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Thread: What's In Those Old Tires?

  1. #1
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    What's In Those Old Tires?

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    That's what's in the majority of them and it's a crapshoot if the wheel is usable without needing to run tire sealant or apply a liquid bead sealer.

    It's just about always going to be more than just replacing the tire, and there's no way a tire shop will do much more than scrape off the chunks and put another tire on, if they don't refuse to mount a tire on it to start with, because they don't want the hassle of chasing leaks.

    This is what you get with those old, dry rotted tires, where someone put who knows what type of sealer in it, and they still won't hold air now. An FYI when paying top dollar for some crusty trike. It's going to cost you more; possibly new wheels.


    I was able to use these another round after some washing, wire brushing, and rust converting paint. I used to put wheels like this in the blasting cabinet, prime, then paint, but that's realistically too much work and money on a rust pitted wheel that may still require a sealer for the tire bead. Now I just go this route.

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    This Rustoleum doesn't list it in the directions, but other spray rust converters I've use say it works best with a light amount of surface rust, after all the major stuff is gone. That's the reason for not wire brushing it down to shinny metal, or at least spray it with some water afterwards to get a thin coat of flash rusting.
    The story of three wheels and a man...

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2020
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    Western Pennsylvania
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    Dang! What a mess! I've run into this on rims of older garden tractors as well. I sandblast in cabinet when I can.
    3 Wheels:
    1982 Honda ATC 185s
    1983 Honda ATC 250R
    1984 Yamaha 225DX
    1985 Honda 250SX
    1986 Honda Big Red 250ES

    4 Wheels:
    1986 Suzuki LT50
    1987 Honda TRX 250 Fourtrax
    2023 Honda Foreman

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
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    Arkansas
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    I'll still blast good steel wheels. Anything with minimal pitting and next to no pitting in the bead area, but anything with a good amount of pitting in the bead area is almost guaranteed to leak without a sealer.

    I have used bead sealer before, but I've been to seven or more automotive stores around here, including on big truck store, and none of them have it on the shelf. I'll have to order some. That's a Plan-B though; I don't like to use it.

    Nobody has anything but Slime brand tire sealant either, which is junk. It eats up rims after a while and plugs up valve cores before that. I've got to hand it to their marketing department though, because they've displaced everything else on the shelves.
    The story of three wheels and a man...

  4. #4
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    Aug 2008
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    MN
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    If it needs sealant to seal i just toss a tube in it, cheap and easy, just make sure to get the more expensive tube with a valve stem that has a threaded body with nut to bolt it into the stem hole so it won't spin around at low pressure.

    Can't say i have ever had them that bad, some rust yes, but thats pretty bad! Seems like usually i get the ones with bad beads because bubba beat on it with a trying to remove the tire and gave up, and i end up bending it back and cleaning it up and putting a tube in it for some extra safety on it not going flat.
    ---------------------------------------------------------
    1984 Honda ATC200ES "Big Red"
    1982 ATC200E "Hondie"
    1988 TRX300FW "Project Quad" Still in progress....

  5. #5
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    That first picture is why I started going with aluminum rims on my 250SX and 250ES.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by kb0nly View Post
    If it needs sealant to seal i just toss a tube in it, cheap and easy
    Thanks for your reply, but I don't agree.

    Tubes aren't cheap or easy. They're about 1/3 the price of a new tire and if they get a puncture, the tire has to be broken down and the tube removed to repair it.

    They also destroy wheels, just as bad as crap sealant. They form a moisture barrier against the wheel, which holds water and rusts the wheels to the point they're not even safe to use. Tubes are best used in spoke wheels, where moisture doesn't have a problem getting out through all the spoke holes.
    The story of three wheels and a man...

  7. #7
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    Apr 2012
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    What color was the inside of the tire in the first pic, or was the sealer not there and probably in a past tire before that one? I've only seen one rim rusted badly, and the guy welded 4 bolts on each side of the rim for tire chains. The chains were long gone and the rim was broken open in a few spots at the welds. Guy claimed to be the orig owner, had a 250es front fender, rear diff bearings shot, was covered in pine needles under a pine tree. He claimed it was only there a year, looked more like 15 years to me. I'll see if I can find the pic of it.

    Found the pics, gah the memories of that machine. I couldn't even get the lug nuts off the rear hubs. I think I have the rear end laying around somewhere yet with one tire on it lol. Ironically, I do remember getting it fired up and it ran great, no smoke, spark advancement worked right, etc. The only thing I had to do was change the plug and throw some gas in it. I'm thinking the tank was ironically fairly clean inside too. Have to love the lawnmower starter relay in the first pic =).



