What you have are solid rubber tires, not pneumatic tires with a solid inserts. There are many videos on replacing solid tires on RU-vid done by professional repair shops, which guided me in that task on a friend's chair. It's likely some of those videos show up on RU-vid's suggested viewing list on this page. Or search "replace wheelchair solid tires." That repair requires a special tool (I built my own rather than buying one) which stretches the tire as the tool rotates around the rim. My problem is that my son's chair uses pneumatic tires with solid inserts, not solid tires. The technician working for my vendor told me he would charge me for a new very expensive inserts because he would need to destroy them to replace the tires. I knew he was wrong, because his predecessor managed it just fine without damaging the inserts. I could not find any vids on YT demonstrating the entire process, so I figured it out on my own... with success.
My current wheelchair is the first one I've had with solid tire inserts, and this is the first time I've needed to replace the tires. I'd managed to forget the tires didn't have a tube, so when I started the tire replacement I had absolutely no idea how to do it. Thank you so much for this great, very clear step by step explaination! I also really appreciate the silion spray trick. Replacing a wheelchair tire is never completely easy (or fun) but your instructions I think make it as painless as possible.
Thank you. The first time this chair needed tires replace, I took it to my vendor and had it done at a reasonable cost. The next time I needed tires, the technician said that he could not remove the old tires without destroying the inserts. Not true - perhaps a change in company policy - who knows? I scoured RU-vid for a demo on how to do this, but found none at that time. So I figured it out on my own. After a couple more times doing this, I figured it was time to share the info. As for replacing the inserts, they are ridiculously expensive, even from online suppliers. So keep your old ones in good shape as long as you can.
Boy does that look like a struggle. especially the putting them back on bit. I've been in a chair for coming up on 37 years now, and have always had pneumatic tires. I got a new chair about a year ago, and they accidently gave me the solid core tires. Was actually kind of nice not having to worry about keeping them aired up for a change, but sheesh, I'm afraid to give this a try! And as a few others have said here, having someone do it does cost a ridiculous amount. I'm worried of screwing up a new tire trying to put them back on. Funny, cuz over the years, I've made sure to have a whole bunch of innertubes 'in stock'..
Is it possible to put on a pneumatic tire onto the old spoke? Or do the tires come with specific spokes per airless/pneumatic tire? I was able to secure myself a secondhand wheelchair and am trying to learn what i can modify or change on it myself for less $$$!
These are pneumatic tires with a solid foam inserts that take the place of an inner tube. This is different that solid rubber tires. In order to install a tire with an inner tube, the wheel rim must have a hole for the filler valve stem.
@@bad4nr72 you are absolutely right, it harder to push, but it's even harder to push with flat tires. I have a sharpening service and use wire wheels to clean items I Sharpen. I'd be changing inner tubes 5 or more times a day.
Plastic tire levers will do the same job with way less damage to the wheels. 2-3 rounds with the screwdrivers will ruin the seat of the tire and create sharp spots for your hand to catch
Thank you so much for posting this!! It’s getting increasingly difficult to find a repair shop that will do this for me without charging a ridiculous amount.
