Split Ring Safety

AA Ford Discussion Group relating to the repair and restoration of your AA Ford.
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Chris Reed
Posts: 39
Joined: November 8th, 2016, 4:50 am
Body Type: Dump
Model Year: 1931
Location: Dresher PA

Split Ring Safety

Post by Chris Reed »

I was reading through older post on this forum and stumbled upon a few where the dangers of split rings was mentioned. Split rings are new to me so I'm glad I found this before I did too much work on my wheels.

What precautions do you take when handling your rims and when? E.g just when your taking tires on/off or any time you're working close to a wheel?

I did some additional reading on google and found that some split rims are more dangerous than others, where do the AA rims fall on this scale?

Thanks for the help.
Chris
Trulyvintage
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Joined: April 5th, 2011, 3:28 am
Body Type: Model A
Model Year: 1930
Location: OH to TX to Seattle hauling now
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Re: Split Ring Safety

Post by Trulyvintage »

Chris,

Correct term is " locking rim ".

Only safe place to work on a locking tim tire is in a steel cage - not many tire shops left that have those.

Not a DIY project unless you want to risk injury or death.


Jim
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1crosscut
Posts: 877
Joined: December 25th, 2010, 7:22 pm
Body Type: 82-A
Model Year: 1929
Location: Lincoln, NE

Re: Split Ring Safety

Post by 1crosscut »

Hi Chris,

Yes, lock rings are very dangerous and have killed many people over the years.

That said lock rings are very safe... once the tires are assembled correctly and aired up.

Many have successfully assembled and aired up their own tires without any loss of body parts and life. Folks have wrapped the tires and rims with heavy ropes, chains, straps etc... hooked air hoses to them and peeked around corners with mirrors whiled they aired up. Sort of makes you realize just how dicey the process of airing them up can be.

One needs to make sure that the lock rings are good and the area that receives the lock rings on the rims are also in good shape so the fit is perfect.

My advice to you would be to go ahead once you have a good set of rims and lock rings is to assemble the flaps, tubes and tires and then take them to your local tire shop that has a cage for inflating tires and have them inflate the tires in the cage.

I am not terribly worried about my lock rings coming apart now that my tires are aired up. That said I do tend to stay to the side when I need to add a little air to the tires to bring them back up to 35 psi. You can run the tires at the higher psi rating but most of us are not carrying cargo any more so a lesser pressure give a wee bit better ride.
------------
Dave
pinesdune
Posts: 56
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 5:18 pm
Model Year: 1930

Re: Split Ring Safety

Post by pinesdune »

I have split rims on several prices of farm equipment. Once assembled/aired up, they are completely safe. Large truck shops should have the cage to work with them and if your not familiar with them I'd suggest finding a tire shop who deals with them on a regular basis. I've had a buddy killed from being complacent around them, stood over the tire when airing up and the ring let go, the force blew the tire assembly off the ground and crushed his chest. Here's a safety video
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s2exMOT0-9M

But once aired up, the lock ring seats in such a way that it's almost impossible to come apart (rim has to break)


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Stakebed
Posts: 1223
Joined: June 14th, 2007, 7:29 pm
Body Type: Grainbox
Model Year: 1929
Location: Illinois

Re: Split Ring Safety

Post by Stakebed »

Yup- the lock ring has to fit tight against the rim all the way around before any air is added. Then like the others they cant come apart once the tire is aired up.

I assembled mine then put just enough air in the inner tube to poof it up to make sure the tube seats where i want it (maybe 3 lbs) used a block of wood and a hammer to whack the ring fully seated then took them to a local shop that has a tire cage. Didnt charge a whole lot to air them up (maybe $15 a tire?) So $60 or someones life is the way I see it.
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Neil Wilson
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Wheel Rim Flange AA-1099

Post by Neil Wilson »

FYI - The Ford name for part AA-1099 is "Wheel Rim Flange". Most are confused by this original name. Other names are what folks have made up for this part over the years. I use the term "split lock ring" to distinguish from solid (or non-split) lock rings. This part is installed on the wheel rim. The wheel rim is part of the wheel assembly and is not split.

Some wheels have removable rims which are split and take an very different tire installation procedure. A video showing a "split rim" wheel and tire installation is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0PFSgAt06w.
Regards, Neil Wilson
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Chris Reed
Posts: 39
Joined: November 8th, 2016, 4:50 am
Body Type: Dump
Model Year: 1931
Location: Dresher PA

Re: Split Ring Safety

Post by Chris Reed »

Thanks everyone this is great information to know. This thread should be mandatory reading foe new AA owners.

So it's safe to take the Air out? How about airing up from 25psi to 35 PSI?
Stakebed
Posts: 1223
Joined: June 14th, 2007, 7:29 pm
Body Type: Grainbox
Model Year: 1929
Location: Illinois

Re: Split Ring Safety

Post by Stakebed »

Chris Reed wrote:Thanks everyone this is great information to know. This thread should be mandatory reading foe new AA owners.

So it's safe to take the Air out? How about airing up from 25psi to 35 PSI?
Yes it is fine to let air out, airing it up I wouldn't stand in front of it (kinda lean over the fender) so if the rarest of rare chances it lets loose (should not if the ring was properly seated) it will blow out - might mangle your arm but better than your face...

Before a tire even touches a rim the lockring should snap hard against the rim flange and be touching all the way around with less than 1/2" gap between the ring ends and they should be fully seated as well (most of my lockrings the previous owners pried at the seam which straightened the ends out a hair - managed to get them bent back straight)

Also study the profile of the rim flange VS the lockring flange - the angle should match!!! There are some automakers out there over the years that used 20" lockrings but didnt have an angle to the flange and are very dangerous to use on ford rims... If you look at the angle you can see how if the lockring is fully seated there is no way it can come off due to the angle - more sideways pressure that is applied the harder it bites into the rim. BUT 80 years of mismatched slightly skewed parts can change that safety factor so make sure the rings fit tight and take them somewhere for airing up with a cage.

I dont mean to sound scary or anything but much better to be overly safe than sorry when it comes to these things.
flatford39
Posts: 474
Joined: September 24th, 2009, 3:06 pm
Body Type: Express
Model Year: 1928
Location: NE Illinois

Re: Split Ring Safety

Post by flatford39 »

I did my own by strapping them with (3) 2" ratchet straps so I wouldn't wreck the new paint with chains. I put the valve stems to the inside (I know this doesn't meet the judging standards but neither does my truck) so I am behind the rim when airing up. I slowly aired them up 5# at a time and made sure the ring was set. That was three years ago and they have been fine.
pinesdune
Posts: 56
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 5:18 pm
Model Year: 1930

Re: Split Ring Safety

Post by pinesdune »

There's always something like this available for airing up for the first time so you can do it "remote" so to speak

https://www.amazon.ca/CTA-Tools-1930-St ... B00AZJYDQI


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