L'Cruiser split rims

First you have to break the bead(the same as with a normal wheel)
You therefore need Beadbreaker/tyrepliers/slide hammer/motor vehicle or whatever.
Once this is done you will ne able to prise one end of the split over the edge of the wheel using tyrelever/large screwdriver/pinch bar etc.

As for fitting 265/75s these require a wider rim (need minimum 7")
whereas most splits are 5.5" or 6".
Suggest looking for 235/85 or similar.

Peter L.

Hi
Take them down to the tyre place and have them strip them for you whilst you watch. Ask to have a go yourself and learn the tricks. Excellent way to be self sufficient. I saw in a 4wd mag one splitty out of 4 being driven without the tyre or split ring, (on the rear axle) the design is such that you can do this for a short time in emergancy.
Andrew

Enzo.
You will have no problems running tubes in tubeless tyres. With you old tyres if you dont want to reuse the tyres you can burn the tyres in a fire, if you want to save the tyres you can spray some penetrene around the bead, wait 24 hours and then drive the blade of a shovel between the bead and rim and the while holding the shovel handle get some heavy person to jump on the blade. when you have liberated the wheels get them sand blasted and then paint them with a 2 pack epoxy paint, the epoxy dries with a smooth surface which will allow you to take the tyre off with you bare hands. enjoy your trip. Eric.

My only problem is that UK tyre centres won't touch split rims with a barge pole! I'll have to find a place that deals with the big ol mac truck type tyres and see if they'll part them for me as this is going to take some industrial strength tools to split.

Many thanks to all who have contributed so far.

Enzo,

If the big companies will not touch splits just go and find a smaller operator to help you get the tyres off. Then have them sandblasted and painted as mentioned in this thread.

I run 750x16 Light Truck tyres 8ply rating on splits on my vehicle. These are common bush tyres in Australia. See if you can find some in the UK. Buy 10ply if you can. These tyres should be safe to cruise at 100kmh. With them you can run your tubes without worry. At one stage in my life I ran 265 tubeless on splits with tubes and had too many punctures as the Landcruiser rims needed to be wider.

You can run 750x16's as low as 10psi and up to 50psi with ease.

If you have a friend with some welding expertise you can make your own bead breaker. Then buy a good set of tyre levers. Take plenty of puncture repair with you as well as 5 spare tubes. Don't forget to take a few valves as well. Also take at least two spare casings.
Cheers, Willem
Never a dull moment

When I was in South Africa klast year, they were using 14 ply tyres on their landrovers in the game park where I stayed. It solved 90% of their puncture problems by using such tyres when compared with tyres with less plys.

We cruise at 100kph for days with our split rims and no problems. We use 750-16 LT tyres (8 ply) here in Australia but have not done any real long distance in the rough.

Why bother with split rims??? They are old technology, are heavy, hard to balance,allow water ingress and therefore rust, need tubes to function, and are limited to a few narrow sizes!.Ditch the splits are get a set of one-piece steel rims, ideally 16x7 and run with your 265/75x16 as first thought. The days of demounting tyres to repair rotten old tubes are gone, thankfully. Get yourself a set of tubless repair ropes and welcome to the twentieth century! You'll be much happier not repairing tubes, not demountings tyres, just plug them and carry on. Let the experts do the repairs when you get into town. Best thing I did was toss the splits!

Yeh - sidewall punctures and ease of changing LT tires with stiff sidewalls were the reason why I wanted to go back to splits for my african raid. For the past year I've been using Pirelli Scorpion ATs (tubeless) and they are a nice road tyre - but the sidewalls are as soft as cheese (well at least the exterior part), I've already had to throw one away due to a sidewall puncture and that hurt (my pocket), and they were pretty useless in the clay/mud we get here in the UK.

I've been in one african roll-over due to a tubeless' "sudden massive failure" and I don't really want to be in another (I'm not as bouncy as I used to be!). I suppose I would prefer the belt and braces approach - run tubeless on steel rims until I get a punture and then patch/repair it and fit a tube. I would also prefer to be relatively self sufficient - as I know from working in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana that every town does not have a pro - tyre shop but tubes, patches and raw grunt are never truly in short supply!

Enzo - Bundubasher