NDT bead breaking

[Ben]

I'm looking for tips and tricks on bead breaking at home and in the field. What tools would work best for roadside repairs.

[cuz]

Hi-Lo jack, assorted tire irons, pry type long screw driver, rubber mallet, 4 pound hand drilling hammer, dish soap to mix in water for lubricant, tire talc, valve stem combination tool (usually a core remover/deflater/puller combo), and valve stem puller (used to pull and hold stem in wheel opening). Also a copy of TM 9-1870-1, Care & Maintenance of Pneumatic Tires would be a nice addition to your glove box.

[Lifer]

What tools would work best for roadside repairs.

The most useful tool, by far, is a AAA card. Second most useful tool is a Visa card.

[MSeriesRebuild]

Experience in the task is priceless, it isn't a trade that one picks up over night. The manuals are ok for what they are, that's mainly for safety tips. They offer suggestions, but aren't much more than that. Common sense is the real teacher.

Tools necessary are in my opinion, a simple valve core removal tool, the type that is the opposite end of some valve caps is sufficient, a good 5# or similar hammer, a long handled bead breaking hammer is nicer yet. A driving iron is pretty much a must have to get the task of breaking one down started; once started then finishing the job with the bead breaking hammer makes quick work of it. Only one pry bar is necessary to remove the lock ring, its absolute proper name escapes me at the moment, but it's the 1 that has the end that fits the slot on the lock ring to start prying the end of the ring off the rim. I can get you the part# at NAPA if you wish to purchase one. Spoon type tire irons are not needed and are usless. Once you reach the limit from the first slot, there is a second slot for prying the ring off farther. Then change ends of the bar and simply get under the ring prying against the side wall of the tire, at this point it is usually rather simple to remove the ring entirely. Now flip the rim over and break the other side loose from the rim bead area just as you did the ring side; once broken loose; the rim will slip out of the tire with hand guidance of the valve stem out of the slot. Removing and installing the tube and flap is purely common sense, just be sure you have no wrinkles in the tube or the flap. Installing the tire back on the rim is simple, no tools are needed. Just lay the rim down on a clean smooth surface; align the valve stem with the slot in the rim. With that area of the tire on the surface with the rim, by hand pull the stem down so it inserts into the slot. No tools are needed for this, if the chore isn't easy, something is wrong, possibly the position is not correct or you may have a tube with an incorrect valve stem; any problem inserting a valve stem into the rim slot by hand should be a red flag, go back and look again for issues. This should be easy to do by hand, once the stem is in the slot, let the other side of the tire down onto the rim. It should slide on effortlessly. Replace the lock ring by laying it into position on the rim and hooking the end into the rim slot. Start with the end that came off last during the dismounting procedure. Once the ring is started into place, simply walk around the ring stomping it into the groove as you go. When it's in, look at it carefully, if it doesn't look like it's fully seated or if something in general just doesn't look right, STOP!! Figure out what the issue is and correct it or seek professional help. DO NOT TAKE THE RISK OF INFLATING A TIRE IF THE LOCK RING DOES NOT APPEAR CORRECTLY INSTALLED. It can be life threatening, don't take chances. If you are satisfied the ring is on correctly, proceed to inflate the tire; the best way is to use an approved tire cage to protect against injury should the ring be forced from the rim unexpectedly. Use a clamp on inflating chuck with a valve a few feet up the line so you can control the inflation rate while standing back away from the assembly. We have inflated many using a heavy chain attached to 3 positions on the rim to guard against the ring coming off uncontrollably, but understand completely that I am not suggesting you do this, here is where you use your own judgement and COMMON SENSE. The best insurance policy is to use a cage when inflating.

Talc, rubber lubricants, etc aren't much good with this process, we've tried all sorts of things over the years to not much if any avail. While these products are invaluable in installing and seating beads of tubeless tires, we have not found them to be of much worth with split lock ring type Budd rims.

If you plan to change tires frequently, you can save some $$ by having your own tools and perfecting the process to be self reliant. If you plan to install a set of tires now and maybe another set in 10 years; get it done professionally. Tool purchase is not worth the investment in this situation. You are way better off to carry a good spare or maybe 2 than to worry with mount and dismount in the field. If you plan on doing that, you will also need to add an air compressor to the list of necessary tooling.

[Ben]

Thank you for Your feedback, it is very helpfull. I am interested in the NAPA part number. Should I be concerned about damaging the sidewalls on older tires

[cuz]

Ben,

You didn't specify what type wheel you anticipate replacing a tire on in the field. My list is a catch all. Charles is M37 split ring specific. Contrary to Charles opinion the irons are useful in both bead separation and side ring (split ring) removal. I've changed these since 1968 and the shape of iron can be important for certain rings.

