I'm trying to replace the inner tube in the tire of a "Radio Flyer" child's wagon.
I've removed the wheel from the wagon, worked the tire off one side of the rim and removed the old inner tube.
The new inner tube is twisting when I work it into the tire. Should I partially inflate the new inner tube first?
Do I put the valve stem through the hole in the rim before working the rest of the inner tube into the tire?
Once I get the inner tube into the tire, how do I get the tire back onto the rim?
You put the valve stem in the hole, stuff the tube into the tire, put the tire back on the rim, remove the valve stem and inflate and deflate the tube a couple times so it straightens its self out inside the tire, replace the valve stem and inflate to recommended pressure.
No. A little twisting won't hurt, as long as you don't do a 180 on it.
Yes.
Inch by inch. pushing it past the rim with your thumbs. If you end up using a flat screwdriver, just put very the tip on the rim so you don't pinch the new tube and put a hole in it.
--Vic
Why would one "put the valve stem in the hole", then "remove the valve stem" and then "replace the valve stem"? Don't you mean the valve stem cap?
Yeah - I was wondering about that too.
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Generally for passenger tires and larger, tire shops will leave the stem out for initial (on tubeless) bead setting or for tube to fill and balloon the tube.
Makes for much faster air flow which is important for setting the bead and as suggested, allows to deflate the tube again quickly after initial inflation so it can adjust itself in the space.
Since it's now out, clearly it'll need to be reinstalled after final inflation... :)
For such a small tire the inflation speed isn't such a problem but the idea to help adjust the tube is sound...
I think this is the classic case of what a term means. Instead of valve stem, maybe valve core should have been used.
My way of thinking , the valve stem is the whole tube sticking out of the side of the inertube and the valve core is the part that screws out of the valve stem. Then the valve cap is the part that is screwed over the top of the valve stem to keep the dirt and such out of the valve.
The valve core is sometimes removed from the valve stem to air will flow in faster, or so that you do not have to hold the center part in when letting all the air out.
Correct terminology
. On tubeless tires it is often virtually impossible to set the bead without removing the valve core because the air gets out between the bead and the rim faster than you can put it in through the core.
gcotterl wrote in news:a1079a89-cd6d-47fe- snipped-for-privacy@j13g2000pro.googlegroups.com:
You can inflate it partially once it's in the tire, but inflate only enough to get it to straighten out, and then let some air out before seating the tire's bead.
Yes.
Go to a bicycle shop and get a set of tire-changing spoons. They hinge together like a set of pliers and come apart for use. Very inexpensive.
One spoon is used to hold the bead in place against the rim while the other spoon is used to lever the bead over the rim, working in a circle. Make certain you do not pinch the new tube between bead and rim!
I vote the sudsy water suggestion (Oren!) is tops. I would concentrate the soap, liquid dish soap preferrably, so that it is more creamy than sudsy water. Smear the whole tube, the inside of the tire and rim. Works dandily on small wheel barrow tires, also.
Addendum: In trying to reinstall a large 250 lb pillar under a house corner, after releveling the house, we 1) prepped/compacted the soil, smooth, where the pillar was to go. 2) laid a large plastic trash bag on the outside edge and up under the house corner. 3) smeared Dawn all over the trash bag, 4) placed another trash bag over the first. 5) placed the pillar on the top trash bag. 6) shoved the pillar right in place. We had 1/8" clearance for negotiating that pillar. We would have never wriggled that large pillar into place, with just that much wriggle room, if we wouldn't have used the trashbag-dishsoap method.
Sonny
Yeah, I've always used Dawn or equivalent for that, and it seems to work well.
Interesting you mention that. There was a video on youtube of a guy (a motorbike restorer, if I remember right) who uses garbage bags placed over the rim to assist in getting the tire on. Removing all of the bag afterwards looked to be quite the struggle, though, so overall I'm not sure it would save any time - but it was interesting to see an alternative method.
cheers
Jules
Yes. On a bicylce too. Enough that it straightens but doesn't inflate. Not so much that it interferes
Yes. Make an effort to work the tire in evenly on each side of the valve, to keep the valve pointing straight to the center. This is
1000 times more important on a bicycle than on a wagon.It's amazing how getting it on can be harder than getting it off.
And it may be that it's harder for smaller wheels, I don't know, but if there is stretching involved, maybe there is less stretching.
Start at the valve and use your thumbs to push the tire inside the rim, alternating from side to side and working away from the valve. At the end, screwdrivers are too sharp, you may need s bicycle-size tire-iron, but since you'll never do this again, use the handle of a spoon, like a cheap stainless steel soup spoon, not with a handle that is pointed at all but a wide rounded handle or even one with a wide rectangular end if it has rounded corners and edges. To further protect the tire, don't push the spoon handle more than a quarter or half inch past the end of the metal rim, under the tire. Then lift the spoon and you will likely not be pinching the tube. I guess you should uninflate the tube as much as possible before doing this, but with bicycle tires, I don't.
You're saying "valve stem" when (I think) you mean "valve core"
I don't like wd40 - it attacks rubber. Might not be serious - and on a non-driven wheel with no brakes you are unlikey to tear the valve-stem out of the tube when the tire slides around the rim. RuGlyde tire mounting lubricant is ethelene Glycol - vegetable based (non phosphate) soap works reasonably well - (phosphates in most dish detergents contribute to corrosion of aluminum wheels.)
Malco Tire Lube is a mixture, apparently, of Isopropyl Alcohol- - Alkyl Olephin Sulphate, (a surfactant) and Polyethelene Oxide. ( a lubricant)
Full strength Ethelene Glycol antifreeze works well in a pinch - and isn'f FAR off from the commercial stuff.
On driven or braking wheels you want something that goes on slick, and dries with some "bite" to it.
mm wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
It's that last little bit that's hard. But with experience you learn how to handle it.
I've never done a tire that small; have done plenty of bicycle tires; though.
OP may be able to push the seated portion down onto the rim below the bead. This would push the unseated portion further out from the rim, giving him a bit more wiggle room to lever the last bit over the rim.
But then he'd have to re-center the tire on the rim before inflating it to make sure it spins true. I can't see it being that difficult.
It's a Radio-Flyer wagon. If it bumps he can tell them that's the way it is on dusty roads when you're a cowboy.
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MOST of the really small, like 6" and under, wheels I work with have split rims. Makes getting tube type tyres on and off a BREEZE
If you knew what your were doing it would be simple.
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