Tire Repair

[lefty]

Great stuff. Thanks. I'll post back with the results

[lefty]

nothing unusual about that rim. I see them all the time for wider tire sizes.. Just clean off the rust, tire will go on skinny side first , then work in the tube, then other bead onto skinny side. Tube should be fine , long as you get the right size tube for the tire, and make sure the "natural" pointing direction of the tube points to the side of the valve stem hole. (if you put them in "backwards" tube will often "escape" back into the tire as you air it up, and then you have to stab a hole in to deflate and remove to fix)

When you say the "natural side" do you mean the side that it is on in its out-of-the-box folded condition? Or when the tube is inflated. There's a blue line on the opposite side of the valve stem. Does this line hold any significance as far as installation?

[bgsengine]

"Natural side" meaning, unfold it but don't inflate, it'll be flat , the stem will want to point to one side or the other of the tube. As suggested before, however a bit of tire lube (specifically for tires, or baby powder) also helps the tube slide into place, but the natural side pointing straight at the valve stem hole in the rim tends to help the tube "stick flat" to that point as it is inflated.

- assuming you do them like I do and softly lock a pair of 4" vise grips around the stem just enough to hold the stem *ALMOST* tight to the hole and not slip back in, but still far out enough that when fully inflated, there'll be a bit of gap between vise grip jaws and the rim - if the gap isn't there, put a valve stem puller tool (usually a T-type core remover/re-threader tool) threaded on to the stem (where the cap threads on) before removing vise grips.. otherwise if the tube isnt installed right or something, the stem can "flip" right down that little rabbit hole and you'll never get it back without poking a hole in the tube to deflate.. - the core tool is also handy for maintaining the tube in place while rest of the tire is being worked on to the bead (I always make sure that the bead area over the valve stem is the last spot to work on - saves the "low" side of tire from pinching tube against the stem)

[38racing]

The tubes with fully threaded stem are nice since you can add nut to prevent retraction. It's my understanding that the blue line goes down away from stem hole. I just did a tubed tire for first-time replacement and I'm not 100% sure that line was down in the original.

[bgsengine]

yeah the blue line, I have seen on some tubes, but not all of them.. Never gave a single thought to what the purpose of it might be, really...

[lefty]

This one is done. Thank you for all of the useful advice and tips. I got rid of all of the rust. There was a lot. I powdered up the tire itself and used some soapy water on the fat side of the rim. eI ended up using a washer on the stem. Big enough to slip over the threaded portion and to keep it from getting sucked in and small enough to be held on with the step cap. At fill time, I used a needle nose vice grip, not too tight but tight enough. As instructed, I spent some time working on the stem hole to make sure there were no sharp edges on it. I took some time to make sure there were no kinks in the tube when installing. I figured an ounce of prevention.

This was the third tire I've worked on. The first one was a small one that I did with a couple of screwdrivers. I think I got lucky on that one. The 2nd was a 10" with a harbor freight mini tire changer and it spoiled me. It was incredibly easy. This was the third and first that required some sort of finesse. Thanks for the guidance. I would have been screwed on my own.

[lee]

I had a valve stem slip back inside the hole when I was fighting to get the bead back on the rim. I noticed it when I went to inflate the tube. I took it back apart and put a zip tie on the valve stem. Since then every valve stem gets a zip tie and I've never had to worry about if the valve stem was going to be there when I'm done putting the tire back on the rim. I run about 5 psi on rear tires on lawn tractors and the zip tie also helps keep the valve stem from getting pushed back in the hole when airing up the tire.

[Arkie]

I keep one of these valve stem fishin and Installiation tools handy when working on tubed tires.

https://www.amazon.com/VTR-Valve-Fishin ... 11&sr=8-10

A zip tie left on the tubes stem is a good idea to keep from breaking down a tire to find a hidden valve stem, especially on eq tubed tires that are going to be stored for long time.

Working on tires and rims is not a fun thing but can save lots of bucks if you have lots of eq rolling and have access to good useable used tires for trailers and lawn tractors.

Few years ago I was driving on flint rock roads every day and hauled at least two spares, get a flat fixed in town and have another flat before I got home. Bought a tire changer and started fixing my own flats. You will find out from experience what brand and kind of tires last longer when you start driving on flint rock roads every day. A rural country mail carrier also knows what kind of tires to use. I've seen them country mail carriers hauling 3 or 4 spares.

[lefty]

Zip tie. Brilliant. I never thought of that. I'm always looking for creative uses for zip ties. I have a collection of several thousand, courtesy of my dad who collected several packages over the years.