rustexpert Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Does any one know where to find the specifications of tyre inflation cages suitable for locking ring type vintage commercial wheels? A quick search only seems to throw up modern practice which doesn't really seem to cover the possibility of wheel components separating. There must be a military design or specification for their construction. I do several of these wheels and am intensely careful when inflating them. A proper cage would be good but there is no point having one which doesn't do the job when it comes to it or even has a fundamental design flaw. So a design or set of guidelines would be helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulbrook Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 I am sure there is a spec somewhere but all the ones I have used seem to be made of decent box section or angle set at about 12 -18 inches apart and the wheel goes in from the side not the front/back. The airlines have tended to be ones that you can leave attached and operate from the side rather than having to stand in front of the wheel. Years ago when tank transporting (where tyre bashing at the side of the road was common practice) the crews would slide the wheel under the trailer (which was relatively low anyway), connect the airline then stand well back and operate the airline from the inflator not the end of the airline attached to the wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooky Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 I dont think there was ever a "spec" for them They would probably be supplied by garage equipment suppliers I am sure that a robust cage with as has been said the wheel/tyre assembly slid in from the side will suffice No need for them now as 99.9% of modern commercials are on single piece wheels and are tubeless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 When I worked in a REME workshop, they made one from substantial angle iron with a door at the side. It was large enough to get 1500-20 wheels in. Never ever recall having any blow in all the years I was there. Care must be taken to clean any rust or old paint from the locking ring groove before refitting and to make sure the ring is not stretched or damaged. Then ease the pressure up so the loose rim ring comes up to lock the locking ring in the groove. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeePig Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 When I was an apprentice we used a side entry cage at college. That was the only time I have ever done a tyre change on a wheel with a locking ring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmite!! Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 Will give you some idea.. http://www.tyre-equipment.co.uk/acatalog/TYRE_SAFETY_CAGES.html http://www.branick.com/products-inflation-cages.php Still safer to let the experts handle the job, they may spot dangerous defects that you may not.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmite!! Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 Build you cage wrong and.... http://www.alberthaviation.com/videos/VTC-CHM.wmv Fail ! Shop Made Tire Cage A customer donated their shop made tire cage for testing. The cage was welded from 3/8 inch sheet metal. One side of the cage traveled 50 yards and made a heavy gouge when it crashed into the angle iron frame of a old diesel fuel tank. The other side of the cage traveled over one hundred yards over a 15 foot high hill into a pasture. The door of the cage traveled 150 yards from the cage. This is a worse case scenario for shop built tire cage solutions. This tire cage design had the potential to make an tire inflation error much worse by adding more deadly shrapnel. Three pieces of 3/8 sheet metal, weighing up to 100 pounds traveling at high force and speed would at best cause serious hangar or aircraft damage. The worse case would be serious injury to personnel or death. http://www.alberthaviation.com/TireCageVideos.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxy Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 (edited) Possibly the premesis are subject of PUWER ??? http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/2306/contents/made The words "risk assessment" come to mind.. ,, because of course - nothing specific in HSE Publication HSG261 Purchasing a NEW cage , then one would consider they come under the "Machinery Directive" , BUT some may & some may not. Purchasing one NEW , then one would assume it would be "CE" marked , BUT that means little without close scrutiny of all documents to back up that claim of suitability for "CE" marking LoL (Declaration of Conformity AND Instructions in English language at minimum). Constructing own , then "design assessment" comes to mind and this could be very expensive. I doubt if there is any British Standards or E Conformity , DIN or anything. Buying used of unknown origin or known origin - that all the words preceding apply.. Edited May 24, 2013 by ruxy amd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustexpert Posted May 24, 2013 Author Share Posted May 24, 2013 It is all very well saying let the experts do the job. I work with steam boilers and as such would be considered an "expert"; is it because I haven't blown myself up yet or because I follow existing guidelines, use best practices that I know, use experience gained and work is inspected rigorously. Either way if I get blown up at work by a boiler it will be because someone wasn't expert enough. It is now fact that expert tyre people generally just wont look at split/ring type wheels any more because they are risky and they don't consider themselves expert enough to do it any more. As vintage vehicle enthusiasts it is up to ourselves to do it and do it in expert fashion; work out a safe method and stick to safe method. What I am trying to do is improve my practices with respect to these split type wheels up to an "expert" standard. I haven't found any old guidelines from the days when these wheels were the only kind. Most guidance I have found is almost common sense and quite vague. The video of the home made cage is ridiculous as such a construction is obviously completely inappropriate for the purpose, i.e. the object is to dissipate any explosive gas release whilst contain flying wheel components. