old truck. 67 Ford 600.
I had it for about 10 years. I can't count the number of times it went to the landfill, or hauled a load of dirt, pea gravel, sand or concrete tear out.
View Image
Here is the thread on the new on a 69 GMC ( was alittle confused when I posted this thread). http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=106801.1
Rich
that still looks like it'd be a good truck... i had an old roofer with a truck like that... he installed a $200 cadilac 472ci and auto transmission in it... rigged up a belt drive hyd pump for the dump... saw it around town for 10+ years...
i can get as much in my dump truck as i can get in most demo containers... and now around here they go for $275 a pull plus whatever extras they can put on the bill...
p
ponytl
The bed on my new truck is 7' x 18' x 4' deep.
It's like having a dumpster. Only I can move any time I want and put anywhere I want around the house.
But 75% of the time we haul stuff there at the end of the day in the van or pickup.
I don't know what other contractors do with the daily debris.
I love having an old truck.
Rich
Despite all of the postings, the only safe way to inflate a split rim is in a cage built for that. The Army has done this for ages. Even so, the Army has had soldiers killed when they took short cuts and the rims separated, also separating their heads
Try this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3mzsT6ze7A
Edited 2/24/2009 8:30 pm ET by BARMIL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7FIvAw2wC4&feature=related
was on the same thread...
i think... i was pretty safe... the tire was well lubed and it wasn't like i was use'n huge pressure to seat the bead... the rim & ring were well in place... i know i'm dumb but i could not see how it could come off....
that being said... i respect tires & rims... IF/when i have to do it again... i don't have a cage but i can see wrap'n a tow strap around it and put'n the forks of my bobcat flat down on it... AND use'n a clip on chuck... would keep me away from danger... i hope because this time it was so easy & smooth... i won't be lax next time...
don't see me weld'n up a cage... :)
thanks
P
You are nuts to change a split rim without adequate protection. And im not talking about a condom.
Cage would be best. Two short lengths of chain wrapped through the wheel assembly would be better than nothing.
I worked in at a tire dealer in 1986 while going to college. Grew up on a farm so felt I knew a lot about equipment. One day, when I was changing split rims I had one blow up on me. I had it in a cage thank God. Knocked me about five feet back. Couldn't hear for about a week (my ears still ring to this day, and I think part of it was from that tire explosion). The ring still came out of the cage and flew about 30 feet across the shop and took a chunk out of the concrete block wall.
WOW... i'm not an expert... I've watched the tire guy 3x and did it myself this once...
what i don't get is HOW? tire on rim... then rim ring... then locking ring... it all fits together... i had it very well lubed with wire lube ( i swear that stuff is KY jelly) with very little pressure everything seated.... then i aired it up...
just curious how the ring would jump off?
thanks
P
I'm not sure about that myself, but it will tear heck out of things when it gits loose. I had the ring come off while the tire was on my truck. F-350 loaded with roofing TO. Stayed up all the way to the dump and back, tire aired up and all. Bought a new rim the next day. Not split.
Not sure how the ring on the tire that I was working on at the time came off. I felt that it was locked in as it should have been.The company that I worked for sent the tube and tire somewhere for evaluation. It turns out that the seam on the inner tube failed and that resulted in the explosion. I had about 45-50lbs of air in it when it went. I still do not understand how the ring came off. All I know is after that day I had tremendous respect for split rim assemblies. Personally, I felt that the dang things should have been outlawed.I quit that job two weeks later. Decided that I wanted all my body parts for my career in aviation.
tube failure .... that i have witnessed usually just lets the tire act like it is tubeless until it leaks down....
the only thing i can see is... a tire not seated on the rim... when inflated to make it seat... the rapid hit of the tire bead hitting the ring could "pop" the split ring... once it's seated on the rim... the pressure should be uniform and should "force" the ring to be tighter...
i know it happens... it looks almost idiot proof to me... but i never under estimate the level of idiots we have...
:)
thanks
P
The chain around the wheel/tire in a couple or three loops is what I used to do.I don't know why they come apart. One of the guys on my crew still works part time at his FIL's tire shop. One of the employees had one come apart a couple years ago. Pretty messy. Don't remember if he lived or not.If I can remember (LOL) I'll ask the mechanics at work if they have any ideas about why they come apart.Maybe worn so the parts no longer seat properly? -Paul
Ponytl,
Bosshog is coming thru Memphis on saturday and I was wondering if you and I and families might meet him for dinner at the Rendevous.
ANDYSZ2
335 5300WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?
REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST
There's a picture of a soldier with nothing from mid forearm down. It was going around early in the war.
He was fixing a split rim/tire.
Didn't put in the cage like the Army says. Rim wasn't put together right, Aired up to set the bead.....................bang..............no more hands.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En2EqAER7is&NR=1