Blow'd Up Sir!

So today, I learned about split ring wheels. A co-worker treated me to Youtube videos of actual human beings being killed by exploding tires. Gruesome.

As I peruse photos of many 2.5 and 5 ton trucks, I see the split ring on the wheels. My understanding, is that nowadays, you put the whole wheel in a cage when seating a new tire, or perhaps chaining the living crap out of it.

This is an aspect of maintenance that I might like a professional truck shop to handle. Do truck shops still mount tires in this fashion? Do you guys often upgrade to a modern wheel that doesn't use the split ring?

Ajax MD said:

So today, I learned about split ring wheels. A co-worker treated me to Youtube videos of actual human beings being killed by exploding tires. Gruesome.

As I peruse photos of many 2.5 and 5 ton trucks, I see the split ring on the wheels. My understanding, is that nowadays, you put the whole wheel in a cage when seating a new tire, or perhaps chaining the living crap out of it.

This is an aspect of maintenance that I might like a professional truck shop to handle. Do truck shops still mount tires in this fashion? Do you guys often upgrade to a modern wheel that doesn't use the split ring?

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Some truck tire places will handle them. Some won't just depends on their policies. Some places won't work on split ring wheels. Some will. Some will work on dayton wheels some won't.

On a deuce. you would have to go over to a super single type MRAP wheel and adapter plates and 395 tires. Alot of money tied up in that.
Split ring wheels are not dangerous as long as you exercise caution and know what you are doing... I always use the drivers stop or under whatever hub/axle i am working on so if i think it might go up then itll hit that and It won't be moving the whole truck.

No we dont, we change out tires without chains and cages, what makes the difference between man and boy is (woman from a girl) is capability do very dangerous things safely without the safety equipment by just being careful and observant with knowledge which comes with humbleness to ask and take advice of those wise-man which is this site is what for.

99nouns said:

No we dont, we change out tires without chains and cages, what makes the difference between man and boy is (woman from a girl) is capability do very dangerous things safely without the safety equipment by just being careful and observant with knowledge which comes with humbleness to ask and take advice of those wise-man which is this site is what for.

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If I repeat this at work I would be fired from my position as safety officer, and I might go down a rank.

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They are not actually split rims, but lock rings.

99nouns said:

No we dont, we change out tires without chains and cages, what makes the difference between man and boy is (woman from a girl) is capability do very dangerous things safely without the safety equipment by just being careful and observant with knowledge which comes with humbleness to ask and take advice of those wise-man which is this site is what for.

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I can't tell if that's sarcasm or not. I've done quite a few tires on lock ring wheels with no problems but I think I'll stick to using a <$100 tire cage to keep a lock ring from ending up somewhere in the neighborhood if something goes wrong.

Let me take this opportunity to ask a few dumb questions (as usual).
1. Is there any danger once the tire is inflated, or by adding air to a low tire?
2. A while back someone said it's in the TMs that a tire needs to be deflated before removing the wheel from the truck, is that true and if so why?
3.Can these wheels rings/tires blow up going down the road like on a semi?

Try to find a tire shop that does agriculteral tires (tractor tires). They're usually set up for the split rim/lock ring set up.
At least the shops by me are. They deal with all the local farmers equipment.

Also if you have a nearby truck stop that has a repair shop, they may also be set up with the proper equipment.

russojap said:

Let me take this opportunity to ask a few dumb questions (as usual).
1. Is there any danger once the tire is inflated, or by adding air to a low tire?
2. A while back someone said it's in the TMs that a tire needs to be deflated before removing the wheel from the truck, is that true and if so why?
3.Can these wheels rings/tires blow up going down the road like on a semi?

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There is no danger once the tire has "seated" on it's rim. Now if you had run the tire after it was flat that might be a different story all together. I have seen rims come loose from that. But just filling the tire, or removing it there is no danger.
As far as blowing up goes. I only saw a tire blow off a semi-truck once. It was the tire itself, and not the rim that came loose. The tire had "dry rot" and at hi-way speeds the tire finally gave way and blew off. So once the tire is fully seated on the rim you have no worries. Unless you over fill the tire ! I did see a mechanic use a automatic tire filler which was set wrong. Our shop compressor was capable of over 200 PSI (it was a rotary compressor) and once the tire hit about 180 it blew the tire off the rim ! Made an outrageous noise when it blew !!! I thought an artillery shell had hit the shop !!!
Thankfully no one was hurt, but the tire needed replacing after that.

