the deadly art of tire repair

[RMS]

I'm sure you all have heard horror stories about split rims/ bud wheels and how dangerous they are to service. flats happen, with a tubeless tire its easy as stuffing in a plug. were as our buds has to be disassembled the tube patched, aired up and seated without flying apart and cutting you in two. so how can we safely complete a field repair and what tools are required to break down a tire?
below is how i service my wheels and the tools I use. it would be great if all of you can share your wisdom and show off your tools.

i have been breaking down and mounting my own tires for eight years now as many shops will no longer give me a flat rate. too many tires vulcanized to the rim i guess

i have a tire repair kit in my truck at all times. in my fist aid box I have a four way valve tool, soap patches and glue, spare valve caps and an assortment of vales. in the tool box I carry a jack, short bud wrench, two tire levers, chain with hook, hammer, pump and a shepards hook.


once the wheel is off the truck and on the ground ring up I carefully remove the Schrader valve and put it in a safe spot.

next i soap up the bead then hammer the shepards hook between the bead and the ring.
then i wiggle the hook back and forth making sure the end of the hook is as close to the edge of the bead as possible and work my way around the rim until the bead slips past the ring


once the bead is clear of the ring I use the hook to push down on the ring exposing the first notch. I then insert the first leaver in to the notch and push down this lifts the ring exposing the second notch. I insert the second leaver push down and the ring is half off. as there are no more notches in the ring it has to be levered off from the edge. I have never had a ring pop off during disassemble however i still wrap a chain around the wheel, I like having teeth
with the ring and chain removed i flip the wheel and work on the second bead. Once debeaded i push the valve stem in so i can lift the rim out without pulling on the tube( there could be something stuck in the case like a nail that could tear the tube making it unpatchable.) carefully remove the flap and tube then feel around for any defects. remove any foreign debris and patch the inside of the tire. I will use a plug and a patch if the hole is big. then its time to install the valve then hunt and patch the holes in the tube with the aid of a soapy rag and air.
with the tube patched its time to assemble. I pump up the tube to the point that it will just fit back inside the tire this is very important creases are bad. especially if I'm trying to fit an 1100/16 tube in a 900 tire . with the tube in the tire I feed the stem through the flap and work the flap in making sure there are no folds or creases then install the plate and nut locking the tube to the flap. with the tire on the ground and valve stem facing down I torque the stem up thread it into the rim and drop the rim onto the bead. with the stem orientated in the center of the slot I flip the wheel and install the ring. I do this by placing the split away from the stem and slipping the low edge of the ring on to the grove then with my foot I stomp the ring into place so as to not wreck the paint. since i dont have a tire cage I wrap my chain around the tire and place it ring down, connect my lock on chuck and air up to 10psi. usually with a clean rim and a new soapy tire the bead will be seat or at least on its way with a rumbling deep squeak. I never take a unseated tire past 20psi. here is a pic of a tire at 20 psi that has not seated. in the second pic you can see how the ring is trying to slip out of the grove as the taper of the bead digs in to the edge of the ring.
.................this is danger and death could be near. ..................
valve out aired down and ring off for more cleaning as any kind of bur or gouge will impede the seating of the bead and could case a failure that can cut you in two.
be safe and share the knowledge or horror story's to convey the dangers.

cheers
Robyn

[Murf]

Nice instructions. If I ever get my truck back on the road ......I'll carry a spare and let a shop play with the springbomb. I wouldn't be running my truck out in the boonies enough to need to do my own tube repair.

[sturmtyger380]

The last Deuce Bud rim I took down to fix a tube hole had this yellow coating of what I guess was anti rust on the inside of the ring and where it seats. I made sure the surfaces were smooth with no burs. Other than that I left the yellow coating alone.

Anyone else seen this coating?

I wrap chains around my rims and turn the ring side down with the air chuck locked on the valve stem. Then I put another rim and tire on top of that. Then go away and air up the tire and let is sit.

