The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Started on my wheels and tires last night

Finally decided to start breaking down my wheels and tires last night. For those who don't know, I recently acquired a '50 4100 that has been sitting up for nearly 40 years. Got it running and driving on fairly short order, but it is in dyer need of new rubber. I decided to start with the worst looking tire - an old Firestone. I figure the last time the inside of that tire saw the light of day Harry Truman was probably president. It was hard as stone. I ended up drilling a 1/2" hole in the sidewall on both sides and then cutting the tire off with a sawzall. I cut it all the way around about a 1/2 up from the bead. Then the rim pretty much just fell out. This allowed me to break down the locking mechanism without beating the ever-living hell out of it and tearing it up. Getting what was left of the tire off of the rim was another story though...lol. Took me about an hour to do one, didn't think that was too bad. My wheels are 3-piece "AR" types. Probably the best type of multi-piece wheel in my opinion. The worst one appears to be in pretty good shape still. I was pleasantly surprised.

I recently removed some very heavy 9-22.5 tires that were new in 1965 and had less than 10,000 miles on them. Those things were so stiff and crispy I had to use a jigsaw and cut around the sidewalls same as you did to get them off. The tires were no less than 3/4" thick at any one place, no fun at all.

I have some like that, but 2 are on widow makers, the others are on old split rims off a 41 Ford COE. I may see if one or two will come off so I can use the rims as a fire pit, or just bury them! dried out old tires are no fun to play with at all! The ones from my COE are so bad, large pieces are missing, They might fall apart if I hit them with a sledge! hmmm, now I'll have to go out and give one of them a whack and see what happens!

Whoever invented the sawzall should get a Nobel prize.

I bet a tire shop woulda raped me had I taken these things in to get dismounted. lol And prolly woulda tore up my wheels too. The lack of good craftsmen these days is just sad.

yep, "old guy stuff" as I call it, is quickly becoming a lost art! When I started driving, a 30 yr old vehicle was early 50's. Now, a 30 yr old vehicle is mid 80's. Most of the workforce have never done anything on these older vehicles...

One sneaky trick is to lay the wheel/tire assembly down flat and apply a liberal dose of Diesel fuel to the tire/wheel junction. Let it sit a week, flip it over, and repeat on the back side. The fuel softens the old rubber, and loosens the rubber/steel bond at the bead seat area.

If you're going to be doing more than an occasional tire change, investing in a slide hammer bead breaker is a good idea. It looks like a 4 foot long piece of pipe with a duckbill bead breaker on one end and a sliding solid steel bar inside the pipe. It's much more controllable than a tire hammer, and it doesn't beat up rims. It also reduces the possibility of back injuries from swinging that big hammer!

http://www.gemplers.com/img/ken-toolreg-heavy-6H-lrg.jpg

Jerry

Yep, I also know the diesel fuel trick. It works well. I have all the tire tools I need, however in cases like this you have to take extra precautions in order to protect your antique equipment. I don't want to damage any of these wheels because I don't want to end up having to get more of them. As it stands, I have 6 identical wheels. I'd like to keep it that way. lol