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Message started by chiguy on 09/06/13 at 18:27:20

Title: Okay to true a wheel with tire still on?
Post by chiguy on 09/06/13 at 18:27:20

I'm planning on truing my front wheel (which was involved in a collision with a parked car (not me riding!)). I'll see how true the rim is currently when I replace the bent front forks, but I'm expecting it will need at least some work. Is it okay to true the wheel with the tire still on or does that cause problems? I'm hoping to avoid taking the tire off and putting it back on so as to minimize risk of messing up the inner tube.

Thanks!

Title: Re: Okay to true a wheel with tire still on?
Post by Trippah on 09/06/13 at 19:17:43

No offense but if the front forks are bent, you are doing the right thing in replacing them, so why not get the new wheel at the same time. I would not want to ride on that rim unless I had a metal guy scan it for fracture -which I suspect requires dismounting the tire. My 2 cents only.

Title: Re: Okay to true a wheel with tire still on?
Post by Oldfeller on 09/06/13 at 19:27:20

Back when I was young, you could get your front fork tubes straightened and the rim trued by the same old man whose card was on the bulletin board at the Honda place where I worked.

The old man worked out of his garage at home with a set of V blocks on a hydraulic arbor press to do the fork tubes and he actually had a truing stand with a dial indicator on it.

Rims came back round, tubes were straight as a straight edge could detect -- the old geezer was good and he charged me a whopping expensive $20 for all of it.

Old, ain't I?

:D

Title: Re: Okay to true a wheel with tire still on?
Post by Oldfeller on 09/06/13 at 19:38:19

Oh, yeah, answer to your question is YES, you should true your wheel with the tire on it unless you can see a big dent in the bead area of the rim from hitting a curb or similar item.

Then you dismount the tire and squeeze the bent bead area in the rim with big pliers or a press right where it has opened up until it closes down to be the exact same width all the way around the tire, then you put the tire back on and true it for side to side and in and out, then go round again and again as you last adjustments messed up your previous adjustments, and you do that until you get tired of doing it.

Hint, errors less than .015" on the dial indicator are mostly just chasing butterflies if you choose to try to fix them they just show back up on the other way ....

Get it right on side to side and let the in and out carry the last little bit of error as the tire itself isn't that round as new by itself and the OD of the tire will wear in to be perfectly round on the imperfect rim fairly quickly.

Professional truers quit if it is good to .025" to .030" --- I am more stubborn than that.

Title: Re: Okay to true a wheel with tire still on?
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 09/06/13 at 20:11:55

I never used a gauge, just wires. The eye can see when the rim swings to or from a wire set close,
Id want topull the tire off & checkthe distance between the rim edges ..

Title: Re: Okay to true a wheel with tire still on?
Post by chiguy on 09/08/13 at 13:21:15

Update: I just got a chance to look carefully at the front wheel and start trying to true it. It looks to me like a lost cause. Most of the rim is fine except for one spot (that presumably was the spot that hit the parked car.) That spot is something like a quarter inch out of round (too close to the hub) and runs for maybe 7 or 8 inches around the circumference . I tried doing a bit of tightening on all spokes not in that area, hoping to pull some of the flatness out, but I don't think I'm going to get even close. So I'll look for a replacement rim or a wheel. (I've built a set of bicycle tires so I'm not too worried about lacing up a wheel if I can get a good rim.) I see a few wheels offered on e-Bay and I'll scout around this forum to see what's out there at the moment. Any other suggestions?

Title: Re: Okay to true a wheel with tire still on?
Post by Gyrobob on 09/08/13 at 14:09:35

707B7A74666A130 wrote:

If you are skillful (and lucky) you can pound out that edge that is bent in a little toward the hub. Lay the wheel down on a piece of carpet on the floor. Have a heavy guy stand on the rim on either side of the bent in portion. Then use a piece of wood (section of 1x4 maybe) as a driver, with the end of the wood cut to a curve with a radius a little bit shorter than the radius of the rim,,,.. so that the force of the impact won't put little dents in the rim. Pound on the straight end of the piece of wood with a hammer that has a very large face so you don't split the wood with a few whacks. Pound the straight end while holding the curved end on the bent-in section of the rim. Usually the metal in rims is pretty malleable, even steel rims.

Title: Re: Okay to true a wheel with tire still on?
Post by WD on 09/08/13 at 15:56:40

Make me an offer I can't refuse, my 98 is getting a drum front wheel conversion... Good hub, good hoop, good spokes, good tube. Tire would probably be alright until the winter slow down, and then need to be replaced.

I get some "useless junk (hate disc brakes)" out of my way, you get a bunch of ready to use parts and can have your hub and spokes as spares. And it will force me to finish painting my new front wheel and buy the perches/levers for my conversion.

Win win.

Would ship from 38011 (Brighton TN), just north of Memphis. Start checking shipping rates.

Title: Re: Okay to true a wheel with tire still on?
Post by WD on 09/08/13 at 18:41:26

No fooling, here's my twin leading shoe drum wheel. The factory Savage wheel is going in the junk bin...

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y490/mphsgal/LISA-HP/Photos/Savage/pokeymay4_zps47137e36.jpg

Price the shipping from my zip to yours and add $25.

Title: Re: Okay to true a wheel with tire still on?
Post by chiguy on 09/08/13 at 18:42:35

Will PM.