On the matter of mounting tires, disassembly and reassembly is not rocket science, it's just hard work. Big hammers are made for the purpose (or used to be). You can do it yourself. I do mine or if they're really stubborn coming apart, take them to the truck shop where I used to work and have the young guys do it. They still know how. Just make darn sure to inspect the wheels and lock rings carefully. Then have a clip-on air chuck with a remote air shut off to air up the tire. Three-piece wheels like GM used are safer than the two piece.

In days (make that years) gone by we changed tires on the road when occasionally necessary. Long ways between truck stops in Montana and N. Dakota. We'd air up the tires with the truck's compressor and put them under the trailer up side down just in case.

Back before OSHA, few truck stops had tire cages but I only saw one ever come loose. That was a 22.5" tire that had been mounted on a 20" rim by mistake. It blew the wheel about 30 feet in the air and came down on the metal roof of the tire shed. My partner bolted out of the sleeper thinking I'd been shot. Kept us both awake for the rest of the day.


1951 3800 1-ton
"Earning its keep from the get-go"
In the DITY Gallery
1962 261 (w/cam, Fenton headers, 2 carbs, MSD ign.), SM420 & Brown-Lipe 6231A 3spd aux. trans, stock axles & brakes. Owned since 1971.