If you have ever wondered how to change tires on a coach here you go. This guy is good, miss with that tire sledge and your rim is toast.
The Tire Terminal, wheel change (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA99LObT7oE#)
If you go to youtube.com and search on "Foretravel" there are a number of vids about Foretravels, and Foretavel owners and rallies
Keith
That's how they changed out my tires in Atlanta, Tx after I had a blow out near there. Found out the tires where 8 years old! We had just bought the coach and had no idea age made a difference. Hey the tread looked good! :) The guys in Atlanta used a rubber pad to protect the wheel. These guys didn't bother. You can see they have a pad in the foreground of the video. It's pretty cool how quickly they can change out a tire with just primitive tools. Don't know if this is the standard in the industry. I was expecting some large expensive hydraulic truckin tools to be used.
see ya
ken
I purchased a nice changer for our tubeless truck tires and most of the guys did not use it. They said it took longer to use than the beat and pry method. If you want to be excited about tires just search for split rim tires on youtube. When they blew they could kill you. Golden rule was inflate in the safety cage or get fired! We had one blow off in the shop. The truck was just sitting there waiting to be worked on. The ring ricocheted around the shop and fortunately no-one was hurt. Sure gave the guys religion though.
Keith
Obviously, the guy was good with the tools but it was clear there wasn't any attention paid to putting the date code to the outside. I would have thought date codes to the outside would be industry practice, though it wasn't that way with the steer tires on our coach. Having had to wait until I made frame blocks to see what how old fronts were made it difficult to plan our expenses when we were negotiating price on the coach... These were six lug wheels, does that mean they are 19"s?
Don
some of the Gvs have 6 lug and are 22.5.
One other thing I did not see him do was check and replace the valve stem. If the o ring seal on it is flattened it should be changed and I would do it anyway when replacing tyres that are 6 or more yrs old.
John
Keith,
If I ever had a tire service center disrespect my property like this, I would definitely have some very focused discussion with the owner/manager of the facility.
You or the tech may think he's "good" but he does dozens of things wrong and the person that goes down the road with his work product on a steer axle, through ignorance or bravado, is just begging for a life threatening incident.
Many owners may not know what they
should be looking for, if they want to (and/or even have the opportunity). I would rather see us promoting at least a minimum of technical knowledge and treatment for our tires/wheels. There are far more complex details that can and should be addressed, but a good. minimum starting point is the following TIA (Trucking Industry Association)/Michelin collaborative training video.
Truck Tire Mounting Procedures (Part 1) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzaQzeGfpO4#)
FWIW,
Neal
For sure, I would rather have this guy, or rather, this methodology on $1.2K worth of steer tires (we only need two right now...) than the freeswinging sledge hammer. Still, I find it surpising that there aren't any high tech machines involved... Good info to have before actually paying someone to mount our tires! Thanks Neil...
Don
All TCi (Michelins) dealers use high tech equipment to mount & balance truck tires.
Good review, thanks. I love that OSHA regulation "29 CFR 1910.177", what bureaucratic nonsense, can't help but wonder what the other 1,910,176+ regulations are?
Pretty impressive if a bit primitive. Reminds me of a tire guy who I still think of from time to time. I had a one ton truck with 16.5" wide tires. I stopped at a truck stop to get one repaired. After fixing the tire, the guy was having trouble getting the tire to seal against the rim. After trying for quite awhile he said he would use his sure fire method. At that, he picked up a container, walked over to the gas pumps and pumped in about a cup of gasoline. Then he turned the air on. So I'm looking at my tire on the tire mount machine and listening to the air flowing through. Then the guy pours the gas into the loose tire and states loudly, "STAND BACK!" As I backed up, he lights a match and throws it in the tire. KABOOOM! That tire exploded up to the rim and filled right up with air. I looked up at the ceiling and saw that the white paint was very black above the tire changer. Apparently, he'd done this trick before. Often wondered how long he lasted.
jor
I saw the same explosive trick done with some fluid from a can. It may have been ether. The tire guy suggested we stand back as he mounted a used tire on our rim. After the explosion, he quickly beat out the flames with a shop rag and applied pressure from an air hose. He helped put our Suburban back on the road on a Saturday evening in Trinidad, CO. It provided a lasting memory for the trip. I prefer the less exciting action of an automated tire mounting tool.
Son and I have a few travel stories from his teen through college years. :D
Snip: KABOOOM! That tire exploded up to the rim and filled right up with air.
A fairly standard procedure with the more "enthusiastic" off-roaders is much the same trick, but using a hand-held propane torch to introduce the "explosive content". Seen it done (from a distance) a couple of times.
Might also solve Dave M's PP issues?
The lil kaboom sounds normal when using either sprayed into the tire, then lit with match or what ever, it blows the tire on the rim to seat the tire, then you quickly add air to proper pressure, Have done many that way, never had a problem.
Sometimes you gotta do what is needed to solve the problem.
Dave M
I guess I missed some things on this video....I really saw no disrespect to this persons property that would warrant a "very focused discussion" with the owner/manager, he did lay this wheel on a pad after all.... Someone saw dozens of things this guy did wrong..."dozens" (plural)??, this would be a minimum of at least 24, I honestly didn't see all that....and saw nothing that would cause me to think a "life threatening incident" would result from mounting this tire on the steer axle. So far as the date codes being mounted on the outside, I too think this is good, but some tires are directional (XZA3+'s for one) and if they are mounted correctly, tires on the curb side will have the date codes mounted inside.
The "freeswinging sledge hammer" is actually a specially made tool, made specifically to break the bead loose from the wheel and unless it is in the hands of a complete novice, is very efficient and causes absolutely no damage to the wheel. Yes, you need to hit where you're looking, but millions upon millions of spikes were driven into railroad ties by hand with similar "freeswinging sledges" except they had heads only about the size of the heads of those spikes, and they very rarely missed...again, had to hit where they were looking....and then there are golfers who can do that consistently with their clubs...(and some of us not so good)
Perhaps I need to update the video player on my computer, (not sure which one it uses) cause evidently there are things on this video that it wasn't showing me.
Not a real big fan of this "explosive" method of seating the beads either but there are times when it might be the only alternative, BTDT...(in the field with no bead seater)
20390AL 5 Gal. Bead Seater (Aluminum Tank) :: Tire Changing Tools :: Equipment (http://www.esco.net/tire-changing-equipment/product.php?productid=258&cat=5&page=1)
If one must resort to this method, you don't need anything near a cup of gas or anything else, just a squirt of liquid buffer or something similar... Another downside to this method, especially if too much is used, is the "seating material" in the valve core will sometimes be "cooked" by the heat just enough to harden, and over time a slow leak will result.
OK, rant over....hope I didn't offend anyone, didn't intend to.
From Age 19 - 23 I swung that same tire sledge thousands and thousands of times - once "split" rims were outlawed - this tire sledge is how the bead is most commonly and efficiently released from tire. You will see them at every truck tire shop you go to.
Actually, the more interesting tires to work on were the off road tires, but for those we had special truck mounted equipment, since you had to work them while on the machine and in vertical position, and could where several hundred pounds (and up)!
Neal,
I did not mean he was competent just that he was fast. Rims should always be inspected and cleaned at every tire change. For anyone that's interested I have included a link to the Alcoa Wheel Service Manual as this is the right way to inspect aluminum wheels.:
Alcoa Wheels North America: Literature: Wheel Service Manual (http://www.alcoa.com/alcoawheels/north_america/en/info_page/wheel_service_manual.asp)
Keith
Powered industrial trucks. - 1910.178 (http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=9828)