How to change a tube?

[Will N]

Well, I just spent 2 hours cursing in the garage while I was changing a tube on one of my rear tires. I have the non-demountable clincher rims on my car. Turns out the old tube had chafed on the rough interior of the rim. I installed a flap to protect the new tube, but like I said, it took 2 hours to do it.

What's the trick? I went about it by prying off only one side of the tire, leaving the other side on the rim. I was able to push the new flap and tube up into the tire easy enough, but getting the valve stem into the hole in the rim was torture!! I'm using the rubber stem tubes at this point. At first I tried putting the stem through the hole first, but the tire bead that I left mounted was in the way of the hole. So then I tried putting the tube in all the way first, and leaving the valve for last. I don't know why I thought that would be any easier. I ended up shoving the tire irons past both beads to kind of raise the tire above the rim, and worked the stem out past the beads, lining it up with the hole in the rim. I then removed the tire irons, and the valve did start into the hole. But it got hung up in the felloe because it wasn't 100% straight. I took an awl and pried the stem away from the felloe while reaching up into the tire and pressing the stem in. I finally got the stem through. My hands are swollen and red from being pressed on by the tire.

What did I do wrong?

 

[J Franklin]

You needed to be living in the teens and twenties when the cars shared every road with horse drawn vehicles and the horses would loose shoes and nails everywhere. then after a while you could do this job on the side of the road and still get to church before the sermon ended. It is called practice.

 

[Will N]

I was thinking that very thing during those 2 hours. I thought that surely it didn't take this long back in the day by someone who knew what he was doing. I had the benefit of a nice level garage floor too. Those guys were working on the side of a dirt road mostly.

I almost think it might have been easier if I took the tire completely off the rim. Then after inserting the tube, I could have arranged it so the valve was sticking out past both of the beads, and it would have been easier to push the stem though the hole in the rim that way.

If I had the metal stems, where would the bridge washer go? In other words, would I shove it up past beads into the tire, or leave it outside the beads?

 

[tmodelman]

It is best to remove the tire from the rim. Your way was the hard way, even on the highway the better way to remove the tire!

Couple of pictures, and one showing that the bridge washer must be against the metal rim.

 

[Lee Crenshaw]

Most old clincher tires I find have a "hole" drilled so as to equally cut away part of the inside wall of the bead. This creates room for the stem to pass through with the beads compressed together. I find that getting the stem in place and attaching a stem puller at least keeps the stem from withdrawing during the mounting process.
Of course, it takes a great deal of finesse to accompolish all this and not chip any paint from the rim. Grin!
Lee

 

[Will N]

Tmodelman, thanks for confirming my suspicion that taking the tire off completely would have been easier. Lee, is this hole you mention a do it yourself modification to the tire? Forget about not chipping the paint! Touch up paint, here I come!

 

[John Otis]

I always made a couple of little "V" cuts in both beads that were just big enough to let the stem comfortably pass through.