Any simple kits for Changing Tyres at home?

[Handoogies]

The mechanical tyre/rim separators at my filling station is a beast and I wouldn't expect to buy one of those for my home garage. I've been to more ghetto operations where they use a combination of a small sledge hammer and complete deflation to get the tyres on/off the rim.

My question is are there alternative methods of getting tyres on/off a rim without risking damage to the rims?

TIA

 

[Ruger_556]

Tire spoons and a bead breaker... Not worth it at all. Just pay Walmart the $11 to do it.

 

[zkling]

Tire spoons and a bead breaker... Not worth it at all. Just pay Walmart the $11 to do it.

Don't forget the lighter and WD40 for setting the bead.

Getting them off the rim without damage? I've just cut the tire off with a jig saw. You can put them on with a large spoon and a clamp, but you will still need a large blast tank to reset the bead. Agree with Ruger, so not worth it, unless it is a farm truck or the like where you don't care about balance or possible issues that could leave you stranded far from home.

 

[nicksnothereman]

The mechanical tyre/rim separators at my filling station is a beast and I wouldn't expect to buy one of those for my home garage. I've been to more ghetto operations where they use a combination of a small sledge hammer and complete deflation to get the tyres on/off the rim.

My question is are there alternative methods of getting tyres on/off a rim without risking damage to the rims?

TIA

They sell custom tools that do that but at the price you'll pay you might as well just buy a used professional machine. I think. It's fairly easy to get a tire off the rim but getting it on (especially a low profile tire) is very difficult to do with one person, probably still pretty hard with two people without scratching the rims.

I think maybe I could do 17- 65s if they're not performance tires (stiff sidewalls) otherwise the pry bars are going to be flying through the air There are other ways to do it with stiffer sidewalls much easier but they require hydraulic equipment (two presses, bottle jacks mounted upside down so they press down?) the problem is you have to push down on the sidewall a decent amount to get it around the lip once it's more than half-way on there otherwise it comes off where you worked it on. If you work alone can't do it with stiff sidewalls on performance tires.

Long winded answer. Short answer is just pay a shop to mount it, it's not worth your time for car or truck tires can't balance it properly at home without the machine anyway.

 

[mechanicalmoron]

I was looking through an autozone catalog that I somehow got.

tire machines start a little under 2 grand, I think. A full fledged deal that would be enough for at the very least, a filling station. And you still need a balancer. Didn't price them, was put off by the mounter prices.

Other than that, a tire iron, some type of combustable gas/liquid, and a tiki torch? Never done it, but it looks exhilarating. But it WILL be out of balance.

*edit* why does everyone seem to think it's so hard to get tires on? getting them OFF is the hard part, and if you don't care about the tire, just cut the bead, even a little cut will let you slip it off. I've always seen tire guys just drop the tire to get the first bead over the rim, and I'm pretty sure stepping on it should do the second one easy. I picked up some tires and wheels from the dump today, (I normally don't handle seperate wheels/tires, but I wanted a full spare... and some rims for secret parking lot funsies) and it seems like they should be no problem at all, it's the seating that will be hard.

As for breaking the bead, seriously guys, is letting the air out THAT hard? It's not like it's glued to the wheel. I've always worried a lot more about how to keep it seated, than how to get it off. They knew how to let air out of tires before everyone used giant hydraulic tools to do it.... Not trying to sound like too much of a cynic, or redneck, sorry if I am.

 

[Handoogies]

Thanks for the replies. I've seen the combustable method on youtube and I think I want to keep my eyebrows.

My problem is I frequently need to change the tyres on the car I track with, sometimes just after a day of racing. I have a small mountain of tyres in my garage and it really is annoying having to first lug those to the shop in the SUV then precariously drive the worn out tyres to the shop. I may look into one of those tyre machines while the wife is away maybe she won't even notice the extra gear in the shop lol. 2k does not seem that bad, I was expecting them to be 5k+

 

[zkling]

I've seen them on CL from time to time for ~$500+/-. Do you have to worry about balance?

 

[Handoogies]

I've seen them on CL from time to time for ~$500+/-. Do you have to worry about balance?

Yeah the rims get spin balanced at the legit shop, although on the track using the dot placement method for new tyres seem to work ok for the most part, no noticeable vibration and the tyres wear out way before I need to worry about imbalance from gradual wear. Seems like a real pain in the **** now looking at the whole endeavor; I think I'll try to convince the shop to store my tyres for me, they've done it for some of my other friends but only as a special favor.

 

[bulletpruf]

When I get back to the states, I will be looking for a reasonably priced used machine to mount/dismount tires. As often as I swap tires on my cars, it will eventually pay for itself. Only issue is these take up a lot of space.

FYI - I've used WD40 to seat tires. It does indeed work. Not sure I'll end up doing it again, but it is fun.

 

[sloppy]

I've seen them on CL from time to time for ~$500+/-. Do you have to worry about balance?

My buddy got his off CL for $200ish..

I see balancers all the time to.. a old coats tire machine should be pretty easy to find..

Biggest problem I see(and why I dont have one) is the room issue.. they **** up space and just dont get used enough for Me.. Not to mention you become the backyard tire man then get stuck with a bunch of **** tires..

If I get a little more room I would still get one for sure..

 

[rodm1]

You definitely need the proper equipment if you do it your time is money. I do my own with tire irons because I can do a better job on sealing the bead and don't have to weight hours.

 

[Jlbc212]

I have a NoMar tire changer that I bought primarily for my motorcycle tires, but I also do my car and truck tires on it too. A Mojo lever bar is much better than the bar NoMar supplies with their changer. You should also look into Derek Weaver tire changers.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

I have a NoMar tire changer that I bought primarily for my motorcycle tires, but I also do my car and truck tires on it too. A Mojo lever bar is much better than the bar NoMar supplies with their changer. You should also look into Derek Weaver tire changers.

For most tires I like the NoMar bar better than the MoJo lever. I also have a few old tire irons, spoons and a crow bar sometimes comes in handy.

I have the HF tire changer, cheap and it works OK. if doing a lot of large tires you probably want something more substantial.
Building a bead breaker is easy, building the stand wouldn't be difficult.

I also have a bead seater. It's basically a 10 gallon air tank with a quick dump nozzle. Works better than ether (starting fluid) which works better than WD-40.

You can get a bubble balancer for car/truck tires. For motorcycle tires I use a truing stand.

Lube (I use Ru-Glide) make the job a lot easier.

 

[Milton Shaw]

The cheapest and best is to buy extra rims. I bought extra rims for my snow tires and change them when snow is forecast and expected and then take them of when the snow is gone. Here in Knoxville that works out about once a winter so its no big deal. Keeping track tires on rims ready to go would make a lot more sense than changing them to expensive OE style wheels just for a couple of 1/4 mile runs. Each time you change a tire you risk tearing the beads and ruining the tires. Cheaper to buy the right width rims for track and using them for that purpose only. Tires on rims take up the same space as just the tires only, they do weigh more though.

 

[A_Pmech]

You should look into a manual tire changer. There's no need for a powered machine for what you're doing. Spend the money you saved on a used dynamic balancing machine.

FWIW, I do my own tractor, trailer, motorcycle and machinery tires, but I take my cars to Wal Mart. It's so cheap to have them do it there's no way I can justify buying a balancing machine to do it myself.

A blast tank isn't required for seating the bead. Bounce the tire and rim a few times on the floor until it's seated part way. Remove the valve core and use a short hose from your air compressor receiver. I've never failed to seat a bead that way.

For breaking the bead I like alligator breakers. Alternatively, it's easy to rig up a floor-mounted breaker with compound leverage to fit your car rims.