Split Ring Tire Question

[Los_Control]

I should not but will share another.

Working in Tacoma WA, one of our top tire salesmen got a call, his son (ran a service truck) was down the road and just had a accident.

He (father) was the first on the scene, grabbed his son by the legs and pulled him out from under the service truck ... he (son) was decapitated.

 

The goal was to put the tire under the truck, air it up and if it exploded it was contained, the trucks had no cage on them.

The tire exploded while he was under the truck to remove it.

No clue what type of wheel it was.

[Mavman427]

Some real horror stories here.  My '49 has (3) original rims with the split rings, and (1) true widowmaker split rim.  I had a local place put new tires on the rims very recently and all went well, but the guy who did it was definitely wary of the widowmaker.  He only filled it up with 40 psi at the shop and recommended that I use it for the inside tire of the dual tires in back, have it fully mounted with the other tire in front of it, and to then fill it up all the way to 100 psi.  No problems at all with the tire, but it was definitely in the back of my mind.  Whenever I'm going to take one of those tires off, I plan to take the air out of it before I remove the lug nuts and take it off the truck.

[ggdad1951]

wait...100psi?

[JBNeal]

Ya need high psi to seat the bead on stiff tires...sometimes there just ain't enough lube to get the job done...

[Dodgeb4ya]

I'd be blowed up scared to pressure up an old wheel to 100PSI

[Dozerman51]

I don’t know about “Seating” a bead at 100PSI, but I would think your head stands a good chance of being “Unseated” from the rest of your body at that pressure with a split ring wheel. Ouch!!!!!!!

[Mavman427]

Tires are 110 psig max.  What do you guys run in your tires?

[ggdad1951]

my 1 ton runs at 35 psi...

[Merle Coggins]

Max PSI is for Max load. Unless you are using your truck as it was used "back in the day" you could run with a lower pressure and improve the ride quality. Bring the pressure down until you see the tire start to squat a bit, then add 5 lbs.

[MBF]

35-40 in my 1 ton (all new tires and tubes)   
,  40-45 in the 2.5 ton on the front (near new)  and 35 in the rears.

[Los_Control]

My work van had 10 ply tires on it, max pressure was 80 pounds.

I typically ran with 40 in the front and 45 in the rear, unless going to haul a load I would pump them up to 70 or so.

 

Max air pressure was explained to me as max load rating.

If you have a chain hoist rated max load of 2k pounds, you do not want to go over 2k pounds.

But you can use that hoist all day long lifting smaller loads.

 

Same with tire air pressure, Max on the sidewall is what you do not want to exceed, you also do not want to run under inflated.

5 hours ago, Merle Coggins said:

Bring the pressure down until you see the tire start to squat a bit, then add 5 lbs.

This is excellent advice.

[Brent B3B]

I'm running 45psi in my one ton.....that is what the tire store set them at and I like the bouncy ride, it keeps me humble and keeps me awake

[Dodgeb4ya]

The owners manual in your truck WILL show you the proper original tire pressure... but the PSI might not agree with modern tires.

[Dave72dt]

The 10 plies on my daily run at 60, rated at 80.  I'm not a fan of sidewall flex especially when towing.  I used to tow a lot of farm equipment with it and I maxed the psi out when I was in the business.  It doesn't get heavy loads now but the 60 psi helps a bit with the gas mileage.  45 makes the truck feel a bit squirrelly when cornering or with a load.. 

[Mavman427]

The new tires I bought are heavy duty tires.  The fronts are 8R22.5, basically semi tires, very heavy duty radials and solid 1-piece rims. They’re rated for 120 psi max.  I don’t know if I’d want to run them below 100 psi.

 

The back tires are 7.5x20’s with tubes on a combination of lock-ring rims and widow-makers.  Tires are bias ply and rated for 110 psi.  Although I was very careful mounting and inflating them, I didn’t give much thought to whether the original rims could handle today’s tire pressures.  It’s a great point that I need to noodle on a little.  I may take a little air out of the rears.

[JBNeal]

On 12/3/2018 at 3:04 PM, Dodgeb4ya said:

I do all my own truck wheels outside...

But I either carefully wind a heavy chain through the hand holes and secure the ends with a good strong bolt or two and hook.

Then use a clip on tire inflater so I can stay back from the tire as I fill it a bit as mentioned maybe 10 lbs... bang on the ring a little to watch and make sure it's gap is closed all the way around and the end gap is closed.

Then finish filling it up.

Thses days I use a backhoe front bucket to cover the tire as it's filling up.

Rust and bent or damaged rings are a BIG NO NO

 

how do ya balance the tires?  Do you have a static balancer?

[Dodgeb4ya]

I haven't balanced the big truck...no need at 45 mph and 100 miles a year.

Have never done the 1 ton either.

Good & smooth to 55.

500 miles a year max.

If I had a slight shimmy or shake...I'd balance them on my trucks.

On my modern truck ....I always have the tires balanced.

[wallytoo]

7 hours ago, JBNeal said:

 

how do ya balance the tires?  Do you have a static balancer?

 

to my knowledge, none of the six 8.25x20 tires on my 1.5-ton have balance weights on the wheels.  although i put more miles per year than bob, 55 mph is about all the truck is capable of.  runs pretty smooth down the road for the 900 to 1500 miles per year i drive it.

[Dodgeb4ya]

I doubt many of the bigger trucks back in the 40's/50's not doing long hauls had the tires balanced.

Speeds were not high enough.

[JBNeal]

When I'd wind up to 50mph, the 1-ton would be shaking from the tire flat spots from being parked for several days...by the time the flat spots were massaged out, it was time to punch out for the day.  I had thought about doing the FSM static balancing on the truck, but that looks really tedious...doesn't sound like all that extra work would improve the ride any, since it cruised just dandy at 45mph on the lumpy backroads