Since the commercial industry has gone to one-piece wheels the knowledge of how to work on multi piece wheels is going away. The result has been a lot of fear from lots of stories. No doubt multi piece wheels need to be respected, but there is no reason to fear them.

Any commercial tire shop worth the name can work on these tires. Cages are something to have when servicing them regularly. If having to service a tire or two installing it on the outside of one of the rear axles before inflation works in a pinch. That may come up when having to take care of a tire when on the road.

With all that said. Have someone show you what to do before tackling one of these things. They are stupid easy to work on if you know how to do it.

Also, if you tackle it, leave slack in the chain around the tire. It will expand and cause issues if theres no slack. the bead usually seats around 25-30psi, so dont poop your pants when it happens. Once the tire has slid over 5he ring, the danger is gone.

Awesome replies, guys. Many thanks.

As someone said, it's not fear, it's respect. I respect the fact that I have zero experience with this and that it's something that I shouldn't try to tackle alone, on the first try. Someone local has PM'd me with an offer of assistance, so that's great. I've also been told of a local truck shop that can do the job if I don't want to do it.

It would seem that some of the major explosion incidents are when people just keep pouring air into the tire well past 30 psi even if the bead doesn't seat. I would imagine that if the bead isn't seating by 35 psi it's probably wise to stop, let the air out, and re-evaluate.

Split ring lock ring Budd wheels, I probably still don't have that right

These trucks will be around for another 50 years and I have always thought that the information of the Deuce split ring wheels (lock ring) should be in a sticky, but it is not. Perhaps we could work on that.

SS archives offer a few very good posts to start a sticky with, like this one..........

https://www.steelsoldiers.com/showt...uot-and-quot-Split-Rims-Widowmaker-quot/page2

Split ring and split rim are two different animals.
"Wheel, Budd Style, 20 inch diameter, 6 hole. NSN:2530-00-738-9620, PN: 7389620."

I had bought 8 new tires and 7 almost new and mounted but had to sell the unmounted tires. When the truck tire place spent 2 hours getting the spare apart I saw that I would not ever be able to fix those wheels. I just figured that for the rest of my driving I would use those I had mounted already
Anyhow the dead wheel I used for a fire pit, all it was good for. and pictures for the general.

I wished to Santa for new wheels and tires like in the one photo but that couldn't be done.

Ajax MD said:

As someone said, it's not fear, it's respect. I respect the fact that I have zero experience with this and that it's something that I shouldn't try to tackle alone, on the first try.

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I think you have the right attitude. Respect allows one to learn, fear...not so much.

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Scrounger said:

When I service these tires, after seating the ring, I’ll inflate the tire till the bead contacts the rim. At no time will I allow more that 25psi until it is in the cage. The idea is to inflate the tire flat on the ground, with no weight on the wheel, till the bead is true on the wheel. Doing it that way minimizes the chance of having the tire not seat correctly. In other words, the run out will be true. I find that this method also reduces folded or pinched tubes.

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I've found that even at 25 PSI that if that ring does come off it can still cause a lot of damage. I never inflate the tire unless it is caged or chained. All my old instructors and every manual I ever read has also said the same thing. I've been around them when the ring came off and it is very scary !
Also when I do them I use "baby powder" on the inner tube and after the tire bead seals I let out all the air. Then refill it to the proper pressure. I've never had a pinched tube this way. Pinched tubes can really ruin your day !

I should add, I'm not trying to get on your case "Scrounger" . It's just that playing with these rims can be deadly if done wrong. Someone like you probably can get away by adding air until the tire seats, but someone else will try it and blow their head off.
My good buddy for the last 50 years now who is also a Master Mechanic and owns his own shop once saw the results of a "misjudged" application of air to a tire. The rim blew a hole through the shops roof along with the head of the mechanic.
Better safe then sorry.

Thanks for the diagrams and photos. These are very helpful.