Re: Tool for removing split rings on 1930 spoked wheels

Posted by tbirdman On 2009/10/9 1:13:59

OK, I've worked with my local tire guy and have figured it out. This is the process for wire wheels but should be similiar for other type of wheels. First deflate the tire. Lay the tire flat. Put one or two layers of duct tape around the outer rim edge to protect the paint. You need to push down the split ring and tire to accomplish this.

Then using a large flat blade screw driver, start to lift the ring over the edge of the rim. You use the screw driver to leverage the ring out and up, but you need to accomplish this but only rsting the end of the screw driver on the part of the rim that is not seen when the tire is on. Careful not to pinch the tube. Hopefully the tape will protect the paint. Issue is the ring can start lifting the paint on the edge of the rim.

Putting the ring back is just the opposite. It's good to have two people doing this and wearing heavy gloves for safety.

After doing this on 6 wheels, we figured it out on the last one. Had to feather sand, mask and paint 6 wheels. Took about 4 hours per wheel. Not fun. My last flat went on and off with minimal damage.