Am I missing something??? Kit wheel fitment issues

[Kingmeow]

Finally started my build after the brand new box has been sitting unopened for a month! Yeah, life gets in the way sometimes.

I got a set of the Chinese Hyrax knock offs on Amazon, the "Rocks Tyre".

First it took me forever to get them on as it seems that one side of the tire opening is just slightly thicker (or perhaps smaller diameter). The other side was fine. It is almost impossible to get the ring on (no matter front or back). I even tried all four of the wheels that came with the kit and they all have this issues with the tire. I had to use a small screwdriver to gently coax the rubber bead apart so I can slowly slide the ring on.

Now that I got one on, it seems the M3 x 8mm screws are not long enough. I tried squeezing them together with my hands and although they got closer, the 8mm doesn't seem to be long enough. Should I use a vise of some sorts?

What am I missing here?

Everyone raves about the knockoffs tires so I do want to keep them. Do I need to get a set of Injora metal wheels to utilize them? Or should I just return them and get some Prolines?

Just want to make sure it's not my incorrect technique in putting them together.

[crazy nick]

Not sure your process, but I put the center ring in foams centered as possible. Then I put the two halves in. Now , I take 2 longer screws than the kit ones(15mm ish) I screw them in opposite of each other , and a little at a time to pull the two halves in even till almost snug. I then put the rest of the screws in, screwing them in evenly. Once all are in I then replace the longer two with the supplied. Pulling together EVEN is key. Hope this helps

[Daycrawler]

I use the same process as Nick. More often than not I fail and swear at the stupid things. They take a lot of patience.

[Kingmeow]

Thanks Nick and Daycrawler (LOL!). My plan is similar to your process with the exception that I was going to use four longer screws to distribute the force even more so than just using two. Use the four long ones to pull the halves in, then use four 8mm to secure them and remove the four long ones and replace with four 8mm.

On a visual and a squeeze with my hands, it seems that the two halves will never get close enough for the 8mm screws to even work or be effective. They seem so far apart right now and I made sure the tire is seated properly with center ring properly centered. Thus my post to see if it's the tires. I guess I'll give it a try and see. Don't want to be breaking the back bead lock ring since they are plastic.

[Daycrawler]

Originally Posted by Kingmeow

On a visual and a squeeze with my hands, it seems that the two halves will never get close enough for the 8mm screws to even work or be effective. They seem so far apart right now and I made sure the tire is seated properly with center ring properly centered. Thus my post to see if it's the tires. I guess I'll give it a try and see. Don't want to be breaking the back bead lock ring since they are plastic.

Try one without the foams. See what happens.

[Kingmeow]

I finally got some time today to investigate further. First, to answer Daycrawler's suggestion I tried it without the foam inserts and it made no difference.

I had some 14mm screws lying around and tried to use four of them to slowly and evenly pull the two halves together. It worked great but they were a bit too long and started to bottom out. You can see the slight bump starting to show on the other side of the wheel. When that happened the 8mm screws barely made 1-2 thread cuts. But it looked like the two halves can easily get closer and I didn't see any signs of overly stress on the lugs. So I think I can use some 10mm screws to pull the two halves together and may even just leave the 10mm screws and scrap the kit's 8mm screws.

But the part about getting one side on due to a slightly smaller opening or thicker rubber bead remained but I finally resolved that. First I have some food grade silicone spray and wetted a q-tip and brush the inside of the tire bead to lubricate it (just like 1:1 tires). Then I did the same around the wheel/ring.

It was still tight but I was able to use this fantastic tire lever to coax it in and with the help of the silicone lube it just slid right in without deformation of the rubber or pinching it. I had this lying around and it was perfect to shoe horn the last bit of the tire bead. Dental tools! Very thin and wide enough to distribute the pressure without damaging the rubber.

[crazy nick]

Hahahaha tiny tire spoons! I love it. I’m glad you got things figured out.

[Kingmeow]

UPDATE:

Got a set of Duratrax Showdowns for EDR (Every Day Running ). They fit much better on the kit wheels but the screws STILL seem too short. I solved the problem with two Harbor Freight 4" racheting bar clamps. That did the trick in squeezing the two halves together while I started the six screws (other two hole were blocked by the clamps) and it was fine from there.

Here's my next question. Do I tighten the screws (cross-tight, of course) until the two halves meet? Right now they two are about 1-1.5mm apart. I feet that if I try to get them completely together it may over stress the lugs and break them or deform them. The tires seem really locked in at this point.

[OSRC]

Windex works great for assembling tires... it's slick enough to let the tires/beadlock slide together easily, but evaporates away overnight. You don't want grease/lube in the bead in most cases.

I always cross tighten - it takes the stress off the wheel. Get one side started, then clamp down and tighten the other side. Keeps the wheel as straight as possible when tightening.