What tools for changing your own car tires?

[tommydog35]

I have never changed my own car tires before and was thinking of giving it a go. In light of this I wondered what tools people find useful for changing tires at home? Should I just buy a good set of tire irons?

Also what about breaking the bead at home? This video shows the person using a jack

Is this the best way?


Also can you get tire irons which don't scratch? I was thinking of something with dipped plastic ends, but never seen anything like that. In this video they use bicycle inner tubes over the end of the tire iron:

But can you get proper anti scratch tire irons?

 

[kd3pc]

changing your own tires, is a PITA....not scratching modern wheels is also a continuous process PITA, breaking down low profile tires without a machine is nigh impossible without scratching your wheels or worse.

Can it be done, sure, and you can use a jack...mar proof DIY tools do not exist, some reduce the chance of scratching, some are a waste as the "spoon" will just rip the coating or poke through.

The challenge is keeping the wheel in place such that nothing will slip...slip usually means pain, or damage....

I have done tons of motorcycle wheel/tires, almost as many drag tires/wheels, almost as many split rims - when I was young and stupid, and a handful of ATV or low profile/superwides.

Best way is to find the busiest shop that handles wheels like yours, and ask for the best tire changer they have and talk to him...too many shops just gorilla them.. and dealers are another beast altogether.

 

[chrisnazzy]

I've been in the tire business for 15 years. Someday when I build my dream garage it will have a newer style euro tire changer and a balancer. Even though I technically could change some tires at home without this equipment I wouldn't bother. Both tire/ wheel damage and personal injury could easily result.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[tommydog35]

changing your own tires, is a PITA....not scratching modern wheels is also a continuous process PITA, breaking down low profile tires without a machine is nigh impossible without scratching your wheels or worse.

Can it be done, sure, and you can use a jack...mar proof DIY tools do not exist, some reduce the chance of scratching, some are a waste as the "spoon" will just rip the coating or poke through.

The challenge is keeping the wheel in place such that nothing will slip...slip usually means pain, or damage....

I hear what you say, but I was looking forward to the challenge! for me it's not about trying to save money / take the easiest option, but about taking pleasure in doing things myself.

If you look at the videos I posted, they make it look quite easy and say it was the first tire they had ever changed. You mention about keeping the wheel in place, and they seem to bolt it down and also use a jack pressed against the wall. So is it really that difficult? Or am I missing something?

 

[tommydog35]

Both tire/ wheel damage and personal injury could easily result.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

Well what about things like rim protectors? I saw one video where they cut up a plastic bin to make some protectors. In the video I posted above they wrapped the tire irons in some bicycle inner tubes.

 

[Innov8tive1]

You would need a good machine operated by an experienced guy to get a no scratch experience.
Having said that, I have a manual tire changer from HF. It has a bead breaker built in and does the job on non critical jobs just for use around home, lawn tractors, ATVs, small tractor tires etc. and I've used it just to mount a spare on an old rim. The HF changer did need some reinforcement on the bead breaker part otherwise it just bent. It's a lot of grunt work and a pain but it can be done.
The down side is that you won't have the ability to properly balance your wheels, that's another piece of equipment.

For our daily driven vehicles, safety and reliability are worth more than any satisfaction I would get from doing it myself! I do like to do pretty much everything myself, but some things are just worth spending a little $$ to have done.

 

[bob15]

After changing the tires, you need to balance them. How do you plan on doing that? A spin balance machine is much better than the old bubble type.

Not worth the aggravation without a machine. Farm & tractor tires are a completely different story, but I'm thinking you are referring to auto-tires.

 

[General Geoff]

The best manual/DIYer machine is the No-Mar CH200, in my opinion:
https://www.nomartirechanger.com/CH200_Motorcycle_Tire_Changer_p/tc-ch200.htm

This is advertised as a motorcycle tire machine but will also do car and light truck tires up to 21" diameter. Comes with all the accessories you need. Lifetime warranty.

 

[AndeiH]

I changed a couple of motorcycle tires once. it was harder than they made it look in videos. Not worth the hassle.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

I've done trailer tires with 2 guys, a pry bar, a hammer, and some mayonaise from the drive thru. Would not do for fun. Driving a truck onto the sidewall breaks the bead pretty quick.

 

[chrisnazzy]

Well what about things like rim protectors? I saw one video where they cut up a plastic bin to make some protectors. In the video I posted above they wrapped the tire irons in some bicycle inner tubes.

I guess the main question I would have is why are you intent on doing it at home? Changing tires isn't rocket science but it is a task that is made exponentially easier with a tire changing machine. Not to mention you won't be able to balance the assembly once its mounted.

We change 100+ tires a day and the only ones that are changed on the ground using bars are 19.5" and 22.5" medium duty truck and RV tires. These wheels do not have internal beadlocks on the rim however like standard car and truck wheels.

