Changed Tire: Look What I Found

I usually just pay the $25 and let the bike shop do it, but something was calling to me...... I took the tire off and found:

The rubber rim strip was duct taped together. Seriously. I guess the guy tore it mounting the tire last time. Oh,well.

The rim area that mates with the bead was rusted all to hell. That's why you don't use soapy WATER to mount tires. It will cause rust. So, naval jelly and a wire brush took off as much rust as I could.

What I learned:

I built a work platform out of some 2 x 4"'s and 2 x 6's with an opening in the middle so that I could lay the wheel on it with the brake rotor down. That turned out to be a really good move, because I could work the wheel from the hub side and not have to fight with the rotor all day.

I found out you need at least three good tire irons, one to pry and hold a starting point and the other two to work the bead "leapfrog" around the rim.

An assistant or a third arm is needed.... or else you have to hold that starter iron down with your knee as you work around the bead.

I used straight diswashing liquid detergent (no water) to lube the rim and the rubber bead. Worked very well.

Getting the rim bead locks in was not as much trouble as I thought..... getting the tube's valve neck through the rim was a lot harder than I recall.

One trick: don't fight the rim strip. Slightly enlarge the hole where the tube's neck goes through. The rim strip moves around as you fight with the tube and the hole likes to move away. I also cut two holes in the rim strip for the bead lock mounting bolts so I can put the rim strip on first and then the rim locks and tube.

All in all..... it was a pain in the rear and I would not do it for anybody else for the meager sum of $25. And I had sore knees the next morning.

Whenever you let anyone else do your work for you, you'll quickly find laziness or incompetence enters the story quite often. I wouldn't mind paying $25 as much as the thought of what kind of hidden "work" they've done. In their defense though, I doubt rust would hide from inside the wheel no matter what was used in the install. Guys on the Honda Goldwing groups say not to use soap as a lube because it causes corrosion of the wheel, so soap itself is probably no better than soap/water. I can for sure testify soap/water corrodes honda wheels as last tire I did on the front of the goldwing would not hold air after a few months because the wheel corroded. Guys say to use AFT instead of soap. I did that last couple tires and had no problem. I don't mind changing tires as I said as I was forced to do my own work since age of 13.

RonKZ650 wrote:

Whenever you let anyone else do your work for you, you'll quickly find laziness or incompetence enters the story quite often. I wouldn't mind paying $25 as much as the thought of what kind of hidden "work" they've done. In their defense though, I doubt rust would hide from inside the wheel no matter what was used in the install. Guys on the Honda Goldwing groups say not to use soap as a lube because it causes corrosion of the wheel, so soap itself is probably no better than soap/water. I can for sure testify soap/water corrodes honda wheels as last tire I did on the front of the goldwing would not hold air after a few months because the wheel corroded. Guys say to use AFT instead of soap. I did that last couple tires and had no problem. I don't mind changing tires as I said as I was forced to do my own work since age of 13.

Yeah, but I also read not to use any type of oil like ATF because it rots the rubber over time.
Next time I think I'll use Mpro 7 which is a waterless cleaner derived from stuff used to clean surgical instruments and made into a gun cleaning spray. It's slippery like soap but leaves only a waxy residue, not water based at all.

The good news is my tires use tubes so I don't have to worry about air leaks at the rusty rim beads....:laugh:

I've read/heard using talcum powder works o.k. too for tire changing. No corrosion to worry about.

Why not use the stuff that's sold for the purpose?? Napa and other places sell Ru-Glyde and other brands of rubber lube specifically for tire changing.

For $25 a tire I wish there were people lined up at my door wanting tire changes, I could easily knock out four an hour.

It gets a lot easier after you've done a few hundred tire changes

MFolks wrote:

I've read/heard using talcum powder works o.k. too for tire changing. No corrosion to worry about.

I powdered the heck out of the inside of the tire and the surface of the tube so it would slide easily.

steell wrote:

Why not use the stuff that's sold for the purpose?? Napa and other places sell Ru-Glyde and other brands of rubber lube specifically for tire changing.

For $25 a tire I wish there were people lined up at my door wanting tire changes, I could easily knock out four an hour.

It gets a lot easier after you've done a few hundred tire changes

They throw in the spin balance with the change for $25.

But now that you mention it, they only take about 30 minutes to do the whole thing and that probably includes some goofing off.:laugh:

i echo what steell said where are you guy's when i need quick cash, if you can find it actual tire lube is the best stuff to use, in a jam use dish soap, never use petrolium based lubes it will attack the rubber compounds in the tire. baby powder or talcum powder works great for your tubes it makes it harder for the tire levers to bite in to the tube.

RonKZ650 wrote:

Guys say to use AFT instead of soap. I did that last couple tires and had no problem. I don't mind changing tires as I said as I was forced to do my own work since age of 13.

AFT?
American Farmland Trust?
American Federation of Teachers?
Applied Flow Technology?
Applied Financial Technology?
Almost Free Text?
Advanced Forming Technology?
Association for Financial Technology?
Accelerated Failure Time?
Automated File Transfer?
Atmospheric Flight Test?
Agglutination-Flocculation Test?

HUH?????:ohmy: :dry: :huh: :blink: :S

del

actually when ever i find wheels with a bunch of rust i clean them as good as i can then spray them with rust paint and let it dry if i can, mask off the shiny stuff and give it a couple of coats.

timebomb33 wrote:

actually when ever i find wheels with a bunch of rust i clean them as good as i can then spray them with rust paint

Too bad they don't make a dedicated product you could brush onto the rusty area to neutralize and seal it like maybe a cold galvanizing agent or something that would bond with the metal.