We have an interesting issue. We have a rear tire on our 1966 Clark IT40 that is flat on the bottom. I have been to two tire shops and a forklift repair shop and no one can or will put a tube in this old wheel. It is a Widow Maker RH5 Split Rim Wheel. Two shops I stopped at called a suicide rim. Looking to see if anyone has a solution for a wheel replacement for this truck that would allow us to put current tires on it? The tires on it our 7.50-17 which is an approx 32" tall wheel/tire assembly
It's been thirty years since I worked on one so my memory may not be quite right (shocking) but I don't remember those with a split rim. I would suggest a good farm implement dealer as that size tire was common on some farm implements in the day. I think those are hub piloted but I can't be sure.
Thank you. it is certainly possible that someone swapped out the original wheels years ago.
Later model IT40's had one piece rims. The company I worked for had about a dozen of the dam (I mean dear) things. They were all late 70's vintage. You might get lucky and find some rims off a later IT40. They were still 17" rims. I have manuals, no rims though. One of the IT40's had 12-16.5 bobcat style tires on the drive rather than the skinny 17" duals. So that's another option you can look for. As long as the rims aren't rusted or banged up/in really poor condition, any good tire shop should not have a problem with mounting tires for you. Deflate before removing rims from the forklift, inflate new tires in a cage designed for safely inflating multipiece rims. Nobody enjoys mounting them, but it certainly can be done (unless your rims are in poor condition).