I'm just saying......if I went around my shop right now and asked every one of our tire installers if they would tackle changing tires by hand at home every one would say hell no. If the pros wouldn't do it why would you?

It should also be noted that standard going rate for a "DMB" (Dismount, Mount and Balance) is $15 or $16 each. For most, time is money and by the time you acquire tools and equipment and wrestle the tires off I can all but assure you $15 will sound pretty cheap.



Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[firebirdparts]

This is a great challenge, do it! It's not easy.

You need a manual bead breaker. They look like this. I am not advocating harbor freight, I am just saying this is what they look like.
https://www.harborfreight.com/bead-breaker-92961.html

Notice that a wheel has one side that is easier to get a tire off than the other. This is the side where the lip is closer to the "low part" of the wheel. On almost all wheels, this is the front. The tire comes off the front. Have you ever heard of reversed wheels, back in the 50's? That is what was reversed on them.

The first side comes off by walking prybars around. You don't need a special type of prybar, but they make them. I figure, if you were worried about scratching the wheels, we wouldn't be having this discussion. Scratch away. They're going to get scratched anyway. You will see here how important the idea of a "low spot" is. The tire had to go into the low spot on one side so you can pry something out on the other.

The traditional way to get the second bead off was with a tire hammer and one prybar. I can't describe that, you just need to google it and find a youtube example. You don't really need a special hammer to do it. It does need to be a 3 pound hammer.

You will still have to get them balanced, but at least you'll have an appreciation of how people used to change tires with hand tools.

 

[nafterclifen]

I have a Nor Mar tire changer and I love it. I have changed plenty of 17" motorcycle tires, 15" trailer tires and some other random tires/wheels with ease. Their mount/demount bar works but it's not the best. This bar is MUCH MUCH better - http://www.no-scufftiretool.com

Of course it does take some getting used to. Mounting tires is cake compared to dismounting them. I have never attempted to mount/dismount low profile tires but would certainly try if the need arose.

Unfortunately, even if I go through the effort of changing tires I still can not perform a high speed balance. I would LOVE, LOVE to have my own balancer. One day!

Would I attempt to change tires without a purpose built tool (i.e. No Mar tire changer)? Hell no! The first time that you try, you'll realize that it's not for the faint of heart.

 

[Teenager with old tools]

The auto shop teacher screwed up and paid for one of my tires when we changed it with the machine and he was supposedly experienced. I wouldn't try it on something important without a machine at home. Most students had more than enough trouble with the machine. I now take mine to a local shop that I need Google translate for but they do it 10 bucks a tire to dismount mount and balance. And I watch them do it and I know they do it right. The only time I would do it without machine is when out in desert with dune buggies but if I'm at home I'd rather take it to a shop. Tires and transmission work is only stuff I don't do at home

Sent from my P027 using Tapatalk

 

[RocketScott]

I picked up a hunter tire machine on Craigslist. It was a basket case and took a lot of work to get functioning again. I have about $600 into it at this point.

Downside: It takes up a lot of space in a 20x30 shop.

Upsides: It’s paid for itself several times over considering I can buy tires online cheaper and when I need to patch a tire I can take it off the rim and do it the right way.

I’ve done motorcycle tires with irons and it really *****. I can only imagine doing low profile tires without a machine.

I still have to remove the 24.5” tires on my Peterbilt with irons and blow them back on with ether but that’s beyond what most people deal with.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[HanShotFirst]

I ***** and whine when I have to change tires on my dirt bikes...no way I'm doing car tires at home.

 

[jimmy-ray]

You should film it, not to be a **** but I would love to watch that. I'm just saying it would be very entertaining I think.

I've done a bunch of ATV tires that are to small or to big to fit the machine or we didn't have the proper adapter for the machine. I like to think I'm fairly experienced at it and everytime it happens I absolutely hate my life.

I always start out thinking this time it wont be so bad, then 45 minutes later dripping sweat and blood 2 tires down with wheels scratched to hell, 2 more to go, I always realize how much I hate changing ATV tires that wont fit on the machine.

I really laughed at an inner tube on a tire iron, not trying to be a ****.

 

[Texsun]

I got this combo a few years ago, I'd do it again. Just have to do about 300 tire changes for it to pay for itself...

https://nationalautotools.com/collections/tire-equipment-combo/products/ntc-950-2-tire-changer-ntb-550-wheel-balancer

 

[sberry]

I wouldn't want to do hundreds but can change a tire in a few minutes with a couple screwdrivers. I seem to have my bud balance a tire, takes an old weight off, ends up putting another one back in the same spot. I can feel a wheel much out of balance, I been leaving a lot of them alone if already balanced wheel.

 

[ToolRoom]

In my experience manual post type changers and tyre levers are really only any good for steel wheels and mowers etc. - and hard work at that. There are No-Mar style bars available but frankly they don't work on low profile alloys.

