Field tire change on a Hutchinson, yeah or nay?

Daurie

New member
IMG_2379.jpgIMG_2378.jpgIMG_2377.jpg

My 103 lb girlfriend broke one down and reassembled it. Wood block, soapy water, a couple tire irons and a small sledge hammer. Took some doing but she made it happen. Yes we had an air gun but could have done it with a ratchet. Seating the bead was a non issue. The bead locking ring does just that as you assemble it. When it was aired up the bead was already pretty much there.
 

Haf-E

Expedition Leader
Nice to have an assistant...

I don't think I could convince my girlfriend to do one.
 

S2DM

Adventurer
Totally doable. One trick I use is three long c clamps. Depending on the length of the studs the beadlocks attach to, I use the c clamps to get the initial pinch on the bead lock and and the retaining ring into place. From there its a relatively easy job with the impact to bring the beadlock ring down into place.

I'm running 20x10" with 42"G275 MSA's, the weight can definitely be an issue for some and thats worth taking into consideration. Its a lot of tire, rim and beadlock insert to move around. I'd highly recommend a few practice runs at home to figure out your system. I had some balance issues on mine (since sorted) and tried beads at one point. Between breaking them down to insert the beads, then breaking them open and vacuuming the beads out, Ive done it 10 times and its fairly easy now.

Personally, I don't think its super achievable, atleast with the bigger tire, of doing it with the rim on the truck, as some have suggested. Getting the retaining ring etc aligned in a vertical orientation is very difficult and the tire needs to be laid flat. I also put paint on my rim, tire and lugs after getting the good balance, so everything goes back together in the right orientation.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,532
Messages
2,875,593
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top