Installing Tires for Dummies

Since installing those tires on my RV, people keep asking me questions.  Like
* Why did you install them yourself?  Couldn't find the wheels locally.
* Don't those tires weigh too much to handle?  No! Just use my technique!!
* Are you some kinda dummy for trying it yourself?  Yes!
As a public service, I'll describe the methods I used for an easy and safe tire installation on our RV.

1 Select the correct tires and rims.  This involves learning the boring technical requirements of tires and wheels.  And ingestion of high quality beer.  Suggestion:  buy wheels with more than the original number of lug nuts, in case you lose your nuts in the grass.

2 Raise the rear wheels of the trailer.  This is actually easier than it sounds, by using leverage.  [Mathematically, this is expressed by M = Fd.]

- Pull down on the trailer king pin.  You may need an extra strong rope.
- The trailer will pivot on the front axle [the fulcrum], lifting the rear axle off the ground.
- Tie off the rope to a heavy object, like a park bench.  If none around, find a heavy friend.  Safety first!

3 Now pull out your new tires.  Each tire weighs about 110 pounds - very heavy to work with.  Then I noticed that the tires were inflated to 110 pounds per square inch.  That can't be coincidental.  This undoubtedly means the tire contains 110 pounds of air.  That's too much!  So I let some out, reducing it to 70 pounds.  That's better!

4 Remove the old tires and mount the new ones as usual.  Now you appreciate having those extra lug nuts, don't you?

5 Tighten the lug nuts with a good torque wrench.  Ooof, that's a lot of pressure.  Wait a minute!  I need 110 foot pounds.  Another coincidence?  I think not.  [Remember, this is a tire system .]   I reduced it to 80 pounds [70, + 10 for safety again.]

6 Lower the trailer slowly and carefully.  Find a new friend.   Don't let him talk to your old friend.

7 Raise the front wheels of the trailer by reversing the process.  Tell your new friend to stand on the back bumper.  Tie your new friend to a heavy object so you don't damage your bumper.

8 Install front wheels.

9 Then I realized that all those pounds of air pushing against the inside of the tread must cause the tire to wear out prematurely.  So I reduced the pounds of air to 60, and the lug nuts to 70 [60 + 10 remember?]  Should be enough, I reckon.  If not, I'll let some more air out later.

That's it really.  Oh, wait.  I also wondered how to keep those tires as clean as they look now.  So I looked on the Internet [naturally].

Motor oil!  Coat the tires with motor oil.  Same color as the tires!  But what rating?  Turns out oil weight refers to the weight of the tires.  [Some people think it refers to engine operating temperature.  Why would they call it "weight??"   Now who's the dummy?]

Couldn't find 50W oil, so I lowered the tire pressure to 40 and used 40W oil on them. [Don't forget the lug nuts!]

So that's it!  Tow safely!!

Bruce

PS Just throw away those extra lug nuts.  You won't need 'em now.