How do I change the rubber on a 29 Chevy 1-1/2 ton truck? Are special tools involved? How do I open the steel wheel or remove the rubber from it and install the new rubber?
Now for the rest of the story, 20 years, 2 months, 27 days later...
Them tires finally got changed!
20 years ago my dad (the old man for this story) and the old truck (the Chevrolet 29 1-1/2 ton truck) were living life in Delta Junction, Alaska; 100 miles southeast of Fairbanks in a small community of 2,000 folks.
The old man would drive the old truck into town to his roadside business where he sold handmade diamond willow walking sticks and canes. The old truck was used as transportation, an advertising gimmick, display stand, and storage for product inventory. At the end of the day the old man would drive back to his log home and work late into the night making more inventory.
When the old truck's tires started getting bald the old man contacted me in Atlanta, Georgia where I was living at the time. He called at night during his 8 PM hour, not realizing it was past mid-night for me, and I had already retired for the night, having to work the next day.
He needed help researching how to compress the rim to change the tubes, flaps, and tires. I did some digging and found the VCCA forum and posted the above question. But, no reply came forth, and life took me and my dad away from the immediate goal of changing those tires.
The old man passed in 2007 and the old truck transitioned from Delta Junction to my garage in Tucson, Arizona, where I was living at the time. The old truck was fired up twice in 2007. When the battery died it never moved again. It still had those same old balding times.
In January of this year (2024), I got the itch to get it back on the road.
I found these two videos that answered the question and provided the guidance the old man and I needed all those years ago.
Before mounting the tires, I noticed one of the rims had been welded in the past. The knocks of life and the roadside repair hacks applied to the vehicle is very interesting to me. See the picture.
I had each rim bead-blasted and powder-coated before mounting. I put a new tube and flap in each tire.
Having watched the videos, I purchased the rim mounting tool seen in the pictures. To protect the new powder-coat finish, the tool's ends were wrapped with duck tape to provide a softer surface to surface contact. We used some rubber pieces under the pry bars to provide the same level of protection. In the heat of battle a few pries occurred without the protection. In most cases all came out well. Knocking the lock back into place did incur some chipped paint, and there was a wee bit of rubbing as the two ends of the rim passed over each other during the expansion phase.
Changing a tire on the old 29 1-1/2 ton truck is a bit harder than the car tires seen in the video. The rim mounting tool "just" fits. Any more lip on the rim or depth of flange and it would have not worked. The tool only works on one side of the rim due to the ridge that runs around the interior of the rim. These tires take more muscle, or force, to get them stretched over the rim. Having a partner (somebody bigger than you) to help wrestle/wrangle the rim, tube, flap, tire, rim mounting tool, and pry bars is highly encouraged.
Be careful not to get pinched or lose a finger. The stored up energy built up during this process can get away from those doing it.
That's a great story and it's good you have the documentation pictures to back it up. I have a 20" rim like the one you show that came with my '29 coupe 23 years ago, and I can't seem to positively identify it. I just use it as part of my living history display. Where your internal ridges are solid all the way around mine has some evenly spaced gaps. 2003 was before many of us were aware of the VCCA chat site forums.
Many truck rims were set up to use a different type of rim spreader that slipped into two small holes on either side of the "split" (Note the 2 holes in your top video picture). If your rims have 3 evenly spaced holes around the outside bead those are for tire chains. I think I have a set for one rim if you would like to have it as a display with your truck.
A few years after my father passed, I acquired a copy of the Chevrolet Repair Manual for the year 1929. Within it I read about the tire changing process and the special tool that you mention. Enclosed here is a picture of that manual page. I tried to mimic the tool by making a similar home brew solution. My solution was too weak for the job. I was going to revise it to increase its strength but instead decided to perform a YouTube search which is how I found the tire mounting tool.
My rims only have the two holes (one per side). I was not aware of the three hole rim. That is very interesting. Thank you for sharing.
There is a great Technical Article about changing these truck tires listed in the Vehicle Technical Info section in the Members section of the main VCCA club web page (vcca.org).
The name of the file is 1928Tirechangeinfo.pdf and the info was written about a 1928 Chevy one ton truck. This truck uses the same rim and tire size as the 1929 1 1/2 ton truck.
The ideas from the article are:
1. Use tire irons (not the spreader/contractor tool) to separate the rim from the old tire. Open the latch on the split rim and pry up one side of the rim so it is outside of the tire.
2. Then pull the rim out of the tire like a cork screw. Some tire iron leveraging needed. ;-)
3. When reassembling, smear a lot of talcum powder on the inside of the tire, around the outside of the inner tube, on both sides of the flap, and the outer surface of the rim. The powder lubricates the parts so they can slide, settle, and not be kinked.
4. Set the inner tube stem through the hole in the rim and start screwing the rim back into the tire/inner tube/flap assembly. Use the tire irons to work the rim into the new tire.
5. After the tire is in the rim, now use the spreader tool to expand the rim and close the latch.
See the article. It has great pictures to accompany the text.
Cheers, Dean
Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz old and ugly is beautiful!
