Guys,

I have a set of 13s that I'd like to powdercoat, but Wal-Mart won't touch 13s, and I don't want to pay anyone real money just to tear off my old tires. Given a crowbar, air compressor, etc, are there any good tricks to dismounting tires manually?

 

I cut through the sidewall with a box cutter. Then cut the steel bands around the bead with a dremel and a cutting disc. Worked great.

 

Alrighty. I just didn't know if the beads were reinforced somehow or anything like that. Sounds easy.

 

They're inside the bead. I trimmed the rubber down as much as I could and tried to cut them with a side cutter/diagonal cutter (dyke?). It didn't work too well. The dremel saved the day.

 

these wheels steel or aluminum? i've done this quite a few times but only on steel wheels and it's physically demanding. unless it's something u need done right away, i could demonstrate at the meet sat if ur coming. i've used a couple big screwdrivers and big rubber hammer. but yeah, cutting the tires up will work also.

 

It might make a good project for the OGTA meeting, except that I hope to have them in the powdercoat oven that afternoon. They're actually 2-piece Mags. I think I'll have a go at them tonight and see what I can get. I've got a cutoff wheel and angle grinder too, but I'm afraid that would turn into a tire-burning mess.

 

Just go to a tire shop, what happens when your dremel hits the area that seats the tire bead. Then the tire won't seal beause of the gash from the dremel.

 

the best way to manually dismount tires is to first take out the valve core

then take a big *** hammer with a large blunt pick end and break the tire lose from the rim

then use your prybars and work the tire off the rim, usually start on the front of the rim.

 

crit, u could also us a sawzall to cut the tire bead. but like jimmy45 said, any shop that deals with tires can dismount them for u and probably wont charge anything. but having 4 of them, they shouldn't charge much. and +1 on the valve core. it does make for breaking the bead down from the rim much easier.

 

Wal-Mart won't touch 13" rims?! strange.....

 

i love 13s..so easy to mount and dismount...

the only hard part will be breaking the bead on both sides. maybe try jumping on a shovel placed on the bead?

then really all you need is a pry bar of sorts to work the bead over the rim just like working with a small lawn mower tire or 22.5 semi truck tire

 

run over just the tire with another vehicle to break the bead. or if you have a motercycle place the kickstand on the tire as close to the rim as possible then lean the bike over. usually pops with little effort. then make sure the bead goes into the (hollow) of the rim to give you a little extra room to get a prybar to lift the bead over the lip of the rim. once over the lip insert another prybar under the lip and repeat. you get pretty quick with practice. good luck

 

set the tire on fire and wait...

 

Wal-Mart's an 80/20 store. If 80% of the people in the world want something, they stock it. If not, they won't come near it. So while I've never tried to get them to work on 13" rims, it does make sense.

 

I know they wouldn't help my friend who wanted to replace the 195's on his car with 205's because they weren't the factory sized tires... so i guess its not too much of a shock....

 

Ive tried a sawzall, it was a no go with all the fine cords in the carcass.

 

I would not recommend running them over/prying on them as it is fairly easy to damage the rim which can often cost way more that the amount to get them removed by a store.

However if you can break the bead on both sides, i use a large clamp and tighten it down to break one side and then flip over rim and apply force with a press (brother has an amazing shop) then all you need to do is cut a clot in the sidewall and you should be able to get it off without damaging the rim.

The other ways will work, but im not sure how well the powder coat covers up nicks and grooves and what not.

once the bead is broken, simple green or lithgrease on the rim edge makes life alot easier

 

Well, after a little more looking (they've been off the car for a while) they're total crap. They're light and they're straight, but it's a fake 2-piece setup with socket-head cap screws which are also fake.

HERE are some on eBay

I took the air ratchet and a 6mm drive to the screws, and they're not even threaded. They just spin in place. I imagine I'll just clean them well and powdercoat them into place.

Any idea what kind of surface you need to powdercoat? Mine are sandblasted, so they have a texture like 100-grit sandpaper around the lip. Would PC fill the voids and even them out, or will they always look wavy?


Edit: Wheel pics

 

Quote..
Any idea what kind of surface you need to powdercoat? Mine are sandblasted, so they have a texture like 100-grit sandpaper around the lip. Would PC fill the voids and even them out, or will they always look wavy?



It really depends on what type of finish you are looking for. The mirror or high gloss colors have less pigment in them and more clear so they will not fill voids as well. Textured powders will fill that rough surface up but will leave a textured finish. Personally I would coat the centers and polish the lips. What color do you plan to use? People on one of the coating forums I read will do a coat of mirror black on a rough surface to even it out and then coat with their powder of choice for a smooth finish. Hope that helps. Oh, and one more thing....make sure the powder you use is UV stable.

 

100 grit is pretty rough for PC, take it down to the 400wet/dry range. I've had a set similiar to your's. The fake allen heads were driven in.