wire wheels tire breakdown

[bluegrass john]

Are the new tire changers that many of the tire dealers use ok for either mounting tires or removing tires from the wire wheels such as found on our LBC'S ?

I know it is probably still best to use the old standard method but I have been told that the new machines are designed to be gentle with all wheels that are found on most of the new luxury cars including vehicles that have been equipped with expensive custom wheels. Any input or shared experiences are always appreciated !!

Thanks,
John

 

[Healey Nut]

I had new tires installed on my Aston Martin V8 Vantage in the summer . I watched the guy do it and the machine never touched the rim . It's not so much the tire installation that's the problem it's finding someone who has a machine that has the adapters for knock off wheels and knows how to set up the machine for them so they can be balanced correctly .

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Never an issue with damage to rims--I suspect steel rims are at least as strong as some alloys--but, as HealeyNut noted, the shop has to have the right adapters for balancing and some experience with WWs.

 

[Keoke]

Generally, the shop has a Nylon shoe that fits over the tool that removes the tire from the wheel thus protecting the wheel's rim.
However ,as you know most of our DIY tire tools are plain unrefined metal.

All the other If's/ &'s listed earlier are certainly applicable too

 

[Randy Forbes]

Well, I haven't yet had to reverse this process, but they went on A LOT EASIER than I expected them to!

Even if you don't want to do them *by hand* yourself, most over the road truck repair shops will have a guy on staff that still knows how to do it.

 

[Keith_M]

Agree with everything that's been said. When you get ready to balance them, they probably won't fit on a modern spin balancing machine. To solve this problem, I modified an old hub to server as an adapter. You'll need to find a cooperative tire shop and machinist, but with a little work you can modify the hub to fit the 'cones' that hold the wheel in place. It took me a few trips back and forth between the tire shop and the machine shop, but I eventually got it right. You'll have to have the machinist remove the center from the knockoff nut so the cone will fit down the center. I can send you a picture if it would help.

 

[Healey Nut]

When I had mine balanced the shop I used had just purchased a new fancy balancing machine . The owner of the shop who I know personally called the balancer suppliers rep who stopped by the shop looked at my wheels and went to his truck came back with some adapters and said here these are what you need and set them all up on the balance machine .
He then gave lessons to the staff at the shop on how to balance wire wheels on the new machine . All got balanced with no visible weights , they are all stick ons and hidden inside and taped down with foil tape to hide them .
Even better was when I asked for a bill for the install and balance I was told it was on the house for the use of my wheels for the lessons learned by the techs at the garage .
I now send anyone I know in the area with wire wheels to them as a return favour .

 

[CraigC]

Healey Nut, do you remember what brand of balancer the shop has? The dealership where I work has several balancers and I'd like to see if i can acquire the correct adapters.

 

[Healey Nut]

Healey Nut, do you remember what brand of balancer the shop has? The dealership where I work has several balancers and I'd like to see if i can acquire the correct adapters.

Next time I'm in there I will have a look .

 

[bluegrass john]

Keith I would like to see a picture if you have it available !

Thanks,
John

 

[Keith_M]

Keith I would like to see a picture if you have it available !

Thanks,
John

I'll take a few pictures later today.

 

[CraigC]

Next time I'm in there I will have a look .

Thanks, I would appreciate that.

 

[Keith_M]

Keith I would like to see a picture if you have it available !

Thanks,
John

John,
I never made it out to my shop today, but here is an old picture that I found. I doesn't show the machined surface on the back side, but at least you get the idea.
Keith

 

[bluegrass john]

Thanks for the picture and also thanks everyone for their informative responses. I have located a race shop that has a Hunter revolution tire changer that is completely automatic and nothing touches the rim. I checked a video on you tube and it looks like this machine is exactly what I am looking for to dismount my tires: amazing to watch this machine work on the video................let's hope it works this well on my 60 spoke Daytons.

John

 

[CraigC]

John, as cool as that machine may be, it does one thing you want to avoid with wire wheels. It grips the assembly through the center of the wheel. That means that every step of the dismount/mount process will be applying a load through your spokes. I would recommend one of the machines that grips the wheel by the inside face of the rim section. The center hub and spokes will not see any load with this rim-grip style.

 

[Healey Nut]

John, as cool as that machine may be, it does one thing you want to avoid with wire wheels. It grips the assembly through the center of the wheel. That means that every step of the dismount/mount process will be applying a load through your spokes. I would recommend one of the machines that grips the wheel by the inside face of the rim section. The center hub and spokes will not see any load with this rim-grip style.

Agreed .
Those machines are great for nice alloys which are much stronger . Just one of the regular inside grip machines for wire rims ,and the good shops should have plastic shields that fit over the grips so the wheel finish is not marked by the machine . The shop I used did this .

 

[bluegrass john]

Healey nut and CraigC, I understand what you mean; after watching the machine work on the video a second time I see where the center of the wheel comes into play. Thanks for pointing out the problem with this type of "touchless system". Makes good sense.....thanks for the warning.

John

 

[drambuie]

Hello John, I just got around to reading your post and thought I would chime in a bit. I don't know if you already bought tires and tubes yet? But if I may, I can suggest a few things that worked very well for me and saved a boat load of money in the process. I bought Nexen tires for my BJ8 after hearing some really great reviews. After 6000 miles I can tell you they are the best all around tires I had on any of my British sports cars period! AND they where only 50 bucks each when I ordered them at super Walmart tire dept. these tires are the proper look and scale and look right on a Healey. As for tubes, order them from Summit racing, they are only $8 dollars each and very good quality, super fast shipping too. As for mounting the tires and wheel alignment, I went to my local NTB and talked to the manager and the guy who was doing all the work so they fully understood to take special care when mounting and balancing.... Bring a spare tube just in case they pinch one. Well, all in all they did a great job as I watched them. As a result, my Healey tracks straight as a arrow and smooth at all speeds! Had it up past 100 mph one time and no problem at all. Hope some of this info helps.

 

[Healey Nut]

No need for tubes if you use Dayton wire Wheels with tubeless rims .

 

[BN2guy]

Re: Dayton wire wheels
I have a second opinion for anyone who might care. I know that Dayton says their wheels are now tubeless. BUT, it's been my experience with five brand new 72-spoke wheels, that two out of the five tire/wheels leaked before the car was even driven. It was still in the restoration shop undergoing final electrical assembly, etc. and within a few days, the tires had lost nearly half of their pressure. They were re-inflated and within a few days - same problem. Installing inner tubes solved the problem.