Did anyone mention wrapping a chain around the whole assembly? That is what we were told to do in school, not sure about airing them down, but I would not want to mess with any split rim that was still aired up and not restrained with chains or straps.
DS79

 

well I got the job done, thanks for all the advice and help. After closely inspecting split ring rims, I saw what bad shape they were in and how dangerously wore out they were. Here are a few pics of job

 

So spoke wheels will accept either 10x20s or 11x22.5s. My 54 GMC has 20 inch tube tires and I would like to go to 22.5s. I thought I would have to change the spoke/hub portion to accomplish that but I guess all I need is modern 22.5 rims and tires then?

 

Peyton, yea I converted from the old 11x20 split ring to a new rim which was non split ring 8.25x 22.5 with a 11 x 22.5 tire. I got the rims for $30 dollars including blasting and powder coat. The job was easy, just took time and all the advice given here. Now on to the rears....lol

 

That's good news then, I can get some modern rubber on the front of the truck. Did you buy your rims locally? That sounds like a good deal. Oh, and I love detroits too.

 

yea I got them from F and S tire in edison NJ. Huge inventory of good used rims, just pick out the ones you want, they blast and powder coat before mounting them for me. Took three days from purchase to pick them up. Just threw in bed of truck, and hauled to base to change them out.

 

Not to run this safety thing into the ground, but a guy not far from us was just hospitalized in a drug induced coma. He was airing up an Ag tire, and somehow (we've heard tons of rumors) the bead blew off and basically rearranged his face. The odds of anything like this happening are few and far between, you have a better chance of being hit by an oncoming vehicle mounting the tire than you do airing it up...but its best to play it safe. After this happened, our bosses all had a meeting with our 3 shops, and basically said if anything unsafe is being done, you are fired on the spot. Most of the stufftakes a lot more time than usualy, and its a bit of a pain, but I suppose its better than having my nose repositioned into my ear.

 

Not mentioned here but I have had a split ring seperate on the front wheel at 80 plus mph. Not fun. Crazy I was able to use the tire, did not hurt it, just had to chase it. I was in the middle of a line of trucks in SC heading home, they sold a lot of underware at the next truck stop but no one was hurt.