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They say third time is a charm and I have to agree. On our third flat tire (in over two years - all outside duals luckily), soldier B and I did our first tube swap.
The first flat I paid Parkhouse Tire to swap in a tube that Phil gave me. The second flat I used as an excuse to visit Hundy and paid him to supply a tube and swap it in while we shopped for parts.
I also paid Parkhouse Tire to demount 20 tires and remount 10 when I installed Phil's cast off 11.00 x 20s.
Having done several hundred of the same type tire/wheel combos for the Navy on tow tractors (tugs) I knew how to do it, but just didn't have the same tools as the Navy supplied.
After some research here and taking stock of what tools we had on hand we decided to try the Hi Lift Jack/front bumper method. Since we needed a tube we grabbed an old, nasty, dry rotted spare that I planned to give to Phil for a project he has planned. He only wants the rim. No idea how long that tire has been on there, but I'm sure it's been a long time. Surprisingly it's held air the whole two years I've had it.
We lubed it with Wal-Mart brand WD-40 type lube and put it under the Hi Lift. Once the flat base of the jack had just started to compress the tire, I hit the bottom to cause it to slide under the lip of the rim some. It took three rounds of jacking, lubing and turning of the tire before she gave in.
A few pry bars got the badly distorted lock ring off. It was totally trashed and not safe to re use. Good thing Phil doesn't need it.
The flip side was the same - three rounds of jacking, lube and turning the tire and it gave up. Because this side has a much smaller area contacting the plywood we put down, it wanted to lift the other side of the rim in the air when jacking. A 4 x 4 placed between the bumper and rim held it so the jack could do the job.
After we robbed the tube we reinflated it and double checked it for leaks with some water. After we were pretty sure it was all good we dropped the flat tire from the spare location and got to it.
This tire has only been on for a few months and it came free after only two rounds of the Hi Lift treatment. Lock ring came off easily and was in great shape, allowing me to really show Soldier B the difference between good and bad rings. The other bead also popped in two rounds and we got to work putting the good tube in.
After drying the water out of the tire (we got a lot of snow/rain after it went flat and got stowed in the spare location) and cleaning up the rim it went together just like my old Navy days. Soldier B seemed impressed that the old man could still remember this stuff.
We wrapped chain around the rim and tire and installed a locking air chuck. Soldier B set the compressor to 40 psi and I hooked up the hose after making sure the lock ring was face down. It was just outside the garage so we shut the door to protect the wife's car and stepped away to a safe distance. After letting sit there for 20 minutes I went to check it out and all was well. I flipped it over, ran it up to 50 psi and removed the chain. Soldier B got it put back in the spare location on the truck and we patted ourselves on the back for doing what nearly everyone else here has been doing themselves for years.
After cleaning up I ordered a spare tube and it should be here later this week. We're ready for the fourth flat when it comes.
Didn't think to take pics, but there are plenty of other pics and write ups on this site if you need some.
The first flat I paid Parkhouse Tire to swap in a tube that Phil gave me. The second flat I used as an excuse to visit Hundy and paid him to supply a tube and swap it in while we shopped for parts.
I also paid Parkhouse Tire to demount 20 tires and remount 10 when I installed Phil's cast off 11.00 x 20s.
Having done several hundred of the same type tire/wheel combos for the Navy on tow tractors (tugs) I knew how to do it, but just didn't have the same tools as the Navy supplied.
After some research here and taking stock of what tools we had on hand we decided to try the Hi Lift Jack/front bumper method. Since we needed a tube we grabbed an old, nasty, dry rotted spare that I planned to give to Phil for a project he has planned. He only wants the rim. No idea how long that tire has been on there, but I'm sure it's been a long time. Surprisingly it's held air the whole two years I've had it.
We lubed it with Wal-Mart brand WD-40 type lube and put it under the Hi Lift. Once the flat base of the jack had just started to compress the tire, I hit the bottom to cause it to slide under the lip of the rim some. It took three rounds of jacking, lubing and turning of the tire before she gave in.
A few pry bars got the badly distorted lock ring off. It was totally trashed and not safe to re use. Good thing Phil doesn't need it.
The flip side was the same - three rounds of jacking, lube and turning the tire and it gave up. Because this side has a much smaller area contacting the plywood we put down, it wanted to lift the other side of the rim in the air when jacking. A 4 x 4 placed between the bumper and rim held it so the jack could do the job.
After we robbed the tube we reinflated it and double checked it for leaks with some water. After we were pretty sure it was all good we dropped the flat tire from the spare location and got to it.
This tire has only been on for a few months and it came free after only two rounds of the Hi Lift treatment. Lock ring came off easily and was in great shape, allowing me to really show Soldier B the difference between good and bad rings. The other bead also popped in two rounds and we got to work putting the good tube in.
After drying the water out of the tire (we got a lot of snow/rain after it went flat and got stowed in the spare location) and cleaning up the rim it went together just like my old Navy days. Soldier B seemed impressed that the old man could still remember this stuff.
We wrapped chain around the rim and tire and installed a locking air chuck. Soldier B set the compressor to 40 psi and I hooked up the hose after making sure the lock ring was face down. It was just outside the garage so we shut the door to protect the wife's car and stepped away to a safe distance. After letting sit there for 20 minutes I went to check it out and all was well. I flipped it over, ran it up to 50 psi and removed the chain. Soldier B got it put back in the spare location on the truck and we patted ourselves on the back for doing what nearly everyone else here has been doing themselves for years.
After cleaning up I ordered a spare tube and it should be here later this week. We're ready for the fourth flat when it comes.
Didn't think to take pics, but there are plenty of other pics and write ups on this site if you need some.
