Re: [A/S] Wheel question

[Bob Basques <bob.basques@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I beg to differ, some more  :c),

I'm an experienced (Split Rim) Tire changer.  When I say Split rim I'm 
talking about a full wheel design with a snap ring on one edge for 
installing tires.  I've changed hundred's of these type s of
tire.  I ran a Tire shop in the military, and changed these tires daily 
for a couple of years.  I had one incident where a tire popped off 
(Exploded?) off the rim, when some other person assembled
the tire and rim/ring that I was inflating

During every one of the tire inflations I used a Tire inflation safety 
cage, basically a big steel cage designed for this specific purpose.  
The failure I speak of was very scary when I thought about
it later, but when it happened, the cage did it's thing and stopped the 
ring /tire from flying all over the place.

The key to the Split rim is understanding that it's a very particular 
set-up, with little room for error, if the ring is bent or worn in any 
way shape or form, it should be replaced. I always had a
ready supply of extra new rings for replacement purposes. When 
assembling the tire/rim/ring combination, everything needs to seat 
tightly with no gaps,  occasionally an older rim will be stubborn
when tearing it down and the ring will become bent during removal, I 
always replaced them in these instances, and got a lot of flak from 
upper echelons for the extra expense. I also used generous
amounts of lubricant to get the tire to seat quickly without the need 
for excessive air pressure.  There are also things like cleaning the 
inner wall of the rim, that might get past tire mechanics
that are used to using a tire changing machine.  I have seen tires of 
this variety secured into a tire changing machine and then inflated with 
nothing over them to stop the ring from flying off, this
is a definite no-no. I never had an accident in my tire shop during the 
time that I administered it.

The big advantage to this type of set-up (in my opinion, and the 
military's too, I suppose) is that I don't need a tire changing machine 
out in the field to change a tire.  One person can break the
tire down and replace it in the field.  There are some field measures 
that can be used to handle the absence of a cage like driving another 
truck up onto the rim before inflation, nothing will go
anywhere then, except into the rubber of the truck tire on top of it.

Just some of my thought's on the subject, in the vein of differing 
opinions.  I Don't hate Split Rim's, but there're more work than others 
types that are available.

bobb