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Posted by David N. Lundstrom on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 17:00:39 :
In Reply to: Wheel and Tire Questions posted by JaSAn on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 16:20:37 :
I am sure you can find someone to work on your wheels and tires. There is nothing wrong with the lock ring wheels. Go to an ag or heavy truck place, get them to break the beads for you. You can do the rest yourself. Starting at the notch in the lock ring, pry it out of the groove. Work your way around with 2 pry bars until the lock ring pops off. Slide the tire, tube, and flap assembly off the rim. Carefully inspect the rims and lock rings for damage such as serious corrosion, cracks, bends, etc. Use common sense, the lock rings on my truck are quite dented on the outer edge by some careless tire man. They still work fine. Once you have your rims and lock rings ready, reverse the process with new tires and reassemble. Once you have the lock ring fully seated in the groove, it is time to air up the tire. Get an air chuck that clips onto the valve stem. Take a log chain and weave it in and out of the holes in your wheel, wrapping it loosely around the tire and rim. Clip on the air chuck and stand back. Let the tire fill, then disconnect the chuck and unchain. As long as the lock ring is fully seated in the groove on the wheel, once the tire has air in it, there is no way it can come off.
Remember, your tubes have to match your tires, radial tubes with radial tires, bias tubes with bias tires.
Radial tubes can run in bias tires, but if you use bias tubes in radial tires, the rough casing of the radial tire will rub through the tube in a short amount of time.
I run 38x13x16 TSL bias Super Swampers on stock rims with stock tubes and flaps. The tires are wider than recommended, and they do crown in the center, but I run very low tire pressures for off-road use, so I have never had a problem.
I have used Equal tire balancing powder in a set of 11.00x16 Michelin XLs on one-piece rims, and I really like it.
DO NOT buy anything from USA6x6, unless you have money to throw away. His products are junk, and his customer service is horrible. There are numerous examples on-line.
IMHO, there is absolutely nothing to fear from lock ring wheels, and if you have enough mechanical ability to work on other parts of your truck, the wheels and tires are no more dangerous or harder to work on than any other part.
Dave
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