Thoughts on Split Rims

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addicted56

addicted56

Joined
Dec 15, 2007
Messages
2,713
Location
North Bend, OR
Just trying to glean some information on Split Rims. I'm in the process of aquiring a FJ that has stock 16 inch Splits. I've done some reading on here and though I love the look of the rims especially with more aggressive tall and skinny tires, I'm having a hard time wondering if it will be to hard to replace in the states.

How hard is it really to find the tubes?

It doesn't look to terribly difficult to mount by yourself.

But how functional are they off-road. I would hate to air down and lose one on the trails.
 
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Well, this will be a decent thread if we can get all the pros and cons listed. I recently found a set of splits for sale and am contemplating the purchase. I looked at the aussie forums, and most dont like them for real bush travel. However, I think I still want a set, just to restore and maintain the Toyota history and have a set of poser wheels/tires. I wouldn't use them day to day, but Toyota still sells splits on new trucks overseas.

PROS
- cool factor, relatively rare in US
- can perform tire / tube repairs on your own repeatedly

CONS
- Tire shops wont touch them (Liability)
- When a puncture event occurs, tubes will blow out rather than slow leak
- Wheels are heavy and affect unsprung weight causing harsh ride and poor handling
- Tubes and liners retain heat requiring higher tire pressures

NEUTRAL
- rims only accomodate narrow tires
 
addicted56 said:
Just trying to glean some information on Split Rims. I'm in the process of aquiring a FJ that has stock 16 inch Splits. I've done some reading on here and though I love the look of the rims especially with more aggressive tall and skinny tires, I'm having a hard time wondering if it will be to hard to replace in the states.

How hard is it really to find the tubes?

It doesn't look to terribly difficult to mount by yourself.

But how functional are they off-road. I would hate to air down and lose one on the trails.
Click to expand...

hi there. you can air down as nuch as you like tubes are user friendly.We have them here everwere;)
 
If you don't know what you are doing they are dangerous.
We have them on all our equipment and there have been fatalities from people not following procedure.
 
i have had split rims for 11 years now...and love them

more split rim info here:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/199121-255-85-r16-bf-goodrich-mud-split-rims.html

as for safety...they are not your typical "trucker" split rim...they are split ring design...IMO pretty safe when you use the typical procations when mounting...in all the countries that run toyota split rims for these past what 30+ years...I have yet to hear of a single fatality...or injury for that matter.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/227275-factory-split-rims-question-what-kind-tires.html
 
Nick the Carpenter said:
hi there. you can air down as nuch as you like tubes are user friendly.We have them here everwere;)
Click to expand...





Right up to the point that the tire spins on the wheel and rips the valve stem out of the tube.... :lol:














:meh:
 
Poser said:
Right up to the point that the tire spins on the wheel and rips the valve stem out of the tube....:meh:
Click to expand...

that is a possibility...with brass stems more likely.

I had seen that happen two times...but both times the valve (rubber) spun inside the rim and did not puncture the tube...they drove it home... "needle" deflated...used a small patch on the tube...good as new :)
 
ranger said:
If you don't know what you are doing they are dangerous.
We have them on all our equipment and there have been fatalities from people not following procedure.
Click to expand...


Yup, we lost a guy 5-6 years ago at work to a split rim.
 
I just put new splits on my BJ42 and it was a piece of cake after reading all the split rim threads on this forum. Always use precaution like you would anything else. I ordered my tubes and liners from a local goodyear tire place and on they went. Looking at how these things are designed I think it would take a heck of a lot to come off? I guess the cons wold be that they are heavy but other than that I think I will enjoy and they look great.

R
 
I wouldn't run anything else on my BJ40 and I don't see any drawbacks at all. (Might be a different story if I ran a V8 and was into "hard-core" though.)

I fit my tyres myself.
I consider my split-rims as being very safe. (I disagree on there being any increased risk of blow-out or that there is a risk of me killing myself during tyre-fitting.)
I can run lower pressures than tubeless off-road.
Mine are so well-balanced they don't even need balancing weights.
I've got them hot-dipped so they don't rust.
And I don't run any liners at the moment which means they are quite light. (This is an experiment.)
......

:cheers:
 
Every time this topic comes up we hear about how dangerous they are. I defy you to document a single accident with a Toyota split rim. The design is totally unlike American made truck splits from the 60s.

As far as airing down goes, this is me on the Rubicon in '97 at 12PSI
weeble sm.JPG
 
Also keep in mind that we are not inflating large tires (lots of surface area) to high PSI... small tires, low pressure... use a length of chain looped a couple of times through the center of the rim and around the lock ring and the tire and if you *DO* pop it loose, no big deal.


Mark...
 
x2 these are not the same rims as heavy equiptment use or from semi's .

x2
lowenbrau said:
I defy you to document a single accident with a Toyota split rim. The design is totally unlike American made truck splits from the 60s.
Click to expand...

has anybody even heard of one coming off when inflating? ....and if it were to come off I refer you to marks comment above :)
 
16" Split Rims are Common

In 3rd world countries, stock 16" split rims are everywhere and have been for a long time.
Tire shops don't bat an eye when asked to work on them.
I mounted Dunlop 235 / 185 / 16" SP Road Gripper radials on both my toys ... 1983 and 1984 FJ40s.
Just used regular tubes (not special for radial tire application) and pads.
I like the stock tall skinny look with aggresive tread as opposed to the much smoother sand tire tread, which is more common here in the desert.
My tires are slightly taller and wider than original.
They usually take a lot of weight to balance.
Repairing a flat when in a remote place is fairly easy - hauling tires back into town for repair is a drag!
Just my .02.
thanks all
 
desertpat said:
...Tire shops don't bat an eye when asked to work on them.....
Click to expand...

x 2

I've never had a tyre shop in NZ (when I used to use them) mention anything about safety risk (or use a safety cage either).

When these toyota split-rim wheels are in good nick I believe it would be next-to-impossible to have a "ring" fly off.

However "heavy rusting coupled with a brainless tyre-fitter" may have caused a statistic or two - probably in very primitive parts of the world - that some people will cling to in order to condemn them. (I know of no specific injury/death cases involving un-molested genuine-Toyota-landcruiser split-rims in any part of the world though.)

...They usually take a lot of weight to balance........
Click to expand...

This is exactly what prompted me to remove my rubber liners/pads. They are very heavy and I have found that they were responsible for my wheels needing balancing weights.

But my wheels are hot-dipped and I would not have tried this if they weren't. (My thinking here is that the liners are mainly needed to protect the tubes from rusted/rough steel and from rust flakes.)

I've been running liner-less for about 3 or 4 years now and I admit I did suffer one puncture. But I traced that to a manufacturing fault in that BFG tyre. (It had a split in the inner wall that I had never noticed before and this split had pinched the tube - which wouldn't have happened if I'd had a liner fitted - but only because of where the split was located.)

By the way, the 750x16 tubes are available everywhere where there are trucks operating. (So it is hard to imagine anywhere in the world where you can't get them readily.)

But of course I have to protect the area around each valve stem and I do this with a heavy-plastic washer that I made myself. (Without these you'd actually see some of the tube-surface exposed around the valve stem.)

And I also squirt a bit of silicone sealant (RTV) in the gap in the "ring" to stop anything damaging getting to the tube that way.

But I'm not recommending running liner-less to others - As I say - It is just an experiment I'm doing that enables me to run much lighter wheels while experiencing no steering shimmy (or any other ill-effects) despite not having my wheels balanced.

But I may just keep the experiment going indefinitely :D

:cheers:
 
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