1954 R120 Wheels

The lock ring rims that we have on our Internationals are not all that bad. The 'widow makers' were typically split ring rims which are not the same as our lock ring rims.

I have 6 tires on my S132. I had a tire go bad and they all needed to be replaced. I could not find anyone that would mount the tires, honestly I did not look too hard. I decided to do it myself. Taking them off is easy. By the time I got to tire #6 I was changing a tire in about 20 min. In my case the tires were 15 years or so old. Take the ring off. I learned it was best then to 'unstick' the tube from the rim, pull the tube out and then the tire would come off rather easy.

When putting it back together I was more worried about scratching the paint on my rim that getting the lock ring back in place. It is really easy to see if you have installed it correctly, the gap of the lock ring is pretty small, like 1/8" or so (take a before picture if you want a solid reference). If it is not installed correctly this gap will be too big. DO NOT think that airing up the tire will make the ring settle into place. This kind of thinking is what gets people hurt. DO NOT hit the ring as you airing it up to 'seat' it. If it is not in place, stop, let the air out and fix the problem. I did have at least 1 tire that the ring was not seated properly and I could tell by the gap. I'm not sure what I did to fix it, but after it was seated properly (small gap) it aired up just fine without any issues.

The best thing I did to install my tires was to buy to large tire irons from Harbour Freight Tools. You can buy the tire irons lots of places, for me it was convenience. Tire irons are a must have and I want to say a large screwdriver to lift the lock ring off when removing (the tire iron is too big to fit).

Take your time. I was worried about smashing my fingers. Air it up slow, put 15 psi in the tire and inspect the ring. Put baby powder or soapy water on the tire to help it settle in place when you are airing it up. Watch some U tube videos and go for it.

A quick google search turned this up

http://www.binderplanet.com/forums/inde ... el.132734/

http://www.binderplanet.com/forums/index.php?threads/do-not-fear-the-lock-ring-wheel.132734/

That's a good link, I've also found some good how to videos on youtube (along with a few bad ones). It seems that like motorcycles and tractors people always have a story about an uncle or cousin that was killed by split rim and lock ring wheels. Split rims deserve the label "widow maker" lock rings not so much. Last time I worked on changing out tires on lock ring wheels was a few years back when I owned this old army 4x4. I was careful, took my time and it went well.

Once you know how, I think that CB89 will back me up, with the tools, you can dismount and remount one of these on the side of the road or out in the boonies. Been there, done that. Just my experiences.

#1 is first compress the tire bead away from the side ring, any attempt to remove the lock ring without compressing the tire will damage the rim components.
Widow-makers are the FIrestone RH 5 deg semi-drop center wheel.
Properly assembled rim will seat at less than 20 psi, and the tire and rim will "want to" go together correctly. Correct assembly with place the bead of the tire over the side ring and lock it in place.
Once that happens you could cut the lock ring into 10 pieces and it would stay together.
I have a rim, that was over-torqued on a 5 spoke hub so bad the it pulled the center hole into a pentagram shape, on side of the pentagram between the spoke the rim was deformed enough to pull the rim away from the lock ring. Not only did it stay together, but was run that way for the life of the tread on the tire!
The problem come when the bead of the tire DOESN"T go over the lock-ring/side ring but butts against the ring, pushing it out but not holding it in compression. It should be fairly obvious when this happens and the assembly should be checked before the pressure in the tire exceeds 20 PSI.

i have the 17.5 tube less on my 51 l-120 panel truck.

I've had a couple with split rings, and never felt like it was an issue. My dad taught me how to change them as a kid and when I was working my way through college I made decent money at the tire shop because I wasn't afraid of them, so wound up changing a lot of semi tires.