Mounting Racing Go Kart Tires On One Piece Wheels (Deals on wheels)
August 12th, 2008
I am asked for advice on removing and mounting racing go kart tires on one piece wheels often. So in this guide I will attempt to explain how to do both. These tips are what has worked best for me. There is a risk of injury when mounting and removing tires and I will not be responsible for any injuries that result from trying any of these techniques.
Let’s start with breaking down a go kart racing tire first. There are several kinds of bead breakers made to accomplish this task such as the RLV bead breaker or the H.D. bead breaker we sell. A RLV bead breaker looks a lot better but a heavy duty bead breaker certainly works better.
This task will be much easier if the tire is hot or at least warm. If you do not have an oven or tire box to heat a tire up, even placing tire in the bright sunshine for a while will help. First, deflate tire and remove valve core completely and place core in a secure place as you will not need it again until you have a new tire mounted on the wheel.
Next, determine which side of wheel is the short side. Most of the time the shorter side will be the inside (side without valve stem) of wheel. Place wheel in bead breaker with the shorter side facing up. Adjust bead breaker to fit the size wheel you have and simply push tire off bead. Flip wheel over and repeat process on the other side.
That was the easy part. Now you need to get tire off wheel. There is a trick to doing this without using tire irons. It just takes some practice to get the hang of it. But once you do get the hang of it you will be able to remove a tire without risking damage to the tire or wheel which you will be risking if you use tire irons. With the inside of the tire, roll the top of the tire inward, making the bottom tire bead extend itself over the rim. Grab the extended bead and slowly work the tire off the rim until the entire bead has been removed over the rim.
Now, flip tire and wheel over and push the rim on to a piece of carpet at about a 45 degree angle. Hold rim with your left hand and use your right palm to slowly work the outside bead over the inside surface of the rim. This method does take some practice to get the hang of it. If you can’t get the tire off using this method then here’s how to do it using tire irons, or, heaven forbid, screwdrivers.
After breaking both beads place the wheel on apiece of carpet with the valve side down. Push one edge of tire to the narrow middle section of wheel Take the tire iron and place it on the other side and pull down. Take the other tire iron and do the same thing. Once you have about half of the bead over the rest of the tire should pull over by hand, Flip tire and wheel over and the other edge can be pulled off by hand. Be very careful not to mess up the edge of rim or the bead of tire if using tire again. If you are tossing tire, you don’t have to worry about that.
Now, on to mounting a racing go kart tire on a one piece go kart racing wheel. To accomplish this task you will need a tire mounting ring or tire band as they are sometimes called. There are two basic types, one is a Ratchet style tire band and the other is a Screw type tire band. I have used both and had no problems with either. You will also need an air compressor, of course. I would suggest using a compressor with at least a 20 gallon tank on it. Before starting to inflate tire release some air until compressor kicks on, that way tank is completely full.
Now is the time to heat tire if you have a way to do so. Heat simply makes the rubber softer, thus easier to stretch. Next make sure valve core is removed from wheel. DO NOT FORGET THIS! Identify the smaller edge of the wheel rim. Most of the time this will be the inside edge of wheel. Most Douglas wheels have equal size lips but if you look closely one lip is thinner than the other and the edge is more rounded. This smaller edge is the edge you will slide tire over first..
It is now lube time. Use something slippery to lube up the edges of wheel and tire. I have used tire snot, dishwashing liquid, Simple Green, WD-40,and Greased Lightning. Avoid getting lube on the inside of tire as much as you can. Place wheel on a mat or pice of carpet between your knees. Hold tire like you would a steering wheel and push it against wheel at about a 45 degree angle so that the bead contacts the wheel at 2 points. Now push the tire on to the wheel. The first few times you do this you will most likely be using brute force to accomplish this step. After you have done this several times you will figure out the trick and you will be able to do this without breaking a sweat. Flip tire and wheel over and repeat process for other side.
Place tire and wheel in th tire mounting ring. Then, either turn knob or use ratchet to secure tire band around tire. Never use band with open end facing up and your face right over it. If tire blows your face is toast. Lay tire band on floor on it’s side with open ends facing left and right instead of up and down. With everything out of in front of the open ends, and both edges of wheel and tire lubed up, connect and begin pumping the air to it. When tire seals on bead you will hear a very loud POP, that will almost make you go in your pants. Do not stop pumping air when you hear the first pop. Keep pumping air to it until you hear the second POP. Release air as soon as you hear the second POP. And since you remembered to remove valve core, all air will release immediately. You probably do not even want know how much air was in tire when second bead pops on.
Put valve cores back in wheels and inflate tires to a middle pressure that you run. Now would be the time to balance your wheel. I have written another guide to explain this process.
As you know, there are several brands of racing go kart tires such as Dunlop, Vega, Maxxis and others. Some brands of racing go kart tires will mount with less effort than others, and a softer tire is much easier to mount than a hard one. There are several types and brands of go kart wheels as well. We stock Douglas polished wheels in 5″ or 6″ diameter, as well as 6″ fully machined Douglas Q + and WMS Tru-Roll wheels. You can find these parts at many kart shops including ours http://smokinjoeracing.com.
Entry Filed under: Steering Wheels
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