Removing Glued Tires

A common question I hear, is how do you separate the tires from the rims once you glued them? There are a couple of methods to do this, but I'm going to focus on boiling the tires and rims. I've performed this on a few occasions, and it is perfectly safe for both the rim and the tire. So no matter which you are trying to reuse, you should be fine. However it should be noted that the chrome finish on some wheels may be dulled or removed by this procedure.

The first thing you'll want to do is boil some water in a large pot. Although you shouldn't mess the pot up, using an old one would still be the best route to take. Once the water is boiling set the tire in the pot. You want to make sure you boil the entire tire for 15 minutes. You can hold the tire underwater with a utensil for 15 minutes or, since the tire will float, you can boil one side for 15 minutes and then flip it to boil the other for 15 minutes. Either method will work, it doesn't matter.

If you do not plan on reusing the tires, you may want to slit them in half all the way around the tire before you boil them. This way no water will be trapped in them, and the boiling water can freely access the glue all the way around the tire bead.

Be careful around the hot water, as it can scald you.

After the tire has boiled use a pair of tongs, or other kitchen utensil, and pull it out of the water. I will usually cool it down by running cool tap water over it. This will not cause the glue to "restick", as once the glue's hold has broken it will stay loose. Alternatively you can also just set the tire to the side for around 30 minutes or so.

Once the tire has cooled, you can simply pull it loose from the rim. Be careful though, as there can still be hot water inside the tire which could burn you. You may still encounter a couple of tough spots that do not want to break loose from the rim. You can use a hobby knife to trim around these stubborn spots. If you find that a lot of the tire is still stuck to the rim, boil the tire for another 15 minutes.

Once the tire and the rim have been separated, clean the parts you plan on reusing and set them aside to dry. You may find it necessary to sand some areas of the rim where the rubber had adhered to it, but overall it should be a pretty clean separation.