I have one thats a slow leaker, a 12:00 x 24 on my loader - Is it worth trying to fix the o-ring [soapy water shows it leaking all around there] or just put a tube in? I've done split rims, lock rings, etc, but never an o-ring.
If it has an o-ring now it's most likely that the rim is designed for tubeless. It should not be difficult to replace the o-ring. While you're at it I suggest you clean both the o-ring groove and the lock ring groove with a wire brush to remove any traces of corrosion, then paint the cleaned area with red oxide and allow to dry before reassembly.
Thanks Nige - Glad I asked as a o-ring is a lot less $$ than a tube. Slow leak is the worst thing, always something more important to do than just fix it. The money spent on electricity to pump it back up every few weeks would probably have payed someone [besides me] to fix it -
Yeah, I second Nige's comment. Clean the groove well, paint the area, let it dry, then lube the ring with some Murphy's tire mounting lube. never oil or petroleum, Murphy's says oil soap, but it's not petroleum oil. (yes it is the same as murphy's oil soap furniture cleaner, but the household one is mostly water). I've fixed a many old O-ring rims without installing a tube.
Mike Van i got on the wheel loader form to ask about a loader that may be for sell and see if any one could tale me what it was because their are no numbers on it and i see you have one just like it. I know it is a trojan and it has a detroit.
Can you get a picture of it Doug??
I dont think i can get to it until spring. It looks just like the one in your avatar.It looks to be in good shape and was in use last summer but he thinks it has a weak torque converter but it was seting for a long time before he got it so the engine may be weak.I have ran several older small loaders but never saw one like it. It looks to be very heavy for its size.
trojan transmission Doug, try this thread here - As I had some problems with mine too that looked like pump or convertor at first. Turned out to be dirty oil of unknown origin left in way too long
Finally got to this job, started last week & finished today. Turned out it already had a tube in it. Everything was quite 'set up' from years & rust. Of the 8 lug nuts, one came off with just a 3' pipe on the breaker bar, the other 7 I had to heat the nuts. I used one fork on the machine to break the bead on the ring side. The 2 rings were really rusted tight, I started with PB blaster, Liquid Wrench, whatever I could let soak down in there. Finally had to put the torch on it too, the next morning you could see the seep lines where the stuff got through. Got the rings off, broke the other bead, got the tube out. It too was rusted to the rim, already had one patch on it. Ordered a new tube. Wire wheel on the angle grinder [boy I hate grinding rust] primer, black paint, wheel looks like new. cleaned the inside of the tire out, no nails. Back together today, lots of Murphy's soap & water, 2 chains and 2 two inch web straps in case of ring departure....... No issues, back to moving wood -
I too hate wire brushing rusty wheels so I was happy to discover a needle scaler attachment for my air chisel. It was 20-$30 and works so much faster and better than a brush. Plan on wearing some good ear muffs though!
I'll second the needle scaler, at work I have a dedicated one, not an attachment. A very handy tool when working on anything with rust or other hard build up. Not as violent as the air chisel. But have had to use the air chisel to "encourage" rusted fittings to move at times!
Re: O ring question I was at the watering hole saw a pro field tire man I know. Asked about o rings with slow leaks. He said he was done playing with one. Broke down the wheel and dumped a whole 5 gallon bucket of slime into the tire. Re mount problem solved.