Getting rid of old wheels & tyres?

[r.welfare]

As the front tyres on my 406 are worn completely away at the edges, no doubt something to do with the huge dents in both (steel) rims, I will be collecting a full set of "new" wheels and tyres shortly. I'll be getting the tracking done as well...My question is this - I understand that new regulations mean you can no longer take the old wheels and tyres up to the tip...so how can they (legally) be got rid of? Is it best to try and remove the tyres from the wheels, take the tyres to the local tyre place and pay the environmental charge, then scrap the wheels? Anyone actually successfully removed an old tyre from a wheel without a tyre lever?

[outlaw118]

One of my local tips has a facility for wheels and tyres, you just leave 'em there, don't have to separate them or nuffink.Might be worth having a word at your local place; they might not be fussy.

[bones96]

my local tip has no problem with them tyres go in one place rims in another

[wuvvum]

Just sling 'em in the boot, take a drive out into the countryside and find a nice ditch somewhere.

[MrRegieRitmo]

...so how can they (legally) be got rid of?

Just sling 'em in the boot, take a drive out into the countryside and find a nice ditch somewhere.

Hmmm....

[r.welfare]

Hmmm indeed. I'm sure he was joking, Reg.Anyway, after doing some investigation it looks like the tip nearest me (which incidentally is not the one I usually go to - it's too busy) takes "tyres" and "scrap metal", so I may have to remove the tyres from the rims first.It may be academic as I don't yet know if the "new" wheels (14", off a 1.8 petrol 406) will clear the (possibly bigger) discs and calipers of my 406 TD, which is currently on 15" wheels...doh! Still, if they don't, I can use the new wheels/tyres as spares for the 405s.

[Spottedlaurel]

Cut them off with a grinder if you have to separate them?The ditch option is sadly well favoured here in Norfolk. Amazing how many times you see a set in there.

[AnthonyG]

I guess the least hassle way is to take the wheels/tyres to the place that does the tracking, and pay the enviromental charge to get rid of the tyres, then drop the rims off at the household waste tip, (or if they are fussy about car parts leave the rims at which ever local breaker you get on with). I would check with the local tip as to whether they take tyres as it seems to vary from county to county.IMO It is VERY difficult to remove tyres from wheels without the proper equipment. You could set fire to them but it's not advised unless you own a farm!

[mk2_craig]

I have been grateful on more than one occasion for fly-tipped wheels, got me out of a tight spot when I had a blow-out one day with no spare tyre

[bones96]

get the grinder out to cut tyres off

[Jazzy Jeff]

I have been grateful on more than one occasion for fly-tipped wheels, got me out of a tight spot when I had a blow-out one day with no spare tyre

You could use that in court, "You see your honour, what looked to the Police and the untrained eye as an act of fly tipping was in fact, an invaluable and voluntary public service."

[Milford Cubicle]

Use the tyres to grow potatoes in.

[Albert Ross]

Pop down to your local independent tyre fitting place, with a case of bargain beer for the lads, and ask them nicely if they can remove the tyres, and you want to take them with you so they don't have to pay the disposal charge. Then, in a crafty move, go to your local nationally franchised tyre depot, and dump them on THEIR scrap pile while nobody is looking.............then weigh in your wheels and make the cost of the beer back.............(and in the process make a good friend of the mechanics in the first tyre place)Trust me, it works...........I am workshop foreman for a local main dealer, and if a customer brought the idea to me, I would gladly let one of the lads do it for them. They have my permission and a drink for the night!

[TheScrapman]

Use the tyres to grow potatoes in.

[Ratdat]

Use the tyres to grow potatoes in.

At last! A use for the hundreds of old tyres I have piled up in my field!

[Pillock]

Find a breaker/salvage yard that sells partworns. My local breaker (1/4 mile up the road) seperates all the alloys and tyres off the frag-bound scrap, and sells them on in a seperate industrial unit. Thus, they have both large piles of worn tyres, and crates full of the dented wheels, both steel and alloy.I'd imagine that if you gave them the wheel/tyre combos, then the five minutes it'd take them to seperate them would be of no consequence, and the 'environmental charge' to dispose of the tyres would be covered by the money they get from weighing the wheels in. You won't make anything but it's almost zero effort on your part.

[mk2_craig]

I have been grateful on more than one occasion for fly-tipped wheels, got me out of a tight spot when I had a blow-out one day with no spare tyre

You could use that in court, "You see your honour, what looked to the Police and the untrained eye as an act of fly tipping was in fact, an invaluable and voluntary public service."

I wouldn't give that defence much chance of success! They could turn that against you, like the time I was gonna help myself to a set of 205 GTi wheelz with decent tyres lying on a bit of what looked like waste ground, I could have sold them for £££ but decided not to bother taking them in case someone saw me and hauled me in for "stealing by finding". On the other hand I had no qualms lifting (from the same location) a set of tatty Ford steels with tyres balder than that swimmer bloke - for use as slave rims on a Fiesta I was having towed away for scrap.

 

Driving around on someone else's cast-off wheels is a rather pikey and frankly dangerous thing to do, and I wouldn't recommend it. Part-worns from a reputable seller is where I'd draw the line; the best outfits only source their tyres from the best possible places e.g. I understand that in Germany you have to replace all four tyres at the same time, and if someone slashes one of them then the other three are effectively redundant. Perfectly saleable in Britain though.

[stoterstangen90]

get the grinder out to cut tyres off

I use a stanley knife for it.

[r.welfare]

Thanks chaps.I will trial-fit a "new" wheel tonight; if that fits I will grind the old tyres off the rims and take 'em to my tip with the bare rims. If the 14s don't fit over the front discs I'll have to spring for 2 new tyres and the issue goes away...

[Marty]

Shame you are so far from me, I have a couple of 15" rimz with passable rubber on them (one off a 406, one off a Xantia). I know that the later Xantia would wear the 14" rims from the BX in an emergency without any problems so I assume the 405/406 to be the same - the 16v and the 110HDi versions came with bigger discs / callipers but all the rest should be the same as the ones on the 14" shod cars.

[r.welfare]

Thanks anyway Marty - I was in Bradford yesterday, wish I'd known! The 406 I have wears 283mm front discs - the 1.6 and 1.8 wore 262mm ones, and those were the ones that had 14" rims as standard. Why the hell the slower 1.9TD had the bigger brakes is beyond me - probably down to weight.I'll get the car jacked up this evening and have a trial fit. If they don't fit, I'll just keep 'em for the 405 fleet - 5 wheels and tyres (with between 3-6mm tread) for 30 quid isn't too bad!

[r.welfare]

Arse - the discs + calipers are too big. Nevvamind - the new 406 LX wheeltrimz look ace on the 405 (like 205 GTI 1.9 alloys, sort of...) and the two best tyres have gone on the front of that one. A local scrapyard sells part-worns and is in fact getting a 406 in tomorrow so I'll check it out on Saturday...

[Marty]

Bit of a bummer that one - never mind. If you are up this way give me a shout as I have some PSA bits knocking about.Anyone need a drivers door from a phase 2 Xantia in Emerald Green?

[Lankytim]

Easiest way to remove tyres from rims at home is to use a grinder, carefully cut though the wheel rim, cut deeply into the metal as to cut the steel inside the tyre bead, once thats cut the tyres pretty much fall off. Takes about 2 mins on car tyres.Any old tyres I have I cut up with a jigsaw or sharp knife and stick in my wheeliebin, bit by bit every week so the binmen dont notice. Saying that ive got 6 4x4 tyres to get rid of, theyre tough mothers!!