Minimum I would suggest is a semi automatic changer and one of those hand spin balancers which mobile fitters favour. There are now some quite adequate Chinese machines that are affordable and work well. Assist arms are also very handy.

I use:

and

Work really well, no damage to alloys, no struggling with low profile tyres and my back thanks me. Not an economical solution compared to tire-shop prices, but unless you trust them with your wheels it can be a premium that is worth paying.

 

[turnthewrench]

This is one of them questions that's really worth replying to with... "money is the best tool I've used"

 

[paulsomlo]

I use two tire spoons from Harbor Freight and a bead breaker like this: https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speedway-Wide-Foot-Tire-Bead-Breaker-Tool,6977.html?sku=91082003&utm_medium=CSEGoogle&utm_source=CSE&utm_campaign=CSEGOOGLE&gclid=CjwKCAjwyIHPBRAIEiwAHPS-GJmg5gElwVJDQ2NSayaGxJd5fwyGvH5-hz2MB_c8tIpn_tthJ0ex3RoCL6gQAvD_BwE
I started doing my own after the tire place ripped up the bead on a new set of snow tires. I take them somewhere and have them balanced for $5 each. It's a workout, but I'd rather do them myself.

 

[mx500]

car tires are way easier than dirt bike tires. depends on sidewall stiffness and size though.
I just bought the harbor freight bead breaker. its a 10 minute deal.

 

[fordcragar]

I've been doing my own tires for over 50 years. I had a bead breaker that my dad gave me and a couple of tire irons. About 15 years ago, I got tired of wrestling around with tires on the floor, so I bought a used Coates 20-20 machine; which makes it a lot easier. I've been balancing my own tires, using a bubble balancer, since I started doing my own tires. Years ago, a couple of places that I worked at had spin balances, I didn't notice any difference between spin and bubble balance. YMMV.

 

[tommydog35]

I have a Nor Mar tire changer and I love it. I have changed plenty of 17" motorcycle tires, 15" trailer tires and some other random tires/wheels with ease. Their mount/demount bar works but it's not the best. This bar is MUCH MUCH better - http://www.no-scufftiretool.com

Thanks for this link, I think I will pick up one of these. It is just the thing I was thinking of.

 

[tommydog35]

You should film it, not to be a **** but I would love to watch that. I'm just saying it would be very entertaining I think.

What am I missing then? I may be naive but some youtube videos make it look very easy. This guy says it is the first tire he has ever changed and it is an easier job than changing a bicycle tire.

What am I missing?

 

[Brand X]

Narrow car tires like a on small import (That I own) can be balanced at home using a Motorcycle type balancer.. I do it all the time.. I would not recommend doing it on wider tires, or larger tires, I built my home manual tire changer because tire shops **** in general, and the machines for home take up way too much space for me... I use one h-beam of my lift, and bolt my tire changer to it.. I just mounted my snow tire last week, and it's about $70.00 to change over twice a year,, One local tire shop will balance my larger truck tires for reasonable prices, so I have them just balance them for me.(once in 4 years so far) The bead breaker works way better then my backhoe bucket ever did..Tire/wheel does not move sitting on the piece of rubber horse mat for protection. It's also nice to fix your own flats at home..

I had Mark turn me a set of bushing for my small car rims, and it turned out excellent. He thought it might not work because of certain issues with balancing car tires. (goes into detail here)..Since the motorcycle wheels are really not all that different in width to my small car,and seem to not have any balance issues to over 200 mph, figure I give it a go.. Super happy with my setup, and should of did it way sooner then I did..I did cut some parts out on my CNC Plasma table/ironworker just in case you think I am a Luddite:Might of even used pulsed mg to sprayed it all together..

http://marcparnes.com/

I have decent tire irons, and a no-mar bar for my tire/breaker machines..Their tire lube is great stuff too. Yes I do all my motorcycle tires too..

 

[Mikeske]

I worked part time in a tire store when I was in the Air Force. That was 0ver 30 years ago. I have one simple rule about tires and changing out tires it is I take the car, truck or my tractor tires down to a tire store and have them do it. They can properly secure them and do the tire and cage them if needed.

I have seen one tire explode (manufacturing defect) and killed a guy I worked with in the tire store and after that I will never touch the tire to change it again (I quit that day after the accident).

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Proper dismount technique

The slide breakers are probably less risky for a newb, and nearly as fast as the hammer.

 

[crewchief888]

ive busted more than my fair share of tires, it's not something i want to do for fun.

both our DD have aluminum wheels, so they get tires mounted and balanced wherever i decide to buy tires from.

lawn mower, ATV and mud toy tires get done at home with a HF manual "machine" and a couple tire irons.

