Well, that went better than expected...
Changed the front tire on Fatass today. Waited on grandson/owner to show up as horsing it up on my jury-rigged lift is definitely NOT a one-man job. Got it precariously perched on the lift and got the front wheel off the ground.
The axle was tightened to approximately 18,000,000 foot-tons. Popping it loose took a 1/2 inch ratchet (too lazy to walk down to the new shop and get my breaker bar...) and a 3 foot piece of pipe. And yes, I loosened the pinch bolts first...
Wheel dropped right out, rotor and pads look good, tire was bonded REAL well to the rim. Wedged my hydraulic bumper jack between the tire as close as I dared to the rim and bottom of my work bench and pried the bead loose. Spooning the tire off was about as much of a pain in the ass as usual. Quite a bit of aluminum oxide corrosion/powder but no pitting. Put Boy-san to work with a Scotchbrite while I prepped the new tire. Popped a new valve stem in while we had things apart.
After lubing the rim and the bead with generous amounts of Dawn, new tire popped right on. Dubbed around a bit getting things balanced as much as possible by spinning the tire around on the rim until things looked acceptable.
Lugged the mounted tire and rim down to the shop where the big compressor is. Really expected to spend considerable time and verbal lubrication to get the bead seated but it started taking air immediately. Got 25 or so pounds in it and then dribbled it off the floor a few times, rotating between bounces to help work the bead up onto the shoulder.
Then just started putting air to it. Grandson created some extra laundry for his fiancee' when the bead finally popped into place
Checked the pressure when it popped, figuring it'd be way over, but it was right at 40PSI, which is within a pound of the recommended max.
There's some ugly hardware needs to be replaced, and I need to wire a fuse into the radio harness, but as soon as he gets it registered we'll go get it inspected and he's ready to go.
