Removing a stubborn junk tire from a wheel

R

russcc

Well-known member
Any suggestions for removing a old, stiff junk tire from a good vintage 16" wheel in a home shop. I have bead breaker, but the carcass is so stiff, it is tough tough to get off the wheel. How about cutting the tire with the sawzall or cutoff wheel ? Thank you, Russ
 
Poke a hole in the middle of the sidewall with a knife then cut around the wheel in the middle of the sidewall with a saws all. Repeat on the other side. The thread should then fall off leaving the beads (like the tire carcass on the bottom of a construction barrel). Then I use a die grinder with a small diameter (1 1/2”) wheel to cut through the cords in the bead. Once you get through the bead it should come loose.
 
Bias ply's only here, I cut about 8 " out with a chain saw, like take a bite out of it. two vertical cuts, then cut along the rim and remove the bite. Once you have the bead exposed, burn the rubber off and cut the wire bead with a torch. Stinky, splash the fire with water or blow out with the torch. Grinder or whiz wheel works for the bead too, but is slower ,just as messy and you may hit the rim. I like the torch
 
Agree, and they have a set price usually to remove and remount after you clean up the rim.

often times it is actually better to shell out the measly amount a tire shop charges than to go through all the aggravation of doing it yourself, with the potential of injuring yourself or damaging the wheel you're trying to save.
 
Actually, the reason to do it yourself is because they will wreck the wheel. Last year I posted that I broke my leg breaking down a tire ! sounds crazy, I have done hundreds, its not a new thing for me, but it happened. I am out in the country, we have equipment to survive. I can carefully break the bead using the forks on my skid steer. no damage to the rim, move around to different spots, you will win eventually on most car wheels. The kid at the tire shop will keep trying over and over to get the machine to break the bead until he bends the rim. When I used to play with WW2 trucks was when I created the chain saw method. Car wheels usually dont need such violence, but my method works with zero damage to the wheel. When I broke my leg, they were 6 ply 1951 dated hard as a rock jeep tires. I was a good boy and had soapy water on them for lube, and had no trouble breaking the bead with the skid steer forks. The problem came when trying to get the tire off the rim. The 1951 tires were so hard I had to put a piece of pipe on the tire iron , and even then could hardly get the hard tire to move over the rim. I did two, and the third one would not ease out of the rim a little at a time like usual, instead it shot out all at once, my leg that was pushing as I leaned on the tire iron then shot thru the tire causing me to loose my balance and fall on the other leg and then as I bent the ankle past the detent point I heard the crack of bones.

Long story, but the point is....I had 3 done, broke my leg, so I took the last 2 to my local tire shop. Big time shop....lawn mower ot semi truck, they fix tires, used them for 30 years on my daily's.

They did not break the bead with the skid steer forks like me, and the machine would not break the bead, so they use an air chisel at several points around the rim to get the bead broke. These old jeep wheels did come with tubes in them, but they also have the safety bead on the rim so they could be run tubeless, which I planned to do.
So the fools left about 6 chisel gouges around the rim that I had to weld up and grind smooth to run tubeless, and the, I had told them to save the tubes, and throw out the bald 70 year old tires. Instead, They threw out the real rubber extra thick...looked like new...military grade tubes, and saved the bald rock hard tires for me. Broken leg or not....I change all my tires just like I have since I was a kid and too impatient to wait for the old man to get home from work to help..
 
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I have used my sawzall many times on petrified tires. works well and quickly, just dont cut your rim.

Even bought a "cheapie" sawzall as a battery backup from Walmart. they were 50. and I cut tree limbs with it, etc etc and a great inexpensive tool when the cords are a pain.
good for sawing exhausts as well......
 
To break the bead I have used a 3 foot piece of 2x6 laid on the tire like a ramp and driven my pickup onto it and this squashes the tire down off the bead, good luck Tunnow
 
Tried some of the methods suggested. Sawzall seemed to have little effect, chain saw just melted some of the sidewall. The tire seem to soften up in the sun, so I tried the manual bead breaker. It worked like champ, both beads broken. At that point I figured why not get my arsenal of tire irons, and the Ru-gluide. Some effort and a few cuss words and low and beh9ld, off it came
 
Dan in MI said:
Poke a hole in the middle of the sidewall with a knife then cut around the wheel in the middle of the sidewall with a saws all. Repeat on the other side. The thread should then fall off leaving the beads (like the tire carcass on the bottom of a construction barrel). Then I use a die grinder with a small diameter (1 1/2”) wheel to cut through the cords in the bead. Once you get through the bead it should come loose.
Click to expand...
I have done several just like this.
 
Like Cas I have been changing tires all my life with tire irons. That includes Rear 24" tractor tires. When needed, my chain saw cuts the tough guys like butter. Town is a 24 mile round trip and a friend just told me he paid 40 bucks for a flat repair. A couple years ago I bought a 'Coates Tire Man' manual tire changer at the Portland swap meet for 60 bucks. Put a pipe on the bead breaker, walk around in a circle (I do that pretty much all day anyway). Flip wheel break other bead. Almost effortless, compared to the tire irons. To be brutally honest, I really enjoy the challenge and those beads can put up a heroic struggle, but I never give up. It's much like the Dad on 'The Christmas Story' battling his ancient furnace in the basement, and why even in these modern times with all the fancy grocery stores right around the corner, many men gear up, brave the elements and head out an an expedition to hunt or fish.
Just my .02 before this completed thread goes to the back pages. .
 
Hi Gary, I've had the same experience. Five petrified 600-16 on Ford spoke rims. 4Day Tire wanted $60 to break them down but Horrible Freight had a sale that day on their manual tire changer. Bought it for $47 mounted it to my shop floor. After breaking the beads with my antique bead breaker I couldn't get the tires off the rims so went at them with my antique Skillsaw. After lots of rubber smoke & sparks they relinquished their grip on the rims. Plus, I have used the machine many times since.
 
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