Mounting tires on rim

[dfkrug]

I've mounted most of my tires for years. It takes practice to get the tougher ones. And sometimes the smaller tires are the hardest ones.
A couple years ago I bought a manual tire changer from Harbor Freight. I think it was about $50. Bolted it to the concrete floor and now it takes just a few minutes the change a tire. Much quicker than driving to town and waiting 30 minutes (at least) to get it done at the tire shop.
The main reason for doing it myself is just convenience.
I put a few drops of dish soap and water in an old windex spray bottle to help lubricate the tire bead when mounting the tire.
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I bought one of those on sale ($34) years ago and I love it. I mounted
it to the jig that goes on my tractor forks, instead of bolting it to the
floor. I have used it for CUT tires until recently, when I started to
mount/dismount some small truck tires. Also a convenience thing. I
sure wish I could use it for M/C tires (axle hole too small).

SFish:
I want to try your hammer technique. First I have heard of it. How
big of a rubber mallet are you using? Do you hit the wheel or the tire?

 

[toolaholic]

Life's too short. Go to a tire shop. It's cheap enough ! At 1 time I did this for a living! I use tire dealers

 

[Bird]

your hammer technique. First I have heard of it. How
big of a rubber mallet are you using? Do you hit the wheel or the tire?

I don't know just how to describe the size of the rubber mallet, but just a handle about as long as a claw hammer and a mallet head about the size (but much lighter, of course) of a 6 to 8 pound sledge hammer. And you hit the tire bead right where it's making contact with the wheel rim.

We used tire irons to take tires OFF the rim; never to put them back on; just a little soapy water and the rubber mallet to put them back on.

 

[zac]

i never changed a tractor tire but what i always do is fill the tube slightly to prevent pinches. this usaully keeps the tube awy from the iron or whatever you might be using. its worked for me on dirtbikes, bikes and fourwheelers.

 

[SFish]

Hi Bird. My experiences were similar to yours. I hated both the tire whacker and slide hammer tools. I used the slide hammer mostly for repairing water filled tractor rear tires while they were still mounted on the tractor. We also used a huge floor mounted vice (300 lbs) and tractor loader buckets for tough ones.

Hi Dfkrug. I use a rubber hammer slightly larger than mentioned by Bird. They are rubber coated with a handle a little larger than a claw hammer and a head in the 3 to 4 inch diameter range (a smaller one would be better for smaller tires). The ones I have seen in stores recently have lead shot in the head and we used to call them something like "dead blow" hammers. You try to hit just the lip of the tire to drive it outward and down onto the rim. Because it is rubber, hitting the lip and the rim doesn't hurt anything. They are good for moving things that a steel head hammer would bend , break or ding.

Toolaholic, that is a very un toolaholic thing to say. More tools! In my case I can have the tire repaired and the tractor out working in the time it takes me just to drive to the nearest shop that repairs tires.

Steve

 

[zzvyb6]

I've gotten thru some small tire changes with some trial and error experimentation. But now its easy. First, use the dish soap on the bead so it will slide along the rim as it walks on. Start the tire with the opposite side bead in the drop center part of the wheel. Thats why its there: to give the bead some extra length to slip over the rim. Usually what happens is that the bead slips along the rim as you try to walk it on. To prevent it from slipping, use a Vise Grips on the rim flange to stop this action. Screw drivers can be used to work the tire bead incrementaly along the rim. Best if they have rounded corners. When the first bead is in, put in the tube if you have a tube type tire. Insert valve stem thru the wheel and use another Vice Grips to hold it in place and to prevent it from getting cock-eyed. Then start the 2nd bead same way: Get one edge over the rim, put your foot on it to keep it in the drop-center portion, set a Vice Grips on the rim edge to prevent the slipping and use the pry tools to work the bead over the rim. Use a lot of small increments in all of this. Don't try to get it done in just a few moves. If its a tubeless tire, many people can't get the tire to inflate because they don't have enough air flow. Use a Scraeder valve removal tool to pull ou the valve from the stem so you get maximum flow into the tire until it seats. Then put the valve back in. Often you can find valve caps with a valve removal fitting on their outside end.

Keep the soap handy. Don't use water, wipe away the excess when you are done.

 

[dfkrug]

I find tractor tire mounting to be much easier than passenger car
tire mounting, esp with the HF manual tire mounter. Although I
never enjoyed the process of mounting/dismounting with tire irons,
I started doing my own with M/C aluminum wheels cuz I saw the
dealer do it and scratch my rims. That was 30 y ago when most
wheels, even on M/Cs were steel. Nowadays any decent tire dealer
can mount passenger car or truck tires on Al rims with scratch
protectors.

I do order all the new car/truck tires I use from Tire Rack and take
them over to a dealer for mount/balance ($20 ea). Part of the reason
is that they balance them (I do not) and those low profile tires have
extremely thick and tough beads. VERY hard to break.

 

[ToadHill]

Once you have part of the tire mounted, push the bead down into the hollow of the rim beyond the rim bead. This gives you a lot more flexability with the sidewall and makes it easier to get the tire on the rim.

 

[AlanB]

I do lots of tires it seems....
For me it is a matter of getting it done NOW, or spending the time for someone else to do it.

My 2 cents, go to Napa buy a bottle of tire soap. It is about $5 and will last you a long, long time.

My next question will be do you have it clamped down somehow? Chasing those things around is no fun.

I have a couple different tools and clamp's to do the various tires.

As to stretching it over the rim, first thing is, do you have the right size tire?

If you do, then I bet the opposite side of the bead is not down in the recess as has been mentioned here before.

As to pinching the tubes. Tire irons, well polished and smooth go a long way, but I had something pointed out that really helped me with that problem.

If you do not push your tire iron past 90 degrees, you will not pinch the tube. You will have to take more bites, but the tube will not be pinched.

When I was 17 or so I worked on a tire service truck for a while and was paired with this old (probably in his 70's) black guy that probably went 100 lbs soaking wet with change in his pockets.

I would flail and flail at the tires with the tire hammer trying to get the beads to break, guess you had to be there but it was almost comical the speed that he would walk over too me and go, Now Alan,,,,,,, just hit it right, not a lot...............

I wish I could explain the picture better, but he would take that hammer from me, stand up on the tire, slide the hammer around behind him, then it would kind of pivot off his shoulder and more "fall" onto the tire then anything, and I kid you not a bit, the tire would fall off the bead.

He was also the guy though that would fall asleep airing up a split ring tire with his hand holding the chuck on the tire. Would wake up, check the air pressure, and it would be right................. Always scared me to death when he did that.

Anyway, if you can find someone experienced to walk you through it the first time, it is a good skill to have, and so much easier to learn by "seeing" then by reading.

Good luck, hope you get it fixed.

 

[bjr]

Your story reminded me of when I grew up I'd go with dad to the truck tire shop and one of the most productive service guys had just one arm. He'd get mad if and told you to stay outta the way if you tried to help him. He just knew what to do with the tire irons and the hammer. I worked road construction for a while and the most valuable man was the guy workin' the tire service truck evening shift. He always had the fleets loaders and trucks tires up and ready for next morning. You have to have a lot of respect for tradesmen that know their craft.Tire guys work hard and don't get enough credit. bjr