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulbrook Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 Come to think of it I have never seen one go off either - and we did hundreds and hundreds in service. Care, diligence and some more care. And a decent cage made of lots of heavy duty steel or a trailer with a tank on.... Interestingly of course when these tyres were in widespread use they were a driver job to change - so translate that to today and that means you and I not Kwik Fit (other YTS tyre changers are available). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxy Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 I know of 1 fatality because no precautions such as cage were used , abt. 1980. ==== According to ATS - Euromaster :- Our current experience is that we have 1 truck tyre explosion per 21,000 inflations. Using HSE's tolerability of risk model (HSE 1992) that is 'negligible'. ------------------ SOURCE. Our Approach to Safe Truck Tyre Inflation - Preston City Council http://www.preston.gov.uk/GetAsset.aspx?id... Our Cardinal Rules include truck tyre inflation and they outline the hierarchy for inflation: – In a tyre safety cage. – Bolted back onto a vehicle. – Restrained using ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoseman Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 I know of 1 fatality because no precautions such as cage were used , abt. 1980. ==== According to ATS - Euromaster :- Our current experience is that we have 1 truck tyre explosion per 21,000 inflations. Using HSE's tolerability of risk model (HSE 1992) that is 'negligible'. ------------------ SOURCE. Our Approach to Safe Truck Tyre Inflation - Preston City Council www.preston.gov.uk/GetAsset.aspx?id... Our Cardinal Rules include truck tyre inflation and they outline the hierarchy for inflation: – In a tyre safety cage. – Bolted back onto a vehicle. – Restrained using ... I worked at Kwik Fit MANY years ago and saw a lad distracted talking to a customer blowing a car tyre up. Should have been about 28 psi but he recons it got to bout 80psi! Blew the tyre right off the rim and him across the workshop!!!! hes lucky no more damage had been done to him or customer!!!! Then again he was a complete tool!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nz2 Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 The image from you tube, showing the destruction of the box led to a number of questions. That box had no means of releasing the air pressure, and was not firmly anchored to the ground. The safety cages I recall were embedded into a concrete base, and constructed of heavy pipe of about 2" diameter, allowing the rapid expulsion of air. Like others have mentioned, to find a tyre firm that will still change split rim wheels is hard, even on this side of the world. The plan is to locate a suitable frame for our own use, and use with care. Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosrec Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Basicaly the locking rim system and i believe there 3 types used. 1 Employed a loose rim that had a taper on that engaged a taper on to a split rim that fitted the actual rim of the tyre these where fairly idiot proof as long as you dont sprain the locking ring and every thing was clean and hunky dory and you use common sense this will cover 97 percent of the people on this site and the tire changes A three piece rim 2 A system which had a rim with a deep well in it it employed only a split locking rim but a very deep flange that used the tyre to lock it into the the rim A two piece rim Went on to motor way to change tyre on one of these type 3 A solid locking ring with two notches cut into it to it basically its like a chinese puzzle if you get it off you can put it back on again a two piece rim When i was doing my time as an apprentice main job was mending punctures serving petrol and general dogs body. Being in a rural area we got lots ex war 1 war11 time to repair i have had wooden spoked wheels with no 3 example on The safty cage idea came about because if you have to employ people and cover your arse. Look at the system if its put to gether correctly it aint going to wrong unless you employ idiots but if you are not sure leave it to some one else Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosrec Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 before anybody asks the the one my dad was involved with was a new rim fitted with an old split single piece rim assembled by some one else and left with a tyre lever wedged in to inflate it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosrec Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Heres a rough sketch of one i fabricated many years ago for a local haulage company it was made from thickwalled 4" box and heavy plate and was designed to be bolted to the floor and wall. It would give a degree of protection if split rim came off. But little if a tyre burst through over inflation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b2414 Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 Back in 1975 - 77 I was a tyre fitter with a national tyre company and we had two kinds of cages one was a star shape and the other was a steel cage the star one had a post welded to a base plate which you put the tyre over and then you put the star on top held in place with a locking pin you cud then go round the tyre taping the locking ring with a long handle sledge hammer to set it but keep in your distance this to me was the best way to make sure that the ring was in place before fully inflating it. Ps I fitted plant and truck tyres on site has well as carscheers Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougy FV432 Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Here is a pic of the cage that is in the workshop where I currently work. Hasn't been used for a good few years, never see split rims nowadays. Dougy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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