The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts 3-Piece Wheels

Concerning the wheels on the 1.5 tons and 2 ton trucks...Has anyone ever dismounted these wheels with just prybars and such? These aren't the "widowmakers" made by poor ole Firestone. I read the wheel info in tech-tips and its great, but it doesn't tell a farmer how to do it himself, and I suspect that's why these old grain trucks had the kind of wheels they had...so the farmer (you and me) could change a tire or tube right in the field.
I'd like to take mine aprt for sandblasting and such and to see if they are still sound inside. Any help is appreciated. I'm assuming that you let the air out of the tube...remove the valve stem...and pry the "snap-ring" off and then everything's free to come apart???Thanks, Jim

Hy Chetman, in most cases you want to loosen the tire bead, and push it towards the center of the wheel, this can be a very hard job. It's amazing how rubber can weld to steel, especially if given half a century for the process to complete itself. Once the bead is loosened you can push the outer portion of the wheel towards the center of the wheel, to allow the lock ring to be pried out of its groove [depending on the make and design of the wheel]. There are heavy hammers where one side of the head has a large flattened area to assist in breaking the bead, this is very hard work, be careful and wear safety glasses and steel toed boots, good luck.

Shop Shark,
Thanks very much for the info. I hadn't considered pushing the tire inwards towards the other side of the rim, but I can see how that would really free up the locking ring. I would imagine like every thing else on these old bolts, that some time spent soaking in well-placed penetrating oil would go a long, long way to making the job easier.
Thanks again! Jim

The other option would be to cut the old tire off if it is finished anyways. A combination of hacksaw, sawzall and cutoff wheel should make short work of the old tire. Then you can have your way with the rim.

There should be at least one oldtime commercial tire shop in your area. Spend a little time getting acquainted with the oldest guy in the place, and I'll bet he shares a few secrets with you about how to go about breaking down a multi-piece rim safely and efficiently. There are a lot of tricks of the trade involved!
Jerry

My grandfather would drive another truck or tractor up on the tire, not touching the wheel, to pop the bead loose.

I've seen others use a bumper jack to break the bead.

I've cut old tires off and I've remounted two tires on my 2-piece rims. It was a chore and it took two of us with prybars, a 20-lb maul and what not. After the second one, we noticed the tube was in backwards (valve pointed the wrong way) ... That's when I said "enough of that" and found a tire shop to do it for $15 a tire.

We have a truck tire place here in our small town. The owner is in his 30's and no stranger to multi-piece rims. In fact all of the guys in the truck club here get their tires done there.

Any place that does truck tires or ag tires should know how to deal with multi-piece rims. And they don't even have to be old guys to know what they're doing. Funny thing, speaking of old guys, I once tried the old timer in town (in his 60's) -- he took one look at my 2-piece rims (NOT the Firestone RH-5's) and essentially told me to get lost. The 30-year old guy took them in and did all six while I stood there and watched.

All the home tricks and old guy techniques still can't compare to the ease of giving a guy $15/wheel to do it

John

I'm one of those late 60's geezers who doesn't really care to do himself any more. I have taught a lot of young guys how to do it over the past 45 years, but I just don't have the energy any more. I don't have anyone at my shop that really knows how to change tube required tires, but when they are on my payroll, they do it with my supervision. We don't have a tire shop around that will tackle them any more.

Unfortunately, I'm THAT guy in this town John, and I won't do it for $15 anymore either, haha
Scott

I do them myself. I use a homade "slide hammer" bead whacker and a big "Jackall" jack under the bumper of my truck to pop the beads. The rest is just patience and carefull cleaning and inspection of the rim,flange and lockring. Then put it all back together with new tire and slide it under the truck to act as a cage and reinflate it with a long whip hose so your well out of the way and safe. Comon sence and a bit of advice from an oldtimer goes a long way here. I now can pass on a lost skill to others. Seems modern tire shops have evryone scared of these simple "feild serviceable" rims.