Dumb tire change question...

Sat Feb 22 17:50:24 EST 2003

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]

OK, Doug, I changed many a tire by hand when I was a kid. Steel wheels,
inner tubes and all. See how old I am? I do not guarantee either the
physical survival nor the appearance of your pretty aluminum or magnesium
wheels after following this procedure.

Tire removal:

Step 1:  Construct a "bead breaker". This is an arrangement of a strong
post (preferably wooden) somewhere like perhaps the basement of your home
of your garage or a sturdy woodshed or a deck support post or the like.
SECURELY fasten a two foot (or so) piece of 2x4 vertically to that post at
a height of approximately 2 feet above the floor (to the bottom of the 2x4)
Step 3: find a longer piece of 2x4, perhaps 8 feet or so, a shorter piece
and a metal hinge. Attach the shorter piece to the hinge on the longer
piece so that when you place the end of the long 2x4 under the 2x4 attached
to the post the short 2x4 hinged from the long 2x4 rides against the side
of the tire with the tire/wheel laying on the floor. Preferably the other
end of the long 2x4 should be about 4-5 feet above the floor at this time.
Step 4: remove the valve cores from the valve stems and let all the air out
of the tires.
Step 5: place the short hinged 2x4 on the bead area of the tire right
against the wheel and them push down on the end of the long 2x4 using it as
a lever to break the bead loose. You might get lucky and have it let go on
your first try. Then again...
Step 6: Turn the tire/wheel over and do the same to the other side.
Step 7: By hand press the beads of both sides of the tire away from the rim
of the wheel toward the "center" of the tire opening.
Step 8: Secure two tire irons. Note: a tire iron is NOT a jack handle. A
tire iron is a flat thin strong piece of metal about 2 inches wide by two
feet long by perhaps 1/4 inch thick tapering to quite thin at the ends.
Step 10: Insert the first tire iron into the space between the tire and the
wheel and gently pry the bead of the tire outside the wheel. This puts a
lot of strain on the tire and can only be done if the other side of the
tire is able to slip into the center depression of the wheel on the other
side of the tire.. Hold that position with the first tire iron and get
another purchase on the tire beyond where the tire is now stretched over
the edge of the rim and pry some more rubber outside the rim. Pull first
iron out and use it to pry still more rubber outside the rim until the
whole tire is halfway off the wheel.
Step 11: repeat this operation on the second side of the tire so that it
ends up off the wheel on the same side of the wheel as the first side.

Tire installation:

Step 1: lubricate the bead area of the tire and the wheel with tire lube.
Dish soap and water will likely work well as the lube.
Step 2. Place the tire on top of the rim oriented in the direction you need
for it to be.
Step 3: Press as much of the lower side of the rubber onto the rim as your
strength may allow. If you are strong and your lube is doing its job and
the tire/wheel setup is just loose enough it may go on without use of an
iron. If not, pry it on in much the same manner as when you removed the
tire in the first place.
Step 4: push as much as possible of the second side into the wheel.
Step 5: using the tire irons pry the rest of the rubber tire bead into the
wheel.
Step 6: replace the tire valve cores.
Step 7: inflate the tire. Be careful - tires have been known to explode
during this operation. Count your finger, arms, and eyes both before and
after inflation. You are checking for a change in any of those numbers.

Now, aren't you sorry you asked? :-)  Reconsidering the shop charges? :-)

Good luck.

At 02:11 PM 2/22/2003 -0800, you wrote:

>Local shop wants ~$50 per set.
>If I'm swapping three sets on tires to different wheels, that's ~$150!
>ARGH!!!
>
>Thanks, I guess, <laughter>
>
>  ~ Doug
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Robert Myers [mailto:robert at s-cars.org]
>Sent: Saturday, February 22, 2003 11:46 AM
>To: Doug Johnson
>Subject: Re: Dumb tire change question...
>
>Here's my technique for such operations:  Load all the tires and wheels
>into the car some way and drive them to my local tire shop and have them do it.
>At 11:32 AM 2/22/2003 -0800, you wrote:
>
>>This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
>>--
>>I've got three sets of wheels and tires, and want to change which wheels
>>each set of tires is mounted on.
>>Can I lever tires off of wheels w/ brute force, w/o dying?
>>Thanks!
>>  ~ Doug
>>--
>>[ winmail.dat of type application/ms-tnef deleted ]
>>--
>>
>>
>>
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>____
>I've been wondering... Who would Jesus bomb?
>Bob
>*****
>  Robert L. Myers  304-574-2372
>  Rt. 4, Box 57, Fayetteville, WV 25840 USA  WV tag Q SHIP
>  '95 urS6 Cashmere Grey - der Wunderwagen   ICQ 22170244
>  http://www.cob-net.org/church/pvcob.htm
>*****
>
>
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____

I've been wondering... Who would Jesus bomb?

Bob
*****
  Robert L. Myers 304-574-2372
  Rt. 4, Box 57, Fayetteville, WV 25840 USA WV tag Q SHIP
  '95 urS6 Cashmere Grey - der Wunderwagen  ICQ 22170244
  http://www.cob-net.org/church/pvcob.htm
*****
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