Nooby question on Split rims and installing/changing tires

[vidnoye]

Hi,
I'm a bit confused. I recently bought a used go kart and I had to remove one of the front tires to straighten a bent spindle.
There were (there are) 4 bolt heads (bolts holding the rim together to the hub) and a 3/4" axle screw holding -- what I think-- the hub to the axle??
So the point is that I removed the 4 bolts to remove the tire and that's how I noticed the it was a split rim.
Question:
Am I supposed to remove the 4 bolts when replacing/patching a tire or the big screw and remove the hub too?

 

[happy_8637]

well the big nut should remove the wheel and tire as an assembly off of the spindle you shouldnt really need to remove the four bolts unless to take the tire off the rim and sometimes i dont even remove them when seperating the tire from the rim. does that help any

 

[vidnoye]

I see but the thing is that when I loosen the big nut the tire assembly doesn't come off the spindle; well, at least not easily...but if it did the hub would come out with it. I guess I have to play with it a bit more.

thanks

 

[Poboy kartman]

The races of the bearings are rusted to the spindles. There's no reason to remove the hub- but I would- to check the bearings. Chances are that they need replacing or re-packing.

Try to break the bead on both sides with the tire. You may get at least one side loose, after that- use screwdrivers to pry the rims away from the tires. There's really no right or wrong here.

Oh- and shoot PB Blaster on the axle and after as long as you can wait- use a dowel or 1/2" drive socket extension to drive the hub off....

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