    Anyway, for the OP pics, I'd assume it's from the green slime or some other tire sealant stuff. I've pulled tube installed tires apart and not have nearly as much rust, I don't think the tire required a tube, they just put one in just because. I think it had no moisture and the rim paint was rubbed off from the rube and that's where the rust was. Split rim and I think the O-ring was trashed. I ended up sanding and painting the insides of the rim and either sold them or still have them laying around, was from a 1976 ATC90.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails DSCN1006.jpg   DSCN1007.jpg   DSCN1005.jpg   DSCN1004.jpg   DSCN1008.jpg  

  8. #8
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    Apr 2011
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    Mexico
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    I’ll never put another tube in a non-dirt bike tire and even then I prefer tubliss.

    My Tri-Moto rims were badly pitted when I removed the 1984ish rubber. Sand blasted them and had them powder coated, no leaks even though the pits are still very obvious.

    In a worst case scenario I’d consider something like sandblasting and then filling the pits with something like JB Weld before painting.
    It sucks to get old

  9. #9
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    May 2006
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    The Open Road
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    Sis-in-law's 84 200BR. She got new tires and asked me to install last month

    Tried to break these beads for almost two hours. Ended up cutting old tire off to get at the problem. Both rear wheels had tubes in them. I threw away the second wheel/tire along with this one without attempting to dismount that one after I saw this one. Buying new wheels and moving on. Pics make them look better than they really are

    I'll never use tubes



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  10. #10
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    Nov 2019
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    Florida
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    I think its a combination problem.
    I have seen a lot of yellow and green slime in my Honda rims, I figure its from all the Yamaha's and Kawasaki's it ran over back in the day. j/k

    Condensation, rust, fix a flat, dirt, water, none of it good.
    I did see a trick to getting off old tires, let the air out, and use a torch, heat the rubber bead right next to the rim up for a minute or two, really 2 minutes. get the thick rubber pliable again, then try the break the bead with a bead breaker. A tire machine is best but this does work in a pinch, there a youtube video of it also if you want proof.

    MrC.
    mrc_builds on YouTube Channel

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  11. #11
    ATCKevin's Avatar
    ATCKevin is offline At The Back Of The Pack Arm chair racerFirst time rider
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    When I worked at the John Deere dealership, we would charge extra to repair tires filled with slime or fix a flat. Such a mess. I found fix a flat to be far more corrosive over slime. I’ll never use either. We beat our heads against the wall for over a week trying to figure out why a brand new gator had a wicked vibration at high speed. Turns out the guy bought it, brought it home, and pumped the tires full of slime to “prevent a flat on the trail”


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  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by ATCKevin View Post
    ...Turns out the guy bought it, brought it home, and pumped the tires full of slime to “prevent a flat on the trail”
    Slime even states on the container that it's maximum useable lifespan is two years. I doubt anyone is breaking down good tires and changing the 'Slime' biannually.

    It's also noted in the first sentence on their website.
    https://shop.slime.com/collections/p...r-tire-sealant
    The story of three wheels and a man...

  13. #13
    ATCKevin's Avatar
    ATCKevin is offline At The Back Of The Pack Arm chair racerFirst time rider
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    [QUOTE=ATC King;1515094]Slime even states on the container that it's maximum useable lifespan is two years. I doubt anyone is breaking down good tires and changing the 'Slime' biannually



    no doubt! It turns into a nasty brown goop


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  14. #14
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    Another tip for really bad tires that don't want to come off the bead, cut the side wall out and use a sawzall or dremel or whatever you have to cut metal and cut the beat down to the rim, just careful not to damage the rim. I have had a couple tires I had to do that to in the past, but they were semi tires and breaking them down with the old school tools... a tire maul and a couple tire spoons. Filled a 14ft trailer twice with them, 8 foot wide and about 7-8ft tall. These were tires that sat a good 30-40 years in the weather. Most were car/truck tires, but there was a lot of farm/semi tires too. Lots of split rims (the kind with a metal ring and the tire slides off that side of the rim).

    Here's a video of some guys working on the type of rim I saw a lot of. Some were full of water, dirt etc. Oh the memories lol.


  15. #15
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    Even if someone manages to break a crusty tire down, if the rim is trashed, it doesn't matter.

    That's the deal with all these used and abused trikes out there. There's a very good chance it'll cost the new owner new tires and, new wheels. Many of the aftermarket ATC wheels have an offset. On trikes that use the same size wheel for all three, it's finding a good OEM one for the front that can be a hunt.

    When looking to buy a trike, if it's got old, dry rotted, worn out, and flat tires, it's a very good idea to factor in the cost of new wheels while trying to negotiate a price. Not everyone has a stack of good used wheels to pick through like the people who've been doing this for a while.

    Anyone who's changed enough of these over the years, has had their fair share of cutting them off. At some point, you ask yourself if it's really worth all the effort, busted knuckles, and sore knees. A tire shop certainly won't bother with them, and they'll still probably charge you for breaking them down.
    Last edited by ATC King; 11-03-2020 at 10:34 AM.
    The story of three wheels and a man...

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