 

[ScottsGT]

Back around 1977 I watched my dad and brother spend all day out in the driveway changing tires on his old Datsun 1200. I was 15 at the time, and that was the first lesson I remember learning that taught me to take some things to a pro. I kept reminding them the tire store was 5 miles up the road. Back then it was like $5 per tire.

 

[Mechanical Noise]

I still have the tire spoons I bought from Warshawsky 35 years ago. The tire spoons at HF look similar, maybe better. Last time I did this, I used the base of the scissors jack to break the bead. Had to jack up the car with a hydraulic jack to get enough clearance.

Breaking beads was pretty tough the first couple of times butI got ALOT better with practice. It's not super hard but it is something of a workout. Bead lubricant is essential. Working up a foam with an old paintbrush ,some water and a bar of Ivory soap works pretty well.

 

[Strouty]

On really old tires I had to improvise in order to get the bead to break. One of them, the tire completely broke leaving the bead still attached.





This was after using an excavator to rip as much rubber if as I could.

 

[Brand X]

I guess it just all depends how good you are with this stuff..

Top this one..

 

[WittHay]

If you wan't to try changing a car tire, I would recommend practice on a old tire and rim first and see if you like it or get the hang of it. Then move onto your daily driver.

The first choice for auto and pickup tires is to take it to the tire shop.

I work on tires only in emergencies or when the tire shop won't touch the tires. Like old truck rims with the locking rings, as Strouty showed they can be a real pain.

Recently, a 5 ton with 11/22.5 tires ran over a cement curb and bent the rim and popped the bead. Took a sledge and straightened out the rim. Sprayed JD starting fluid inside, JD has the most either, lit it with a propane torch and boom. The tire popped onto the rim.

 

[HomeTheaterMan]

IMO if you plan on doing a bunch of tires, you should just scan Craigslist or auctions and pick up a tire machine and balancer. I bought a Hunter tire machine and balancer on CL for a reasonable price and it's been well worth it to me. I've done tires by hand and no way I'd do them unless it was a necessity like on the side of the road or something.

 

[theoldwizard1]

changing your own tires, is a PITA....not scratching modern wheels is also a continuous process PITA, breaking down low profile tires without a machine is nigh impossible without scratching your wheels or worse.

It has been many, MANY years since I have used a manual tire machine, but I think kd3pc is exaggerating a bit ! Once you have the knack, you should be able to demount and mount a tire in less than 10 minutes. (There is a video somewhere of a guy removing and installing 4 tractor trailer tires with just some lube, a tire sledge, and a couple of tire irons in under 10 minutes.)

First, a manual machine, like sold by HF or Northern Tool is the way to go ! (NOMAR make the Cadillac of manual machines. It says motorcycle tire changer but it will easily change 20" truck tires. $$$ !!) The first BIG PROBLEM with these machines is NOT PROPERLY MOUNTING THEM !! They really need to be bolted down to a solid concrete base (NOMAR sells an adapter to mount theirs to a trailer hitch receiver on a truck). If you don't mount it properly, you are going to be fighting with yourself.

How NOT to use a HF tire changer ! There are some good videos on how to do it the right way on YouTube.

The next 2 issues are technique and lubrication. BOTH OF THESE ARE CRITICAL ! If you don't use decent lube or use improper technique then you will agree with kd3pc ! IMHO, the best lube is Murphy's Original Concentrated Tire and Tube Mounting Compound but a lot of people just use dish soap mixed 50/50 with water.

I have covered this in several posts in the past. Use search (by my name) and look them up.


If you don't want to mount a machine to the floor, usually the biggest issue is breaking the bead down off of the bead flange. This is a good tool, but not cheap !

BeadBuster

 

[Brand X]

If you don't want to mount a machine to the floor, usually the biggest issue is breaking the bead down off of the bead flange. This is a good tool, but not cheap !

BeadBuster

Don't have to mount a machine to the floor. I use part of my H lift frame ( bottom Foot) Have not found a bead i cannot break yet.. Everything tucks away well too.. Although I did find room for a balancer.. I will never set foot in a tire shop again. unless it's to help the local kid that just started his own shop.. :lol..

 

[Caterpillar Cowboy]

Duckbill hammer, 2 good long tire irons, and a bead blaster cannon.

Those little aluminum bead holders can be handy, especially when you're changing them still mounted on the vehicle, but you don't need them.

But then again I'm doing 24.5's. I'll do truck tires myself but I'll pay to have car and pickup tires done!

 

[On-Wheel]

The best manual/DIYer machine is the No-Mar CH200, in my opinion:
https://www.nomartirechanger.com/CH200_Motorcycle_Tire_Changer_p/tc-ch200.htm

This is advertised as a motorcycle tire machine but will also do car and light truck tires up to 21" diameter. Comes with all the accessories you need. Lifetime warranty.

Breaking the beads is Tarzan work on car rims.Once that's done ,a no mar will peel a tire off.I've done 1 and never again!