The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline What have I done?

My 51 3100 came with split rims on the back with 750-16 severely dry rotted tires. I got a couple of 225x75 r16 tires to replace them. Only thing is,I need wheels,right? So I searched around and found a pair of 16" wheels with the clips for hubcaps. These both have junk tires mounted on them so I got to dismount them. The only source I have locally for a coats tire machine is a guy who's so busy I have to drop off the tires and he will mount them when he gets a chance.Which was a couple weeks last time I did this. But I need to dismount the rims,clean and paint them and then remount them with new tires.
So here I am putting some finishing touches on my truck and I think,"I bet I can put those tires on the split rims myself."So I do it.It was easier than I thought it would be. The tubes even had liners. When I stuffed it back in the new tire I noticed writing on the tube that said "Not for radial tire"so I put it in anyhow. Pumped them up,the rings locked nicely and mounted them on the truck.
So the question is,what now? Are my tires going to explode?Is there any danger in using radials on split rims? How about those inner tubes,what happens when you put the wrong tubes in a radial tire?
I don't expect to be doing any highway driving in this truck so if this works I'm going with it.---Jack

if you put those on split rims by yourself, consider your self a lucky man

The radial tires will abrade the tubes and you won't get very many miles on them before they start leaking. I hope you partially inflated the tubes inside the new tires before you put the rim liners in place- - - -otherwise the tubes will have folds in them and they will fail even sooner than from using non-radial tubes.
Jerry

These were the same tubes that were already mounted in the old tires.They still had enough air in them that they kept their shape and filled the new tire.If that's all I have to worry about I think I'll just buy a spare set of tubes to have on hand.So far I haven't spent a penny on them.It's just awesome to know I can change my own tires.---Jack

Oh my gosh! That video shows a lot!

Not much ambiguity in that one...

if you're doing that, get the proper radial tubes

Bill

(...get the proper radial tubes)good point.

There are enough Darwin Award candidates who do stupid things with multi-piece rims. It's very simple and safe to inflate those tires with just a few safety precautions, and NOT perching on top of one while it's being inflated is rule numero uno! I use a 10 foot long hose with a clip-on inflation chuck and a ball valve to ease the air in slowly, and a long piece of heavy chain to wrap through the hand holes of the rim in several places in case things come apart. A safety cage is best, but not very many of us have one of them available. Virtually all rim explosions are the result of operator stupidity or trying to assemble and inflate tires on rusty or damaged components. Also, NEVER mix and match used parts that haven't been run together before.
Jerry

Oh, something I thought about when trying to sleep. I missed the first part of that video when they said it was a "dummy." It looked like an old film and I wondered how in the world did someone get VIDEO of THAT??? Even if they happened to be filming, they'd have to drop the camera to try to save the guy.

Anyway ... glad it was a dummy. And Jerry, if they don't do things the right way with those split rims, they'd be a DUMMY, too. I was going to say Dead Dummy, but perhaps that's not nice ... but true.

Good points.

Peg

Yep, there's a reason they called those split rims widowmakers.

If you're running those radials with the non-radial tubes it's only a matter of time before you rub through a tube. I would change them now, but that's just me.

In addition, if you're going to run tubes in a radial, make sure you get tube type radial tires, don't run them in tubeless tires.

This is the same system in all AD era large trucks? For me it is THE reason for scrapping the stock wheels and getting something that is vintage, yet single piece. I haven't really heard a good consensus yet on what to do. I paid 1100$ for new tires for the old style two piece rims on a truck in the past. For your safety, what is it worth? I worry every single time I try to air up the tires on my large trucks and to have a solution in the year 2014 would be really nice? The tires say to air up to 80-90psi. I wont go any further than 50 just because of this issue.

You're not doing yourself any favors by running low pressure on the sectional rims. They're actually more likely to come apart if they're not aired up fully, but only if you hit a curb or something catastrophic. Once the tire bead pushes the pieces into full contact, they simply cannot separate.

The danger comes into play as a tire is being inflated after assembly. If it's not in good shape, rusty, bent, or damaged, the pieces don't lock together properly and a catastrophic failure is likely. One other precaution- - - -never attempt to re-inflate a flat, or nearly flat tire on a sectional rim. Break it down and find the cause of the leak. If the weight of the truck has been bearing on one of the removable rim flanges, you're taking chances of an explosive rim failure.

A long inflating hose with a clip-on chuck, a ball valve to control the flow, and a pressure gauge to monitor tire pressure is the safest way to add air or to inflate a newly assembled tire/wheel assembly. Wrap a piece of thick tow chain through the hand holes if you're concerned about a bead separation when you're inflating. Once the pressure gets up to 50-60 pounds, the danger point is past as long as there's no obvious misalignment of the parts.
Jerry