Ok, I bought a set of artillery rims with some old tires that have sat for decades on a farm in this desert sun. These things are hard. I dont mean stiff, I mean turn big rocks into small rocks freaking HARD. They are stuck to the rims too. First thought is grinder with a cutoff blade, but I'm worried about getting into the rim in the lip. Sawzall wont work either. Any way to soften them up SOME? Thought about maybe a little flame????? Would that work? I just dont want to screw up the rim by experimenting. Anyone have any ideas? Any ideas you have actually tried and they work?
I've used a chainsaw to cut (mostly) some old truck tires off a set of aluminum F4U Corsair wheels that were on an old farm trailer. Worked pretty well actually, then used a hacksaw/boltcutters on the wires in the bead for the last effort. YMMV
I would go to the local shop and get them dismounted but if your really stubborn you can try setting them on a hard flat surface, park a heavy car over them and set a bottle jack on the tire against the bead of the wheel and then pump the jack up between them. Be careful and if your lucky it will break the bead. Do both sides and remove the tire with a couple of pry bars.
Took them to a tire shop and they couldn't budge them and were worried about FUBARing the rims. These things are basicly rocks mounted on rims. I can't stress this enough, you could drive nails with these tires.
I even have my own manual tire machine (not a cheap HF one), and I cant get them to do ANYTHING. I only have $20 into them so its not a big loss moneywise, but I like the rims.
I have done just THIS!! all I did was put them in my shop press added a foot the the press and I bet they WILL come off. works better with two people. I am a little redneck but hey it works great!!
This may sound strange but have you thought about soaking them in water or maybe even used oil? It should soften them up. May take some time.
set it on fire! im not being funny did it to the OOOOOOOOOLLLLLD tires on my 51 merc works great burns off the old rubber doesent harm the rim well it soots up pretty bad but nuthing sand blasting wont take off a bit of advice tho make sure there is no air in the tire and take the valve out to be sure
I had one of those hard tires - what I used was my circular saw with a "wood cutting blade" on it. After some cutting & using a pry bar the chunks came off & I got the rim I was after. It worked for me. You can do it too!
I would lay tire/rims on their side and pour some ATF on the beads, a few hours and the fluid will penetrate the rubber. I have used a circ saw with carbide blade because I was hacking thru steel belted just take your time they will pop of with tranny fluid.
I'd take advantage of the fact that they're hard and cut them into sections down through the tread to the rim, but don't cut the rim itself (obviously) Maybe cut them into quarters, then see if you can prise each piece off singly. Cut the bulk of the tyre with a hacksaw, sawzall, whatever, then the last bit close to the rim with a hacksaw blade or fine handsaw. If there's a steel bead cut it with a chisel or angle grinder. Good luck, Glen.
I've had to get old race car tires off that would have destroyed the bead. was royal pain to do. with the race car tires we just cut the sidewall of the tire radially to get the tread portion of the way. we used a casing knife but if your tires are hard you might need a saw of some sort. circular, sawzall whatever. once you can get into the bead area you have to go at it nice and slow. I did two spots about an inch apart so i could get out the chunks of wire as I went to see how deep I cut. once you get all the way to the rim it should just about fall off.
Why not put them on a car drive them around the property. I'm sure the weight with no air will brake them apart. My 3 cents, Ice man
take em to a tractor trailer tire shop,,they have curved sledge hammers that will get them off or a big tire machine should be able to break the bead
ill give you that never even thought of it really warpage i mean but i did it to two rims and nuthing really bad happend in reagards to warping maybe shear luck?? gardian angel?? who knows i just like that fact that it worked, fire department wasnt quite sure wat to make of the situation buttt..... it worked
I got a couple off some wide fives by cutting the sidewall clost to the rim with a utilty knife and a Sawzall, then took a pair of sidecutter/dykes and chewed through the bead, only took a couple minutes each and no one got hurt!!!
MEK(nasty stuff) and I believe acetone will melt rubber... I'd go the route of cutting curcularly around both sidewalls. This removes 90% of the tire. Then use bolt cutters or a die grinder with a cut off wheel to cut through the beads.
A Sawzall will work, read this thread on how I do it: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=304407
I keep some old used brake fluid around for things like this, and I like the ATF idea - that stuff is strong medecine. Don't forget Marvel Mystery Oil!
Print out all of the suggestions listed above, put them in a hat. Invite a few friends over, get a keg of beer, maybe a blindfold... sounds like a party.
build yourself a nice bonfire, and chuck em in (Probably do this at night), Oh and don't tell Al Gore!
You need something that will soak through the rust between the wheel and the tire. I'm probably going to have to do the same thing with some I have out here. They have been mounted and sitting on a trailer axle for what I imagine would be the past 50 years or more. I'd think about cutting the tire off close to the bead and then soaking the rim and bead in one of the suggested fluids for a couple of days.
Can you still get MEK? That stuff is nasty, but it'll clean up just about anything! The warning on the bottle should read: don't touch it, don't breathe it, don't look at it, don't tease it... you get the point. Cut around the sidewall to remove the majority of the tire, then worry away the bead portion with a pair of nippers, and you're good to go!
Best thing to loosen the bead up is gasoline. Lay the tire flat on the ground and pour enough gas to fill the valley where the rim and tire meet. DON'T LIGHT IT!!!!!. Let it soak in. Do it again. Let it soak in. Best thing to seperate the two is a duck bill tire hammer, but a wide punch should get it going.
When I was in the Army we would use the blade of an M9 ACE to pop the beads of old trailer wheels when we were in the field or in Iraq. Just set the blade on the tire as close to edge of the wheel as possible and drop the front of the ACE to the ground. Worked well. Obviously you don't have an ACE at your disposal but you could maybe hit up the local heavy construction company.
We have it by the 55 gallon drum here at work. If you read the MSDS sheets it really isn't as bad as some would have you to believe. I wouldn't wash my hands in it, and I always wear gloves/ respirator. We call it Make Everything Klean
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