wheels

[kodiak2]

I have been trying to remove tires from combat rims which are obviously rusted to the rims. I've tried driving onto them and tried to break them lose with a wood splitter to no avail. Has anyone found a good way of doing this without cutting them off?

[NP2650]

I have not tried this and it seems to be a bit of a fire hazard that should only be done in a safe location, but the gentleman I got my combat wheels from told me that soaking the bead area with gasoline softens the rubber and will ease removal.

[kodiak2]

wheels

Thanks for the info. I'll try it and let you know if it works.

[kodiak2]

tires/wheels

I tried the gas. It seems to have helped somewhat, but the tires are still on.

[kodiak2]

wheels

I tried the gas. It helped somewhat, bet the tires are still on. They look ok, but are full of dry rot.

[gmharris]

It's probably better to use WD 40 than gasoline. Let it soak in for a few days. The proper tool to break the bead is a bead breaking tire hammer. It can be a lot of work. Or, have a tire shop do it.

[aussiecowboy]

I've had this problem too, I ended up driving a fair sized fork lift onto them and leaving it there and then taking a big sledgehammer to the beads either side, hard work but it gets there.

[b4pw]

When I was in high school/career center, our instructor poured a can of coke around the bead, waited 10 minutes then we broke it loose. I've not tried this since because I seldom do tire work. Roy

[W_A_Watson_II]

Find an old coke in glass to try this. I suspect they have made coke less usable in all the formula changes they have made to it over the years.

[grover26]

I'm retired now, but spent my working years in the HVAC / Refrigeration trade. Early on, I worked quite a bit in luncheonettes and soda fountains. Back then many systems were water cooled using small cooling towers. It was common practice to hit the owner up for a gallon of coke syrup to throw into the tower to clean the condensor tubes. Worked probably as well as any commercial cleaner. Never tried it in a vehicle. Would probably eat right through today's aluminum radiators. lol

[bobyepsr]

I just broke down four very very rusty, flat for years combat rims. We used a tire machine to brake the beads. It took a very long time going around and around. It didn't seem to do anything for awhile,we added soap when we could get it in between the rim and the tire.. When it was wide enough I put in pieces of inch board to hold it open. The machine now pressed on the boards giving it more travel. I never would have succeed with a tire sledge and irons.
The harder part of the job was separating the rims. A heavy impact wrench got the nuts off. Amazing bolts and nuts! They all came free. Penetrating oil and sledge hammers and repeat and repeat.
It all ended up being about one hour each.

[Desoto61]

I'm retired now, but spent my working years in the HVAC / Refrigeration trade. Early on, I worked quite a bit in luncheonettes and soda fountains. Back then many systems were water cooled using small cooling towers. It was common practice to hit the owner up for a gallon of coke syrup to throw into the tower to clean the condensor tubes. Worked probably as well as any commercial cleaner. Never tried it in a vehicle. Would probably eat right through today's aluminum radiators. lol

Coke syrup is still technically considered corrosive per DOT shipping requirements. Not sure it would do much to an aluminum system since while watered down it's sold in aluminum cans by the billions every year.

[grover26]

Coke syrup is still technically considered corrosive per DOT shipping requirements. Not sure it would do much to an aluminum system since while watered down it's sold in aluminum cans by the billions every year.

Good point. I checked: Ratio of water to Coke syrup in today's Coke is 5:1.
I thought it was more than that. It still did a good job cleaning copper condensor tubes.

[kodiak2]

rims

I finally gave up on the rims. If anyone wants them, they can have them for free. Have 5 un mounted and two or three mounted. shipping might be a problem as I live in central Alaska. Will hold them for anyone who wants to pick them up.

[aussiecowboy]

Man if only these were in Australia, I'd be all over them in a heartbeat.