Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
First things first. To build a tire swing, the first thing your going to need is.... A Tire! The easiest way to get a tire is to go by your local tire and auto shop; places like Wal-Mart, Good Year, Tire Discounters and so forth have to pay to have their old tires removed. Therefore, they will probably give you a used tire for free to make your tire swing.
Now that you have a tire your going to need to swing by a hardware store. Ace Hardware, Lowes or Home Depot will do fine. Ace will probably be a little higher, but they have excellent associates that will be able to get you the right parts for your tire swing. When you buy the chain be sure to get one that will support plenty of weight, the store associate will be able to help you choose a size and it would be best to get one of those rubber coated chains he's showing you. Also, while you have that associate with you ask him to go ahead and cut the chain in to four 48 inch pieces. OK, grab the rest of the hardware and head home, your half way done! **NOTE** Its really important that you get "fender washers", they are going to have a small hole in an excessively large diameter washer. (see pic)
Ok, you've made it home with a pile of stuff that will soon be a tire swing. Go ahead and wash that tire so that the old brake dust and road dirt doesn't ruin the new clothes you just bought the kids. Next, pick out which side of that tire you want facing up for everybody to see. Now, flip the side your not going to see up so we can work on it. Grab your drill and the 3/8 inch bit and drill some holes around the perimeter of the tire; 10 or 12 will do. This doesn't have to be exact, these holes are only for water drainage so that rain water doesn't get stuck inside the tire. If you skip this step, water will collect in there and it be very messy/nasty and will also give misquitos a perfect breeding ground.
Once you have those drainage holes finished, flip the tire back up so that the top side is facing up. We need to mark the locations for the three eye bolts to be attached to the tire. We want the holes to be in the middle of the side wall on the tire so that the fender washer doesn't stick over the edge any when attached. Go ahead and mark the first hole anywhere along the perimeter, now mark the next two holes off from the first. What your going for here is to have the three holes in triangle pattern around the perimeter around the tire for balance. (see pic) Ideally the holes in your triangle should be pretty close to being the same distance from each other if we measure.
Now take out one of those Eye Bolts you purchased and slide a fender washer onto it so that the washer is right up against the circular "eye". Next, insert that eye bolt through one of the holes in the tire. Reach into the middle of the tire and slide on another fender washer for the bottom side and then the nut, tighten nut accordingly. You can use a screwdriver through the eye of the bolt to hold it still while you tighten the nut down. Repeat this step for the other two holes in the tire.
Your tire swing is almost complete!! Grab three pieces of the chain you bought and three of the quick links. Study the quick links, they are fairly simple to use. Thread the nut collar up to install the quick link, down to lock it in place. Use the three quick links to attach the three pieces of chain to the eye bolts. One piece of chain to each eye bolt of course. You should now have the three opposite ends of chain just laying there. Use your last quick link to attach the three chain ends to the 4th piece of chain. Now, all you have to do is find some place to hang that bad boy and you'll be good to go! Congratulations!! I knew you could do it!
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