split rim tire changing

Having making myself ill looking at my truck with the weenie tires on it. (31's)
I took it apon myself to see the base mechanics, to learn what not to do with split rims. It all boils down to making sure that the split ring is properly seated on the rim and that the tire inflated evenly on the rim.
They insisted that the use of a safety cage is a must. or in the field they will thread a chain through the holes on the rim and arount the tire and split rim just incase it pops. Also they use a clip on chuck and a remote valve that is a good 10 feet away to inflate. As the most dangerous part is the inflating and inspecting to see if the bead is properly seated.

Anyway this weekend I changed all 4 weenie tires for the stock NDT's (ya ya I know but I wanted the stock look since she is now a Sunday driver )

Ah back to the story... I took me 6 hrs to change the 4 tires this included building a remote air filler, cleaning and painting the rims. ( now I can do it in about 30-45min/tire) The hardest part was breaking the bead of the last tire.
Couldn't get off after hours of prying and pounding, tried driving over it,
Driving with it deflated and doing donuts, sitting the hi-lift in it and lifting up the front of the truck. nothing would work. so out came the sawzall
5 minutes of cutting and it was off. Even managed not to cut the tube or liner.

All in all, I am glad I was able to do it myself. and it was a positive experiance (except for that last fricken tire!)

If you do try this at home just do it CAREFULLY!
These things can be deadly

Here is a link for the training manual TM 9-2610-200-20
http://209.151.88.8/od_images/od_tm9...0_20_tires.pdf

Good luck
Al

Al,

I had the same trouble getting the beads busted on mine. Once that part was done, it was cake. Now with fresh tires it's no trouble at all tearing them down - I had it down to about 10 minutes a piece when I kept popping tubes in the desert.

I don't think you necessarily need a cage or any other safety device with ours, though it wouldn't hurt. The design of the lock ring makes it impossible to snap off once the bead is in place.

Chris

When doing the research I was surprized to find how many different styles of split rims are out there. I guess some are more dangerous than others.

And you bet that ring goes nowhere when the bead is in place! I'm still swearing at that tire!

so how good are our split rings when it comes to say runing it against boulders and rocks on the trail as i am going to usemy truck as a daily driver/ trail truck sooo they need to be good rims. and i was thinking of just welding the rings to the rim and calling it good would this work? has anyone tried it? can you change a tire like this? any way that is all i wanted to say

You'd never get the tire off! My wheels have held up fine but I don't get all crazy on it. Mostly I bounce off the lift brackets before I hit the wheel on anything.

Personally I love the split ring idea simply because you can repair flats on your own, very quickly, with little sweat (once you get the rock hard originals off). But it would be nice to have some options other than stock or custom made.

Chris

yes yes it would be nice and couldnt you use the same method as with standard rims to remove the tires from the rims

I seriously doubt it considering the depth of the bead seat. It would take some serious stretching.

Chris

what about putting it on from the backside of the rim

The depth of the rim is the sane on both sides so doing it the other way around would be the same result.

okay just a thought but i dont know i was reading some where that they make a do it your self locker kit and i was wondering if we could just weld the locker ring on the rim and then bolting the lock ring to the welded on ring... problem solved maybe???????

There is no way you will get the beads over any kind of lip on these rims because the rim is completely flat. Normal car/truck rims have a smaller diameter towards the center of the rim that allows for enough offset of the bead to get it over the lip.

As for taking these things off. MAN, I spent a long time last night taking about one on a duece rim I need for test fitting my 53's. That sucker has been rusted on the rim for many years!
Then I am having fun getting these rims to go IN the new tire! Talk about a TIGHT FIT!

so then here is my next question do you have to order special tires for the split rings or can you use just a regular tire for them with no problem????

REgulat 16" tires are OK. The inner depression Hammer and the others speak of is th e"well" - the tir ebead has to drop in that 180 degrees away from the bead that is "up-and-over-ing" the rim. The bead ID is 16", the OD of the rim is more - like 18~19 inch - something has to shift to make it work gometrically - that's where the well comes in.

