The most memorable lock ring separation I remember was at a diesel shop I was managing in 1976. Most of the time, we didn't do tire work, but the tire buster at the truck stop next door was backed up, and I returned from a parts run to find one of my wrench jockeys assembling a flat repair. He was having a hard time getting the bead ring to install on a 3-piece wheel, one that had a separate locking ring and a full-circle bead ring without a split in it. He was doing a LOT of hammering and using some pretty colorful language. When he squatted down next to the wheel and leaned over it to attach the air hose, I told him to either wrap a chain around the wheel or at least turn it over with the ring facing down. He argued, and I finally had to threaten to fire him if he refused to do it my way. After a lot of argument, he finally turned the wheel over with the bead ring facing the floor.
When the tire had about 30 PSI in it, the ring blew off, and put a 1/4" deep groove in the concrete floor. The guy stayed mad at me for a week- - - -even after I had saved his miserable life. Did I mention he had approximately the IQ of a gerbil?
Jerry
