Tire Woes

[todds112]

So I had a tire that would not air up past 30 pounds when I recovered her. I took her to Boyce and they fixed me up with new valve grommet and rim O-ring. It's holding fine. Then I get home and the other front tire starts leaking. It's flat now. I checked and I think it's the same issue. I can hear it hissing. I was hoping it was the little O-ring in the CTIS hose. Apparently someone really tightened the fitting down on it (probably to stop the leak) and shredded it, but the leak was coming from behind the rim. The CTIS tried to air it up, but just can't. Then I get the 4 light error. I put a valve in it and tried to manually air it up, but it just leaks back down.

Man, I am intimidated by those wheels, but I am going to try to do it myself. I ordered a new O-ring and valve. I went and bought a 20 ton jack and jackstands at Harbor freight. I have a small tractor with a loader and forks to help move it around.

Then I am out in the balmy 0 degree weather blowing snow and notice that another rear tire is flat! Arrrrrrgh. I was too mad to even look and see where it's leaking from.

Any tips or advice on breaking these things down would be great. I'm not messing with it until the temps get at least back into the 20's. Maybe after I pull it I'll just stop by the local commercial tire place and see what they'll charge me to break them down. They do alot of agg and heavy trucks.

 

[dawico]

In those temps soapy water isn't going to do much good in tracking down the leaks. Maybe soapy coolant? Never tried it but frozen soapy water isn't much good.

There are o rings that should be replaced while you have it apart. I haven't had mine apart that far so I am not familiar with them.

The bolts that hold the rim together are a bear to loosen. A half inch drive ratchet will break before they come loose. The 3/4" socket I bought isn't deep enough to get to the nut. I ended up with a pipe wrench and breaker bar on a deep impact socket to move my CTIS counterweights.

I have one front tire that leaks between the rims where the hole for the valve stem runs through. Luckily it is a slow leak as I have no interest in taking the rim apart.

I used a tarp to build a make shift pool to track a leak down on one tire when the soapy water failed me. The valve stem was leaking and just needed to be tightened.

Good luck and be careful. The tires are as heavy as they look.

 

[Farmallmilitary]

I just replaced all the tires on my 925a1 and it wasn't that bad. If all you are doing is replacing the o-ring in the rim, its not too hard. First, take the wheel off the truck and lay the wheel down onto a 5 gallon bucket with the smaller ring piece of the rim facing up. Next, make sure you drain all the air out of the tires and get some ATF or any kind of lube and pour it around the bead of the tire. Now remove the 10 nuts that hold the ring on. You may need a couple of prybars and a hammer and pry around the edge of the tire and around the inside of the ring. It will break loose. Pull the ring off and now you can get to the o-ring. You may have to use a pick to pull the old one out. Make sure the surface is clean and install the new o-ring making sure it is seated all the way down. Now put the ring back on and walk it down evenly. Once that is done air up the tire and make sure it is not leaking and install on the truck.

At first I was intimidated by the size of them, but after doing some, it was easier than I expected. Good luck!

 

[todds112]

Oh, didn't think about the socket being deep enough. I better check that. I have a 3/4 inch impact and a set of big impact sockets. I did buy a big pry bar too. On the first tire it was the valve grommet that was bad, I could actually feel the air blowing out through the valve hole in the rim. Sucks you can't fix it without taking the rim apart.

 

[todds112]

Well I tackled the tire today. What a chore. Got the wheel off OK. Struggled a bit with the nuts around the rim, but eventually got them off. Then fought and fought and just could not break the tire bead. I loaded tire into my pickup and took it to the local tire place. They charged me $60 to break the beads, clean-up everything, install the O-Ring and new turret valve and re-assemble. Apparently $60 is their "Large Loader Tire Service" rate. It would have been the same price if I had just brought the whole truck to them and let them do everything. They told me they stock the O-Rings and only charge $10 for them if I need another one. Guess what I'll do next time?

It wasn't over though. I fought with it for another hour to get it on the truck, not fun. Got the CTIS stuff hooked back up and fired it up...Crap! Still getting the 4 light error. The rear tires still have leaks so I see another trip to the tire shop next week. Then I shut off the truck and try to start it again later...nothing... no starter engage. You've got to be kidding me?!! The truck had started several times during the day perfectly, then nothing! Did the rap on the power control box thing and low and behold, started right up again. Argh, really don't want to deal with that thing. REALLY don't want to pay for a new one.

 

[juanprado]

try goldneagle for good used pcb box or buy new direct very reasonable from the manufacture Southern Automotive. No need to overpay

http://southernautomotive.com/catalog/index.php