As for rigging up some sort of bolt-togeher affair - could be done, but this system already works, why bother?

I do agree that with the ring seated orperly and fully in the groove in the wheel proper, and the tire bead slipped up over the ring "falt fully - the ring can go nowhere. BUT if any one is NOT "fully" or "properly" seated, or there is any significant imperfection - the thing CAN go "BOOM" - be careful, and chain the things together.

When reassembling the ring, you'll see it snap in hard around the can. It REALLY easy to see if it's not seated. Plus, we're only running 40- pressure, not the 100+psi that big truck tires run.

i myself am not messing with these things as there have been documented reports of these things not seating right and maiming guys and or cuting them near in half when they try to air them up to set the bead...

Dude, seriously...that lockring WANTs to stay on. Clean the groove, clean the ring and that sucker snaps in place tough. But, of course...do what you're comfortable with. The last thing we want is for someone to get hurt.

It is pretty simple, if the ring's inner lip is not visible, and the bead of the tire is over the ring, IT CAN'T COME OFF. If the bead is not on the ring, then yes, it is still possible for them to come off. Not very likely, but still possible.
As for safety, it is very simple to just put a chain through the holes on the rim and loop it around the tire, almost like making snow chains. The worst thing would be if it came off with your hand on/near the ring. But remote air valves are easy to use.
Actually you don't even need one of these, you just need a air chuck that clips/locks/screws on. Most of us have air compressors with a pressure gauge and some type of bleed valve to keep the output at an easily adjusted pressure. Just hook the air chuck up, stand back and let it start airing up. Once the bead is over the ring, you are home safe and you don't need to turn it off remotely.
I have done WAY to many of these while in the army on the dueces I had to drive. And if you know much about 'some' military mechanics, there are some really 'dull tools' in the bunch. I think that most of these accidents occur because of cranial rectal inversion. Hell, even the stupid ones in my motorpool never had an accident!

I can dig your reticence. If you are not comfortable with it, you have no business pushing yourself into it. I feel comfortable with it (with chains), some feel more comfortable with it so much so they don't use safety stuff. It all boils down to your comfort level with the task at hand. I trust the mechanics of the operation, just not so much so the state of repair some wheels may be in. Rusted/pitted /worn rings or cans - I recommend caution, especially to a guy I know nothing about or materials I have not inspected.

True - the design of the system is such that when the ring is seated and the bead is seated thereto - all is secure.

It's like the old question of "I'm putting a late-model engine in my XXX. Should I keep the fuel injection or slap on a carburetor?" Well, thos guys that are knowledgable and confident with their skills around EFI would think it daft to go "old-school" with a carburetor - they'd love the benefits of EFI - BUT there's ALWAYS gonna be a guy without a clue of how EFI works, and would forever be "rasslin" with it - for those guys, a carburetor makes more sense. Same thing with these wheels - those guys that are "down wid 'em" can mount 'em all day. The first time a guy with any level of doubt in his mind attacks one - disaster may soon follow. In both cases, you need to know how each system works and be comfortable with it for a successful day.

I will not say that the split-ring system is foolprooof and totally safe.

Well put!

The best quote on the subject was...
"These things were never designed to maim and kill people. They were designed to hold the tire on the rim and that is just what they do. Injuries were usually caused by dull and repeditive work like changing 10 tires on a deuce, where one gets a little careless at the end of a day"
This was from a retired airforce mechanic found on the web.
It actually gave me the incentive to try.

I changed the spare on Tuesday. That one was a real of a job! The tire was marked 1969 and had never been run. It still had all the rubber flashing and little nubs on it. unfortunatly it was cracked to hell.
Anyway I ended up using the jaws of life to break the bead. even that I had a rough time of it and punctured the sidewall.
Next is the m101 trailer Those probably been there since 53!

