Register now to get rid of these ads!

FIXING out of round tires

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by VA T, Aug 26, 2011.

  1. VA T
    Joined: Oct 3, 2010
    Posts: 34

    VA T
    Member

    I am re-posting "out of round tires" as a lot of us have been dealing with unsafe, out of round, small 16" tires. Here is a solution that can be done at home with some preparation, an angle head grinder, and 36 grit grinding disk.

    Using a piece of 1 1/4" solid round, 22" long, I threaded 15" (12 tpi) on my lathe and made round nuts to match. Other end was stepped to fit early Ford spindle king pin boss and threaded for standard unf nut. Using heat and vice bending blocks, a 12 degree bend was done to make round stock run parallel to hub face.

    The angle head grinder saddle was made from pipe and thin curved plate with plate angled 84 degrees to pipe. Don't weld solid until you are satisfied with alignment to tire tread. Two or three hose clamps secure grinder to saddle.

    Grinder handle extension was made from bicycle tubing, scrap plate, and redi-rod. Extension helps control of grinder and your shoulder muscles will thank you.

    I take high spots down by rotating tire back and forth and eventually letting grinder rotate tire while gloved hand controls rate of turning. The best thing about this process is you remove a minimum amount of tread. You don't have to "bury" a cutting wheel to maintain an even cut. The 36 grit disk does a fine job of leveling tread irregularities.

    After four years of tedious low speed driving, I can drive my home built roadster at normal highway speeds!!! Even trued a cupped 15" radial tire on another vehicle--it now drives like new. THIS REALLY WORKS.

    I am interested in comments and suggestions for improving this process.
     

    Attached Files:

  2. c-10 simplex
    Joined: Aug 24, 2009
    Posts: 1,371

    c-10 simplex
    Member

    Very good, keep it coming. i've been looking for a tire shaver for years. i think tire shops eschew them because there's no profit(very small profit) in shaving tires vs. telling the customer "they need new tires," "there's no way to fix this." etc. and selling a brand-new tire.
     
  3. VA T
    Joined: Oct 3, 2010
    Posts: 34

    VA T
    Member

    Here are a couple more pics.
     

    Attached Files:

  4. badshifter
    Joined: Apr 28, 2006
    Posts: 3,538

    badshifter
    Member

    Looks good, and scary at the same time! I like it. Does it just grind them flat, or does it make a crown on the tire?
     

  5. VA T
    Joined: Oct 3, 2010
    Posts: 34

    VA T
    Member

    Try again for second pic.
     

    Attached Files:

  6. VA T
    Joined: Oct 3, 2010
    Posts: 34

    VA T
    Member

    Actually it is not scary. It will grind a crown.
     
  7. alchemy
    Joined: Sep 27, 2002
    Posts: 20,522

    alchemy
    Member

    Might be smart to warm the tire up on the road, then take it off warm, to remove any flat spots it got from sitting with weight on it. If you are doing new, freshly mounted tires, then don't worry about it.
     
  8. derbydad276
    Joined: May 29, 2011
    Posts: 1,336

    derbydad276
    Member

    thats 1 hell of a mouse trap
     
  9. temper_mental
    Joined: Oct 22, 2006
    Posts: 2,717

    temper_mental
    Member
    from Texas

    The only question I have is how much are you gong to charge to fix out of round tires? With some changes you could also grind white walls.
     
  10. toolman1967
    Joined: Mar 13, 2008
    Posts: 441

    toolman1967
    Member

    Cheap simple fix....You Da Man!
     
  11. Bar Ditch
    Joined: Aug 1, 2011
    Posts: 272

    Bar Ditch
    Member
    from Tacoma

    That just made my day.LB
     
  12. VA T
    Joined: Oct 3, 2010
    Posts: 34

    VA T
    Member

    Thanks, Alchemy. I forgot to mention driving out the flat spots.
     
  13. Rem
    Joined: Mar 6, 2006
    Posts: 1,257

    Rem
    Member

    I like that.
     
  14. Von Rigg Fink
    Joined: Jun 11, 2007
    Posts: 13,404

    Von Rigg Fink
    Member
    from Garage

    just throw em on the car and do a nice long burnout....same deal right?..but way more fun

    if the ones out of round wont fit on back, then i guess you have this to play with
     
  15. dave lewis
    Joined: Dec 12, 2006
    Posts: 1,380

    dave lewis
    Member
    from Nampa ID

    How about some pics of it in use ?

    Dave
     
  16. 35mastr
    Joined: Oct 26, 2007
    Posts: 1,899

    35mastr
    Member
    from Norcal

    Yes,I want to see that thing in use also.
     
  17. PG
    Joined: Jan 14, 2008
    Posts: 170

    PG
    Member

    Super rad! We have a truing machine at our shop. Yours looks like it'd probably do a better job and a cleaner one too.
     

Share This Page

Register now to get rid of these ads!

Archive

Copyright © 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. Terms of Service. Privacy Policy.

Atomic Industry
Forum software by XenForo™ ©2010-2014 XenForo Ltd.