[Carter]

An old post of mine on this subject:
http://www.g741.org/PHPBB/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2412

And another on the same subject that posted here several years ago, humor:
Tire Mounting

With all the dangers associated with inflating newly mounted tires I have developed a safe way to do it without hurting myself. For $2. I hire the 12 yr. old kid from across the street, dress him in an old football helmet, hockey mask and gloves and have him hold the air hose with a pair of BBQ tongs. His always drunk mother doesn't mind as long as I give her the usual bottle of Gin to keep her happy and the hold harmless agreement she signs and dates has held up in court so far. After I set him to work I hide in the basement until I hear the loud BOOM or he knocks on the window giving me the all clear. We only had one mishap but he says he is right handed anyway and doesn't miss that left one and he seems to do ok with the hook I made in the shop to replace the missing one.
So, folks If you are going to do your own tire work, stay safe

[RMS]

thats some funny stuff

I like the creativity of using the mattock in place of the duckbill.
from the thread "10 minutes and tire off rusty rim."

Really That's how long it took. I had a couple of old and very dry rot cracked tires on Dodge rims that I got from my buddy Ralph and after reading Gary's post "Now, back to that tire...." I decided to use a method that has worked for me many times on the past when changing the rubber on Dodges and 9:00X20s from some of the International dumpers I used to own and time how long it took to get the old one completely off the rim.
I use a dull bladed garden mattock only because I don't have the correct duck billed hammer usually used for tire removal which is simular to the Adze that T Highway and Lifer and discussed. I lubed the bead with plenty of liquid soap and carefully worked my way around the lock ring, between the ring and the bead until it was free. Then used a tire spoon and pry bar made for this purpose to get the lock ring off, then flipped the tire and rim over and started on the other side while the supported off the ground on a wood block to allow the tire to drop free once the bead was broken.
As I stated before it really only took 10 minutes, I started at 2:45 pm and was finished at 2:55 but then took a couple of pix and put the tools away and yes that is ice in shot #3, we had about 3" of snow and ice yesterday. Next comes blasting the rim like the one I did friday.

[DAP]

I find that 1 out of every three or four tires from 1950-60 that I dismount still have a good rim. The rest are bent or to rusted to be safe to reuse.

[DJ]

Get some Freylube No Rim Rust and use it on the tire and rim. It keeps the ring and tire from adhering to the rim. It can be ordered online. Use instead of soap for mounting all your tires. Soap will dry and be more like glue than lube when you try to dismount them.

[skinnedknuckles]

Good information here on mounting multi piece rims. Here at my big truck shop I use a product called "Slide" instead of soapy-water mixture ( that has a tendency to promote rust on rims ) I get it from my local tire dealer. I also use baby powder in the tire so the tube is lubricated so it does not create a pinch spot on the tube. I was taught that over thirty years ago from an old guy that had his own shop many many moons ago and its a habit that I will never break. I have no technical proof that it works but I have not had any problems with tubes pinching and causing a leak and plus when I dismount the tire again years later it smells good I always use a tire cage or at least a loader bucket and chains to make sure that everything stays put and I leave it there while I check to make sure that the ring is going to stay put. Make sure that the lock ring is not sprung and keep the lock rings with their individual rims. Over the years I have run into many different lock rings and they have to stay with their mating rim .
Paul

[Master Yota]

If you discover your liquid soap has turned "gluey" the simple solution (pun intended) is to simply wet it again with water. It'll be soapy and slippery again... I've run into this issue myself, having mounted tires onto regular rims liquid soap and had them "slip" on the rim at low pressure while off road. Turns out a little water will reactivate the soap, and at low pressure, there isn't enough bead pressure to keep the tire in place.

[wyowillys46]

Buy a gallon of tire mounting lube and ditch the soap. It's pretty corrosive.

After having my wheels apart and mounting all new tires, the Goodyear wheels are a pretty safe design (as far as multi-piece wheels go). As long as the locking ring flange is in good condition, is seated, and the tire bead surrounds that drop flange on the ring, there's little chance of it flying off. RH-5 wheels though. Holy cow. What a horrible design.

[greencom]

Most of the accidents involve the 3 piece "split rim" wheels, not the 2 piece "split ring" wheels that are on the M37's, I'm not saying that nothing can happen but they are far safer in my opinion. The "split rim" type wheels have to have the 2 rim pieces aligned perfectly with the wheel, if not they will come apart and hurt (or kill) you, the M37 "split ring" positively locks onto the wheel and is held together by the tire bead, seems a lot safer to me, my 2 cents.