Changing your own tires on a 110...

[VenomRS4]

Hopefully this hasn't been covered yet....I did a quick search which returned no useful results.

The tires on my 81' 110 are dry rotted so it's time to replace them. If I'm not mistaken, the wheels are two piece with a gasket in the middle to make a seal. Instead of paying a shop to switch them over with some type of machine...can I just change the tires myself by splitting the wheels and putting them back together with new gaskets? There are o-rings on ebay for a couple dollars. This would be far more cost effective than $15-20/rim at a shop. And if I can, do I need any other special materials to do the job?

Thanks in advance.

[trike savior]

it is very easy to do yourself but you still need to break the bead. I have tried many ways but the easiest way is to take it to a shop. If you call them and explain you just need the bead broke on the tires and ask nicely they might not charge you the full 20 which includes de-mounting and re-mounting the tire. I normally pay $5 a wheel.

then with the bead broke you can remove all the bolts and pop the rims apart. the old O-rings should still be reusable.

[MRSOUND]

X2 on breaking the bead first. If you don't you play heck trying to get them off. Speaking from experience here.

[C.J]

I just drive up on the tire with a truck and that'll normally break the beads pretty easy (unless it's a damn trail-pro....).

I've yet to have any luck with getting a 110 split rim to reseal after splitting it. My uncles used to put silicone in the middle of them and bolt them together to get them to not leak or they would take and clean the rim SUPER good and wrap some electrical tape around the center and that would work sometimes. But you have to have the rim together and then mount the tire to it which is just a pain.

[MTS]

As mentioned breaking the normally rusty old beads
Especially if there the oem ohutsus is a pain. Other than that be sure to clean the o ring groove really good, wire brush ect, use some heavy grease on the o ring itself and dishsoap on the beads. with one wheel half inserted and laying flat on the ground place the oring in the groove and gently wiggle and turn the top half of the wheel into place..be sure to tighten down the 3 bolts slowly and equally..as to not push the o ring out of the groove. May take a few tries to get it right..but if the o ring groves are in good shape it should seal just fine. Done many like this and never had an issue.

[CRAZY70MAN]

Here was my solution. http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthr...t=bead+breaker

I have since made a 1/4" beveled plate shaped for the rims. Never fails........ 59.00 jack that I can always use and a truck I already had. Lots of soaking on the beads helps be it blaster or dishsoap, etc... The center sections have to be spotless on the face before you install the o rings. I usually wire wheel them and then use a small amount of silicone around the rim halves to just hold the ring in place. Let it dry a bit before assembly. Tighten them nice and easy and in a uniform pattern as mentioned above. Good luck

[captainweezy]

another solution is to place an ad in the classifieds for a set of 8 inch one piece rims. I personally hate split rims. You can mount them up by yourself. I am doing this possibly today for a set on my 125m. IMHO it pays to get rid of split rims.

[rdlsz24]

^^I agree the 2 piece rims suck. Mine kept leaking on my 110 so I finally used some inner tube to make huge "o-rings" for between the halves.



Rob

[kb0nly]

All i do on these smaller wheels to break the bead is usually a 2x6 on it then drive up on the 2x6 with my Jeep, over two tons of weight will usually do it.

Then i put it back together, take the inner one half and put it in the tire and then flip it over, then get a tube with a bolt in valvestem, angled TR6 type, bolt that into the other half of the wheel, then put the tube in the tire and work the other half of the wheel into the tire. Put in a little air so the tube expands and won't get pinched between the two wheel halves and then bolt them back together and fill the tube to seat the bead. Make sure to lube the wheel and bead of the tire, i find some liquid dish soap works great for this step.

Ok, now all the haters gonna hate about the tubes... Yada Yada... But a tube in a two piece wheel really is good insurance against leaks. I tried adhesive caulks, special wheel sealants, rubber gaskets, etc etc... I always had a leak again. I have two piece wheels with tubes in them that haven't leaked in years and years now.

[trike savior]

I use tubes in every machine I have. I prefer tubes. With as many trikes as I have I would have a small fortune invested in tires. Tubes make it not a problem to have some leaky dry-rot cracks, so I get a long life out of my tires and I am not constantly airing up tires either.

I also use the drive over method for breaking beads but sometimes it cannot be done that way (or is just not worth it) especially if they have been married a long time.

One time saving improvement i did though is switch to a 2"x10"x2' and I cut one end to the shape of the rim. I now have to reset a lot less. Still just work your way around the rim but you will have to get out and rotate a lot less.

[eBoyDog]

Has anyone checked harbor freight? They sell a $30 some dollar bead breaker for small tires like riding mowers. Im going to get one and see how they work the next time I need to change tires on my 3 wheelers or garden tractors (I restore old 60's, 70's GTs).

[wonderboy]

I didn't have any luck with the harbor freight bead breakers. Maybe it was my tecnique, but I tried both the smaller ATV tire one, and the larger car tire one. I bent the handle on both of them trying to break the beads on my 250SX tires. As with many HF tools, with some mods, you could probably beef up the weak parts and make them usable, but for the few times I need to do it, the local tire shop is my solution.

[Taiser]

Got this on e-bay for my airplane tires (also split rims), slick as snot... BEST....INVENTION...EVVVERRRRR!!!!! Works on any size tire as well...

[kb0nly]

Got this on e-bay for my airplane tires (also split rims), slick as snot... BEST....INVENTION...EVVVERRRRR!!!!! Works on any size tire as well...

OMG... I am going to get one of those for sure!!!! How much did it cost?

[Dirtweed]

http://www.amazon.com/BeadBuster-XB-.../dp/B009XJARD4

I'm getting one too.