MTFCA Forum

Hello.
My '16 Touring has wheels with wooden spokes and one metal rim. As far as I could find out, the rim cannot be separated.

So a possible flat needs to be repaired on mounted wheel. Right?

Jack up the axle and then use two pry bars, similar to doing it on a bicycle?

Right, also run the tire pressure at 55 to 60 lbs on clincher type tires.

Hi, Kerry.

Thanks for your answer. Hope that tire changing will never become necessary on the road.

The tire pressure is really impressive. I already was told that by Mr. Lanzl from Ford Model T club for Bavaria and Austria. But thanks for this detail, now I have this pressure confirmed.

Similar to a bicycle but A LOT harder. Do more research and watch some videos. Remember that the front and rear tires are different sizes. Do you know if you have flaps in your tires? Some people remove the wheel to repair a flat and some people (me) do it with the wheel on the vehicle. bobt

Bobt, I have absolutely no idea if there are flaps inside rims or not.

So I will do some search for videos showing me the entire process. If you (or somebody else) can show me links to good videos, I'll be very happy.

As books I meanwhile own copies of

• Ford Service Handbook (the one used by service stations), explaining repairs step by step. Funnily it is in German language translation, so it is in my native language, but some abstracts I need to read multiple time to understand what they mean.
• A very good book "The Ford Model T Car, its construction, operation and repair", explaining lots of things, but not going so extremely deep into details as first one does, though still giving a good understanding and insight.
• A very simply kept Ford Owner Manual in Q&A style, answering lots of questions a owner may have. (It's a nice to have, but not adequate for repairs.)

Last two downloaded, printed and bound, first one bought.

Rainer....if you haven't looked around your area yet, maybe you can find a tyre dealer who could mount them on the rims for you.
That's what I do. I can remove them reasonably easily, but cannot mount the dang things. For around $18 US, for me it's not worth the bother. The young man who does them also bought the tools to do the work, and he's getting better at it with hardly any "collateral damage" to the paint on the rims.

There is another thing that comes into my mind...

When this guy mounts new tires (directly on the car) and the tube is damaged hereby, they can buy a new one, not me.

But I am not sure if a normal workshop, even when they can get this tires, can/will mount them directly at the car. But it is worth asking.

The trick with clincher tires is to install both beads @ the same time. A little air in the tube to maintain round & position, but not so much to be fighting an inflated tube. Start @ the valve stem. Work your way away from stem on both sides. Be mindful of tire iron relation to rim & tube. Flaps help against an accidental pinch.

Fixing a flat on a driving T is way easier than a new tire mount. The tire is very pliable. Get the tire off the ground 2". Break the bead all around to start. Fish an iron under both beads, opposite the valve stem, pry over & add a second iron about 6" away. (Can use the back bead for leverage to not scratch the front edge) Move the first iron another 6" away. After the second pry the tire can typically be removed the rest of the way by hand.

If you are running non-demountables, you gotta be able to do this yourself.

If you get a flat on the road, the tyre will be warm, it will likely be loose on the rim if the flat is progressive and it will already be stretched to fit the rim. All this makes the job much easier. I take the tyre off the car with whatever levers available. The last one was done with T tyre irons, but longer ones are better. Lightly inflate the tube to hold its shape and install it in the tyre. Turn the wheel so he valve hole is at the bottom, and fit the tyre with BOTH beads in the rim, lowering the car on the jack so the tyre/tube assembly is held in the rim by the weight of the car. Then lever both beads on at the same time and the job is done, except for inflating it to 60psi !

The job is easier with longer irons and a decent pump.

Hope this helps.
Allan from down under.

Such original Ford Jack I got to my 60th birthday.

I think an air-pump and some talcum powder will be very helpful, I don't have one (yet), 4 bar is really high for some little electric air pumps. But as I am still repairing, repairing, ... there's currently no need.

What is the minimum pressure to reach somehow a gas station on wheels without harming the new tire?

Anyway, I would call for a trailer and replace the tire in my garage after bringing Lizzy home.

Allan wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 02, 2021 9:18 am

If you get a flat on the road, the tyre will be warm, it will likely be loose on the rim if the flat is progressive and it will already be stretched to fit the rim. All this makes the job much easier. I take the tyre off the car with whatever levers available. The last one was done with T tyre irons, but longer ones are better. Lightly inflate the tube to hold its shape and install it in the tyre. Turn the wheel so he valve hole is at the bottom, and fit the tyre with BOTH beads in the rim, lowering the car on the jack so the tyre/tube assembly is held in the rim by the weight of the car. Then lever both beads on at the same time and the job is done, except for inflating it to 60psi !

The job is easier with longer irons and a decent pump.

Hope this helps.
Allan from down under.

"lowering the car on the jack so the tyre/tube assembly is held in the rim by the weight of the car."
Thats a neat trick I didnt know about. It effectively acts as a 3rd tire iron and/or hand. Thank you.