All my new tires and tubes have arrived and I’m ready for a clincher tire day so I can finally move her around the garage, but first I need to get her up on jack stands. I have four Harbor Freight 6 ton jack stands, which should be plenty high and a 3-1/2 ton floor jack
I get that I can jack the front axle from the center of the axle and place the jack stands at both ends to support the wheels, but what about the rear axle?
I’ve been reading Murray Fahnestock’s The Model T Ford Owner but haven’t found a good explanation for where to place my floor jack—under the differential housing doesn’t seem right to me but of course I could be wrong, so I thought I’d ask here.
I usually jack the car on the axle tube near where the jack stand would go, as far outboard as possible. The differential housing is not as weak on the 1915 and later cars but still not ideal for jacking.
Thanks! I’ll go that route.
After a shot of PB Blaster I used a 1/2" drive ratchet and 5/8" socket to loosen the rim nuts and put the rear axle on the jack stands. The old tires had rubber stems so I can assume the ferrules accept modern innertubes and valve stems----a good thing as I had to cut the rubber valve stems off to demount the rims. Those old tires are close to being fossils!
I rolled the rims into the back yard and am using the patio table for my operating room.
Now I need to get the tire irons under the bead to pry it out.
If you need to lift both sides of the rear axle at once for some reason, you can make a fixture that fits into your floor jack, like this.
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Cool device!
I jacked up one side at a time.
It took a little longer, but I’m in no hurry.
The hard part now is prying the tires off the rims
—that old rubber is hard like a bowling ball!
It’s a good thing there’s no hurry
I often cut old tires most of the way with a hack saw. Then cut the rest of the way with tin snips when the rim is too close to use the saw.
Thank you for the advice!
I was told that I have to cut the old tires in half to dispose of them anyway.
Now I have a larger issue as I’ve royally screwed up!
I finally got all four rims off the T and on my patio, cleaned off all the dirt, mouse poop and dust and…and…Yikes!
The old tires are 450-21 Fisks
Balloon tires I’m assuming (note to self: be very, very careful about making any more assumptions)
So my next question is, will my 30x3-1/2 Riversides fit on these rims?
I guess not. I called Lucas and was told they aren’t interchangeable.
Good thing I’m not in a hurry.
4.50-21 tires are not balloon tires. 30 X 3 1/2" tires are balloon tires. Neither one shares the same size rim. You will need to buy the proper size 21" tires. Good news - they are a lot cheaper than 30X3 1/2" tires.
Just wondering if you have split rims. My 26 has them and a special tool is needed to shrink them. Fortunately, I have one available. I have been wondering which years used split rims.
I’m not sure what you’re referring to.
My rims are joined by the thick metal tab with a large pan head screw on one side with two smaller screws on the other.
Is that a split rim?
It’s a 1924, with wooden artillery wheels with rims that attach to the wheels with four bolts.
The old 450-21 tires have a thick wire bead.
It’s been a full day and I yet haven’t cut my way through with tin snips…
I’ll try using a bolt cutter tomorrow
One the plus side the 450-21 tires arrived today. Lucas is sure fast!
OK I think they are split rims. I don’t know how to unlatch them yet, but I found a jack like affair
with dad’s tools that has two long hinged levers and I’m thinking this is for influencing the split rims.
We’ll see.
That is it. Unlatch and set up the tool to pull the wheel so the ends overlap. Our local museum (WF Kidder Ice House) has a tire changing machine that “shrinks” the split rims which I have used once. I had to overlap the ends by about 3 inches at which point I could just lift the tire off and drop the new one on. No prybars needed. We also have the portable model to which you refer, but I have never used it.
I found this.
Thanks! This helps a lot.