WC-51 After Action Report - March 2005

Well, I've had a chance to go through the photos I took as I worked on my WC-51. Here's a brief description... My sons and I broke down 8 combat rims. We used a method Aaron Throop shared with me on Gordon McMillan's WWII Dodge Forum, and that was published in Gordon Maney's Oct. 2005 PWA. This method destroys the tire, but for old, worn out, cracked tires you where going to throw away anyway, it works great.

1) Let the air out (IMPORTANT) While on the subject of safety... wear your eye protection.

2) Loosen 10 ring retaining nuts, but leave on the nuts on the studs a few turns for safety's sake just in case you forgot step one.

3) Drill a hole in the sidewall large enough for a Saws-All blade... perhaps this would be a better step 2... again, just in case you forget step 1.

4) Use a Saws-All to cut all the way around the sidewall.

5) Repeat steps 3 & 4 on the other side, leaving yourself a tread donut that you pull away from the wheel, along with the tube.

6) There is still a ring of rubber attached to your wheel, and another to the ring. Remove those 10 ring retaining nuts and set the wheel/ring assembly ring side down on a stump, (or in my case an extra brake drum I had handy) and use a large hammer to beat the ring off. There's a nice thick band of tire rubber protecting it so you can be pretty aggressive with the hammer. Soon the ring will fall off with its tire bead ring.

7) On some of my tires the remains of the tire casing/bead came right off the wheel and ring, but on most it was still firmly in place. Prying it away is possible, but a lot of work. I found it simpler to:

8) Use the Saws-All again to cut down as close to the rim as you can, cut out about a 3 to 6” notch right down to the rim.

9) Take a chisel (sharpen it if you haven't already… it makes all the difference) and your sledgehammer. Drive the chisel through the wire in the bead. This last step takes a sharp chisel as a dull one will just worry its way through one or two strands at a time. Also use a heavy hammer… I used a short handled sledge… something with weight behind it. This is the most difficult step, but with some practice I found that a few good blows and bingo… the bead wire is cut everything peals off by hand after that.