Aluminum wheel restoration.

[Swims350]

yep I use the car or truck to break em down, I never steer, I just use the back tire, run it over, turn the tire, run it over, repeat until it comes loose. Then they pry on and off fairly easy. I usually walk them back on, me on top or my knees walking them onto the rim, then I do just as said slam on the back bead and pull to the front and shoot the air to em. The best and fastest way is to remove the valve core, sock the air to the empty valve and try to make it seal up to get air in the tire, once it does it'll pop, pop then you're done, remove the air chuck, stick the valve core in and air to spec. My old man taught me that trick a few years ago.

 

[crazy4offroad]

That HF thing dont look big enough to do a 38" Super Swamper.

 

[animal]

We used to change the tires by hand on dad's tractor trailer when I was a kid. Pain in the ass to change the tires. Then lay down the tire, I stand inside the wheel while he sprays starter fluid into the tire, then lights it to "blowup" (no I am NOT kidding) the tire, then hit the air to keep it up. Many a day I got done and went back into the house with NO eyebrows or hair on the arms. God I'm glad he pays someone for that crap now!

 

[89Suburban]

yep I use the car or truck to break em down, I never steer, I just use the back tire, run it over, turn the tire, run it over, repeat until it comes loose. Then they pry on and off fairly easy. I usually walk them back on, me on top or my knees walking them onto the rim, then I do just as said slam on the back bead and pull to the front and shoot the air to em. The best and fastest way is to remove the valve core, sock the air to the empty valve and try to make it seal up to get air in the tire, once it does it'll pop, pop then you're done, remove the air chuck, stick the valve core in and air to spec. My old man taught me that trick a few years ago.

 

[89Suburban]

That HF thing dont look big enough to do a 38" Super Swamper.

Look how simple it is though. Somebody here needs to make a homemade one and post it. If you google it for images under "bead breaker tool, all kinds of homemade stuff pops up, including 2x4's.

 

[bucket]

I've only changed tires a couple times at home. I just broke the beads down with a sledge hammer, but that won't work if the tire is rusted to the rim. And you need a good aim.

To seat the beads, put a ratchet strap around the circumference of the tire and then crank it down. Then air it up to seat them. Or you can put a rope around the tire, put a broomstick through it, then crank the broomstick around several times to tighten the rope.

 

[Swims350]

I saw that done before too, all of it, ratchet strap, heard of the rope trick, sledge hammer, and lighter fluid, saw that on tv in antartica or something.

As for the sledge my old man had a big hammer he called a duckbill hammer made for breaking down tires, sledge on one side flat bill on the other, and yes good aim was a must, saw a cragr get hair lipped because of it once.

 

[Camar068]

Gonna check the local truck stops for this stuff. Ton of homemade recipes that include some of the following:

-kerosene
-mineral spirits
-different rouges
-wd40
-carwax
-RainX

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