Breaking Tire Bead

[USMC6062]

I have a set of 20 stud combat wheels that I'm trying to get the old tires off of. I have successfully got all the nuts off without out galling the threads, but can't get the dang rims out of the tires. I tired what worked before on another set of two piece wheels, but didn't work this time. I strapped the tire to a tree and bolted a plate to the rim half and pulled on it with my tractor. It flexes the tire apart, but the bead is stuck to the rim. I've tried prying, beating on it, soapy water, gas (read that on here somewhere), and anything else I can think of, but the beads won't budge. The tires are pretty old, so they have been on the rims for probably 10 years or more. With the beadlock insert, I can't press the tire down on the rim using a highlift jack to break the bead, and I don't see a slide hammer or duckbill sledge doing anything either. So whats the trick to unsticking the beads on these things?

 

[Blood_of_Tyrants]

Lay the tire down and drive over the rubber part with the biggest truck you have.

 

[emmado22]

WD-40 works sometimes..

 

[area52]

Take it to a tire shop ( big rig place) and bet the guy $20 he can't break the bead.

 

[jatonka]

ever try inflating it with all the nuts off the bolts? Just asking, but if you use a clip on air chuck and get it outdoors and watch from behind a tree, if might work and could be a little fun to talk about on here sometime.

 

[USMC6062]

I already have the two rim halves seperated, but they are both still stuck by the bead in the tire. If I put air to it it would just leak out in between the rim halves. If i drive something on it, it will be pushing down on the beadlock insert, so I won't gain anything. The only thing I can think of, is put some blocks between the two rim halves so I have a few inches of clearance between the tire and beadlock ring. Then try pushing down with something or get a slide hammer or duckbill sledge. I was just hoping there was some trick that I didn't know about.

 

[Scrounger]

First off I don’t have any pictures so please no anyone ask.
I would use “wedges” to break the beads. They are made with 4”X 4” angle iron 5/16” thick cut 4” long, and then bent from a 90 degree angle to around 110 degrees. Make three of them and one can break down just about any wheel. Place the three “wedges” side by side on the tire with one of the flat edges at the point where the bead and the tire meet, the other side will face toward the tread. Take a sledge hammer and hit the wedges on the tread side one by one till the wedges slip between the rim and the tire. Don’t worry, they will go in. After the bead is broken in one place take a loose wedge and work around the wheel till the entire bead is broke. Then repeat other side.

 

[bbf]

i would go to a truck tire shop they have the equiment to get the tire off

 

[m16ty]

I've delt with some very old tires and rusty wheels before. I've never seen one that wouldn't come free with soapy water and a duckbill hammer. You may give out before the tire does but if you beat on it long enough it'll come. The good thing about a duckbill ( or the pieces of angle mentioned above) is it puts the pressure right where it needs to be which is right where the tire meets the rim.

 

[DAS]

Off they come

Had this before..... 12 TON BOTTLE JACK....OR A FARMER STICK JACK.....liquid soap or flax soap bead edge and rim...Put tire under rear of back edge of truck..use heal of jack on tire edge along rim and jack...use blocking between jack and truck frame on the 12 ton jack..... hope you understand this ....das

 

[WillWagner]

I've delt with some very old tires and rusty wheels before. I've never seen one that wouldn't come free with soapy water and a duckbill hammer. You may give out before the tire does but if you beat on it long enough it'll come. The good thing about a duckbill ( or the pieces of angle mentioned above) is it puts the pressure right where it needs to be which is right where the tire meets the rim.

I agree, warm soapy water..a good amount..let it sit a couple of min. and have at it with a duck bill. Bolt the wheel back together and try it.

 

[mlwats1@hotmail.com]

this will sound strange but "baby oil" will lube it off

 

[Recovry4x4]

I use this and I'd bet it would work in your application. Once clamped to the rim, when you crank it the 3 forks seperate the tire from the rim.

Esco Dual Agricultural Tractor Manual Tire Bead Breaker (ESC-70160): All Tire Supply Company

 

[USMC6062]

Yeah I saw one of those on the internet last night while I was searching for a way to get these broke down. I was gonna buy one and still might if the angle iron trick didn't work. I got one broke down today using the angle iron trick. A lot of the suggestions I got on here would work on a regular rim, but with a combat wheel with the insert, you can't knock the bead down towards the other. If you looked at it in a cross section from the bottom up, you would have the rim, bead, insert, bead, then rim. There is no space between any part, that's how it works as a bead lock by trapping the bead between the insert and rim. Now I need a 15/16" socket to use with my 1" breaker bar to get the nuts off of the other rims. I'm about to break my 1/2" breaker bar, not to mention give myself a hernia. So once I get the nuts off of the other rims, I think this angle iron deal should work on the rest of them. Thanks, Alex

 

[GoHot229]

Back in the day we used gasoline in a squeeze bottle on the beads at the truck stop where I worked, along with the (Wedge) tire hammer, it just seemed to penitrate better than soap MUCH more, but evaporated quickly, we had a minuate to work with, or more gas was used out of the squeeze bottel NOTE: as you pull the beads apart with your tractor, you are effectivly ROLLING the bead thus making it tighter against the rim ie. the inside of the bead squeezing, 'tightening' and the outside of the bead expanding from the rolling action onother words trying to turn inside out, but gripping far tighter.