The illustrations alone in the appropriate manuals are very useful when explaining the correct tools and techniques. A picture is worth a 1000 words and can often save your life.

[MSeriesRebuild]

Thank you for Your feedback, it is very helpfull. I am interested in the NAPA part number. Should I be concerned about damaging the sidewalls on older tires

Just walked out to the shop to check this; NAPA no longer shows listing in their tool catalog, may have dropped them from their line, need to check on that. Anyway, I checked McMaster-Carr, they have them, item#6002A9, it's called a "lock ring iron", price was $27 and some change.

Never have had issue with damaging sidewalls.

The lock ring iron is the only one specifically needed for tire removal from the split ring Budd rims used on the M37 after the bead is broken.

Straight or curved spoon type irons are used for 1 piece tube type rims such as Jeep rims. There are several other types of irons available for use with tubeless rims, both 1 piece and lock ring types.

Personally I hate to see anyone spend money on useless hardware. Spoon type irons are useless on Budd split lock ring rims. Worked around and on these types of rims both large and small since 1960, I'm passing on info that is 100% accurate. You can make your own call.

[cuz]

You can decide for yourself what value the illustrations from the TM have!

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[cuz]

Here's the pages specific to the M37 wheel. There are many more general procedures pages that carry a great deal of important information and are accompanied by many useful illustrations. I have worked on dozens of aircraft types and many had split ring wheels and I still feel we need to refer to manuals to cover that small percentage of times we just plain forget an important step.

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Here's a free PDF of the 1990 tire manual
http://www.olive-drab.com/archive/od_tm ... _tires.pdf

[MSeriesRebuild]

Nothing wrong with manuals, however the folks that wrote and illustrated them don't know it all either. The illustration that is labeled removing ring, advanced phase shows a prying procedure that will irrepairably damage the rim. I have done it years ago myself and have seen many ruined by others as well using this procedure. What happens is if the ring is rusty or a little stubborn to remove as they often are, prying against the rim can easily bend the edge downward deforming the ring groove. Once this happens, the rim is junk as the lock ring will no longer fit correctly making the assembly very dangerous to inflate. We never pry against the rim except to carefully start the lock ring removal; once past the slots provided for this, finishing the job working the ring off as I described in a previous post will totally eliminate the possibility of rim damage as a result of prying. It works well and doesn't cause further heartaches than you had in the beginning.

[cuz]

That illustration can be misinterpreted. I see two irons resting on the sidewall and the operator is lifting them. As one can see there is hardly any useful space between the operator's hands and the wheel center for him to be pushing down. The illustration would have been better presented from a higher angle so one could see where the toe of the irons are resting. The danger of damage to the wheel center retaining lip comes when the irons are held almost vertical and used to force a ring outward and free from the wheel center.

[MSeriesRebuild]

Not so, I've never done it with irons held vertically, never pryed outward to remove a ring. I still like my method much better as the iron never touches the rim at all, thus absolutely no chance of damage to it. With my method, the iron only contacts the under side of the ring and the end touches the tire only. All action is outside of and away from the rim, only one iron needed and it works well. Why take the risk? No need that I see.

[cuz]

I do not do it with the irons verticle either. What I said above is that I see the photo from a different perspective relative to your perspective. I believe the operator in the photo is lifting against the tire and is NOTprying against the wheel. I stated that there is not enough room below the operator's hands in the photo for him to be able to pry down against the wheel with any useful advantage. I am NOT disagreeing with your technique. I am disagreeing with your interpretation of what the operator in the photo is doing.

[MSeriesRebuild]

I have no clue what the guy in the photo is doing, how could anyone, we can't ask him. What anyone may interpret from an illustration doesn't make it the fact, because we don't know for sure . At times a picture is indeed worth a thousand words, but unless it comes with a full description of absolutely what is going on, it may not be worth spit. All I'm saying is I like the fool proof method better as it removes all doubt. I've taught my method to all my guys here, it works well for all who do it. You can also do it any way you like too, it doesn't make any difference to me.

[Frank Irons]

I think that Wes and Charles have supplied excellent advice regarding tire mounting and dismounting of our split ring wheels. I have attempted to do all these in my shop but found it to be much easier to go to a truck tire place and have this done. Example: Spent a whole afternoon trying to break the bead on an old wheel/tire and remove the ring, ended up taking the assembly to the truck place, guy took a small adze shaped hammer and beat down the tire to release the ring in 10 minutes as I watched. The charge for removing the tire was $15.00.

Frank