My Horror of mounting a 2 piece rim


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Post Wed Feb 07, 2018 6:51 pm

My Horror of mounting a 2 piece rim

Lbesq asked me to write about the experience I had with mounting tires on two piece rims I know there are many different kinds and different combinations to them on my C-30 the rim is split and there is a solid ring that hooks in and keeps it together. I was told all the stories about them killing people and breaking arms and legs and all the other horror stories its true these rims can be very dangerous. One guy told me a story about a guy taking some out of the back of a truck bouncing it on the ground it coming apart broke his leg and took off his nuts, if that doesn't scare a guy what will right. That wasn’t going to happen to me I will be fine. Well it does not matter how smart you think you are **** happens pretty fast and if you’re in the way you’re done. I had one come apart on me and trust me all you can do is get out of the way and let it happen or it will kill you or at least hurt you really bad.
Like cornbinder89 said in another post respect is a big part of it you also have to pay very close attention to everything going on when working with these rims. I had 2 or 3 tires mounted and maybe 50 psi in them and I started this one. I had a bad feeling about this one in the first place even without the tire and tube on it I couldn’t get the rim spread out right that’s why I was working on this one today. I got the tube and the tire on and set the ring. I put air in it and wasn’t happy with the way the split to lined up so I let the air out and tried to spread the rim out more and put air back in it got about 50 psi in it and the split started to move in and spread apart at first I tried to take the value stem out then thought back to all the horror stories and told myself to just get the hell out of the way and pray. I don’t remember seeing much but there was a loud bang the side of my hood came out of the rafters and landed on the floor next to the tire. I walked out of the garage just as my wife was walking out of the house asking me what the hell happened of course I down played it told her I blew a tire not that big of deal she knew it was more than that she said I was as white as a ghost. She still doesn’t know exactly what happened to this day. What did happen was the ring shot off the rim like a rocket went through the rafters knocking the hood down and hit the roof braking 2 boards and landing on the rafters. After that I let all the air out of the other tires I had mounted. Heard all about how lucky I was how I should use different rims we all know the old C-30 wouldn’t be right with different axles and hubs plus I already bought tires. Now I had to find a new rim and a safe way to get air in the tires after finding a rim getting the rest of the tires on the rims and all the brakes, axles, hubs and everything else ready I put the rims on the hubs and that spread them out so the ring could not come off and they were safe to air up. With this type of rim I will never take it off the hub again while there is air in the tire and I will never put air in the tire without them being on the tub and would advise anyone the same. It doesn’t take much for one to come apart and it can happen to you trust me it did. I don’t know the exact name of the type of rims but here are some pictures of what I have on my truck and some of what it ended up looking like after.
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Post Wed Feb 07, 2018 8:56 pm

Re: My Horror of mounting a 2 piece rim

Thank you for the story and the pictures.

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Post Wed Feb 07, 2018 9:13 pm

Re: My Horror of mounting a 2 piece rim

My God! I'm so glad you're OK!
I've worked at gas stations and garages all my life and none of them would work on "split" rims, thank goodness.
I also own a C-30 with the same set up. After a steep learning curve (I didn't know CB, then), I figured out that I would never air one up without having the spokes in place.
I think I wrapped some chain loops around the rims as I mounted tires and tubes.
CB doesn't list this C-30 rim as one of the "dangerous" ones. I still discard B, C, D, K series 1.5 ton 20" rims if they are sharp from 70 years of rust.

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Post Thu Feb 08, 2018 12:53 pm

Re: My Horror of mounting a 2 piece rim

The wheels, you picture, are badly rust pitted and should never have been used again. The near death situation you experienced was totally preventable. Those wheels can be dangerous when they are in good condition and when the condition of the wheel has become pitted, every pit is a stress riser and increases the possibility of the catastrophic failure you experienced.
I was sent to do an investigation in 1969, it was a workplace death. The service station owner had installed a new set of tires on a two piece splits. His inexperience and failing to lock the sections of rim together caused the rim to separate and decapitate him. The rim piece carried on with parts of his upper torso and head and was lodged in the wood ceiling 14 feet above the floor.
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Golden Jubilee
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Post Thu Feb 08, 2018 8:48 pm

Re: My Horror of mounting a 2 piece rim

I played it safe and had the tires put on my truck by a long time pro. He had a lot of trouble getting the rims to line up and re-fastened. He had to re-weld two rims that had let go. I'm glad your ok, its one of those things that keeps us on our toes "if we survive it".

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Post Thu Feb 08, 2018 9:32 pm

Re: My Horror of mounting a 2 piece rim

That is a Goodyear designed rim. and can be a bit tricky, as other have mentioned. put it on the hub and the spokes will hold the rim out and in position when airing up. It is one of the more tricky lock ring wheels to service but still nowhere near as bad as the Firestone RH 5 deg semi drop center.
Tube types should be inflated to no more than 15-20 psi and INSPECTED to be sure they are assembled properly. At that pressure there isn't enough stored energy to do much damage. It is also recomended that the 1st airing be done with the valve core out, then deflated (to allow the tube to squarm into position if it has a slight twist from being installed in the tire) then install the core, and re inflate to 15 psi, look it over one more time before either installing on a hub (for this goodyear style) or rolling into a safety cage.
It is hard to find the more common style of lock ring (split lockring) in widths narrow enough for the 30's and 40's trucks. I have 2 or so, but most are the solid ring, split rim Goodyear style.
Placeing the rim on the spokes not only keeps it spread but also make sure that it is inline. It is best to do it on an outer duel position, as you can see what is going on better with the ring faceing in, than on the front hub where the ring faces out. You must use the wedges, not just placeing the rim on the spokes without the wedges.
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Post Fri Feb 09, 2018 5:40 am

Re: My Horror of mounting a 2 piece rim

Your pictures are worth a thousand words

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Post Fri Feb 09, 2018 4:43 pm

Re: My Horror of mounting a 2 piece rim

There are some good You Tube video on tire and rim fails.
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Golden Jubilee
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Post Sun Feb 11, 2018 2:36 pm

Re: My Horror of mounting a 2 piece rim

Glad you are ok, that heavily corroded rim should've been junked, not reused.
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Golden Jubilee
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Post Sun Feb 11, 2018 3:51 pm

Re: My Horror of mounting a 2 piece rim

Your not going to find a 70 year old rim without some rust, You need to be careful in judging what can be re-used and what should be cut up. If it is thinned, it is not worth you life to try and re-use. I have a 70 year old lock ring on my semi that runs 80K gross. It is a judgement call. I can't see from the pictures, but it looks like that rim is fairly thin, makeing not able to lock together.
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