bent front rim lost air

[Sebculb]

Hey everyone,

So I guess I got too close to a rock with my left front wheel and bent the lip of the rim enough so the air came out. I dunno if bent is accurate, perhaps folded over is a better description. There was around 40 lbs in there so I probably just full on drove into the rock with a full bucket or some nonsense. '97 JD 310d backhoe.

So what do I do now? Planning on taking it to the tire shop tomorrow so they can remove it and I'm gonna try to bend it straight with monkey wrenches, visegrips, hammers, bigger hammers, etc. Half expecting it to crack so I'm taking a welder too just in case. Then I'll have the tire reinstalled with an inner tube and hope it works.

Anything I'm missing? Any advice? Thanks!

 

[Stimw]

Pictures, Pictures! We like pictures.
It's had to guess how bad it is otherwise.

 

[PILOON]

I'd say you are on the right track!
Been there done that!

 

[K5lwq]

I have had good success using a hammer while tire is still on vehicle. I just air the tire up and use hammer to beat the dent out. A spray bottle with soapy water spayed on bead tells me where I need to hit.

 

[rScotty]

I have had good success using a hammer while tire is still on vehicle. I just air the tire up and use hammer to beat the dent out. A spray bottle with soapy water spayed on bead tells me where I need to hit.

I fixed bent rims when I worked as a welder & metal worker in Guatemala. Wheels are wonderfully malleable steel. If you want a good job that will last good as a good rim, find someone who will heat the bent area it up with an oxy/acetylene torch until the metal is malleable but not beyont - about a medium red heat. Then workit back to shapelike a balcksmith does. You use wide tip on the torch like a rosebud or you can also use cutting head on the torch, but don't touch the oxy dump used for cutting. Working it hot means it won't crack. It doesn't need to be re-hardened. Hammer-working of the metal and then letting it cool normally will give you a decent hardness for a wheel. When I did that kind of work , I would heat the bent area up to a low to medium red heat and then using a heavy one-handed small sledge hammer (a 2.5 lb cross peen type with a 14" handle) over a piece of railroad track as an anvil I would gently work bent area of the edge back to the original shape. About a 15 minute job but usually took an hour with talking and working and re-heating. Finish off with some file work and it would be as good as new. Wheel steel is a joy to work. it is good steel & easily worked by anyone with normal metal-working skills and a oxy/acetylene torch.

Good luck on your '97 310 D. My buddy has a 310D, too. We just put a manual thumb onto it. I've got a 310, too - 6500 hrs, still runs nice. Good machines.
rScotty

 

[Sebculb]

Thanks everyone for the ideas. It beat into shape with a sledgehammer pretty easily and with an inner tube good as 24k hours new! Was worried about it cracking but no such problem.

Rscotty - yeah the 310's are pretty good machines, but yours is new! Mines got 24,000 hours on it. Got the construction grade after I broke a toy Kubota in half doing commercial work with a 3 point hitch hoe. Turned out you can't t use farm implements much on this terrain so the big hoe is most useful for general work. When were you in Guatemala and for how long? I wish I was a farmer here in Costa Rica but it's turning out welding and digging big holes more so.