Dumb thing to do with cool tools!
Sometimes it is just easier to go to the tire shop but I'm fricken stubborn!

http://www.m715zone.com/jonmisc/hpim1039.jpg

I thought you were kidding about the jaws of life!
Man, that looks like it would be a lot easier to break the bead that way!
I used my dodge with the heavy cummins motor to break the bead. And that still took a bit of work.

Why can't you hippies re-size yer dang ole pics? Ed, can you suggest a max pixel size so the screen stays the sime width? This is crazy.

Sorry about that! looked small before I posted it didn't realize that I payed the extra 49 cents for super size;o)

Ok, I made a small change for link image sizing, but not sure if it will work yet. It might only work with stuff posted from now on.
Or it might not work until I upload something else to the site to make it work.

Actually, I was thinking the same thing....looks like it might have more area than some countries...
800X600 is a pretty good max...thats what I keep stuff to most of the time...
brute4c

Testing didn't work. I will have to look into image size for links a little further.

There...had to resize it the old fashioned way....better??
brute4c

That's much better, but still bigger than need be. Rarely is a pic so important in detail that we need it to cover more than one screen size. 800x600 is pretty much the norm, right? Since there is "otehr stuff" apove and to the left of the actual viewable size, maybe another 10~ 15% should be taken out?

I'm glad to see others share in my dismay/

Al - I wasn't reall griping on ya, hope you know...

Actually when I reposted it, it appeared smaller than it is now....unsure what the...
brute4c

No Worries!
[/quote]Al - I wasn't reall griping on ya, hope you know...

The stock M7XX wheels are of the Split RING type, NOT the Split RIM type.

Look into OSHA standard 1910.177, there is a type of wheel (maybe a "family" of wheels) that have split wheels and one-piece rings. Ours are the opposite - solid RIMS and split RINGS.

Really.

Maybe THAT'S where the panic attacks come from. I guess the split RIMS are a BEEEEYOTCH.

So there.

Hmm? I always thought (and found when I worked on them) the two piece rims were a lot easier then the the rings.

Hmmm, my guy told me today that he had the opposite results - the split ring was easier to set up than the split rim/solid ring...

Anywhooo, just trying to get the nomenclature straightened out. It's my calling.

Two piece should be easier, but I can see where they would be more dangerous, in incompetent hands that is. Nice thing about the two piece is the ease of added internal beadlocks and being able to fill them with old clothes and such to make em round again if the tube fails. That was a somewhat common WWII fix when tubes were not readily available, whatever it takes to keep rolling :)

I'm not talkng two-piece here, I'm talking of the solid ring, and the wheel itself being split across ?bead-to-bead"m not side-to side like current HMMVV wheels.

Take you ams and stick them out. Now arc thenm together like yopu are hugging a corn-fed Ohio gal, just fingertips touching. THAT'S split rim.

Now take your hands and put 'em togather palm-to-palm, like Brian, well, wrong forum... just palm-to-palm. Now open them and close them over and over. That is two-piece.

Jeeze. (Golly, Tom)

I was workin for Western Auto back in 78 and sent the ring thru the roof of the store and we never found the ring. it sounded like a nuke went off when it let go. LOL!

Just make sure to clean the grooves in the wheel where the ring seats really well, same for cleaning the inside of the ring. Knock off all the loose accumlated rust and mud that you can. I used a DA to sand mine smooth on the wheels. A small chisel will knock out the particles in the groove in a hurry. Rough scotchbrite to clean the groove. When going together, put the split in the ring straight across the wheel from the valve stem, you will see a seam in the wheel there. We use dish soap and water for lube, a chain to retain the ring as a safety measure and air up slowly. Good Luck

When I removed my original ndts ( and I mean original all had manufacture dates of 67 ) they were a bear. I used some spray type of anti sieze on the rim before mounting the new tires/tubes and rings on the rims. I dont know if this will help or not for later removal what do you guys think?
Jason