tire / wheel assembly trick?

[g13092]

Hey guys (and gal), I've finally got some decent looking 3-piece (original jelly bean style) wheels, but they came with some worn out proline waffles. I have a nicer looking set of tires that almost look like the box-art ones, close enough for my shelf. I can fit the inside and outside rim halves together and it looks good, however, once the inner ring is in the tire, I cannot pull the rim halves together. I'm thinking some sort of lubricant would help, but I don't want it to damage or discolor the wheels.

Any thoughts?

[scr8p]

gojo.

some aftermarket tires have a thicker sidewall than the kit tires. i've already trimmed the inner ring so it was narrower, just enough for the outer pieces to fit together. or, if they're gonna sit on a shelf, just leave the ring out all together.

[RC Chick]

gojo.

some aftermarket tires have a thicker sidewall than the kit tires. i've already trimmed the inner ring so it was narrower, just enough for the outer pieces to fit together. or, if they're gonna sit on a shelf, just leave the ring out all together.

I often cut the foams of mine, well actually taper them so they fit on the rim better don't see why you coudlnt do the same to the ring. I agree with scrap though if it going on a shelf leave the inner ring out.

[shodog]

I have had good luck with dishwashing soap as a lubricant.

[Tadracket]

I have had good luck with dishwashing soap as a lubricant.

Good thing Halgar is not up yet

[g13092]

I had a good feeling that any topic that involved the word lubricant would go downhill at some point

No foams in these tires. They do have thick sidewalls. Actually, the "bead" (if you can call it that) is really thick. That's where I think the majority of the problem is. I'll try dishsoap first, as the only gojo I have is another brand and it has abrasives in it. This isn't a shelfer like the real nice ones some of you build, I just have a shelf to store them on when not driving them (99% of the time). Hence I'll try to make it work with the inner ring. The old waffles tires go nicely on the vintage grasshopper/hornet trainwreck for my daughter.

After getting a complete black-parts CE and you fine folks talking me out of building a dirt late model with it, I decided to keep both of my cars "relatively" period correct. So, the old 6-gear car will get original wheels (used for sure), rebuilt gold shocks to replace the gray/black ones, and some other basic clean up. I'll post some before and after pics in the rides section if I ever get it sorted out...

[knucklebuster]

spit

[Brandon G]

If it's gonna be a shelfer, leave the rings out?