Putting a tube into a small front tire

[ayelvington]

I have a BX-24 with 18x8.5-10 front tires. I got a flat last week right after bragging that I'd had no flats since filling the tires with Slime. It was a sidewall nick, so I wasn't confident with just a patch, and the cost of a new tire was depressing.

These are low-profile tires, and putting a tube in is no trivial task. Here's the skinny.

1. Get the case (tire) off and clean it up.

2. Patch the hole on the inside to keep the edges from wearing against the tube.

3. Put the tube on the rim FIRST.

4. Put the case on the rim.

5. Line up the valve and pull it through the hole. You might want to use a valve tool to keep it from pulling out.

6. Use your handsto work the tube under the edge of the case. This is where having a partner hold the case for you really comes in handy.

7. Seat the other side of the case over the rim.

8. Pump it up!

The big deal here is that you put the tube on the rim BEFORE you put the casing on. There is no way you're going to stretch the tube over the rim if the case is already on and in the way.

Sorry, no video. We were too busy getting it done to hold a camera.

Did I mention that it's a blessing to have a helpful neighbor? It is!

 

[284 International]

Ayelvington, what tools did you use to do this? I just got done, this afternoon, changing a 6-12 R-1 tire on my little Kubota. I used, believe it or not, the miniature tire spoons that I normally carry in my tool pouch on my dirtbike. I changed it the same way I do a dirtbike tire, and, honestly, it was easier than the bike tires are.

I put the first side of the tire on, then stuffed the tube into the casing to align it with the valvestem hole in the rim. After it was in, I put in a tiny bit of air, just to fill the tube from vacuum-flattened and keep it out of the way. Then I jimmied the outside edge on, and filled up the rest of the tire. It wasn't too bad, surprisingly. I had expected a lot worse.

 

[ssmith general]

My dad made me change one tube tire that way to see how he used to have to do it and then we took the others to the tire guys and he showed me how they can do it in less than 5 minutes for like 10 bucks a tire or less. This was years ago. I havent even considered mounting my own tire since then. That is a tough job.

IMO, Take it to your local tire guy, they have the tools to make it an easy job...

 

[ayelvington]

The challenge with the case/tube/rim was that the diameter of the rim edge is so much wider that the rim itself. Getting the tube on after the case was installed was impossible.

We used three tire irons. Two were 12", and one was 24". I've done a lot of bicycle tires in my day, and I don't think the smaller spoons would have given us enough leverage.

 

[jenkinsph]

I don't like misery very much and have the tire shop deal with tires, tubes and rims. $10 bucks seems to be a fair exchange to me.

 

[radioman]

heh- I may end up tubing mine. During the winter my front right keeps leaking, even after my efforts to pop bead and clean it and use bead sealer. It appears that bead sealer on tractor tires only seems to work in warmer weather.

al- where did you get your tube and how much was it?

 

[284 International]

I wish I could get tires swapped for 10 bucks around here. Usually it's double that. Plus, I usually need a tire fixed/swapped at a time when the shops are closed...

My 2 8 inch and one 6 inch spoon were small, but sufficient for my 6-12 R1 on the little Kubota.

 

[alchemysa]

I fitted hundreds of tyres as a kid working in a garage. No special tools, just a couple of ordinary tyre levers and a rubber mallet. We did it much the same as this guy in the youtube video except we used a rubber mallet instead of a hammer. If we were fitting a tube we always fitted the bottom side of the tyre first (over the topside of the wheel) then fitted the tube in the tyre and pulled the stem through the hole. Then, unlike this guy who used the levers, we always used a mallet to bang the top rim of the tyre onto the wheel. \\YouTube - TYRE FITTING with levers

I'm not saying you should have done it my way, but I never had a wheel/tyre/tube combination that required fitting the tube first. In fact I had to fit a small tyre to the front wheel of a ride-on the other day and had no problems.

But you got the job done and you're happy with it so well done.

(P.S. I remember one day a Harley rider came in with a puncture. He wouldn't let us touch his precious alloy wheel so he insisted on doing it himself. Within seconds he had cracked a chunk out of the wheel and cried like a baby.)

 

[jake98]

(P.S. I remember one day a Harley rider came in with a puncture. He wouldn't let us touch his precious alloy wheel so he insisted on doing it himself. Within seconds he had cracked a chunk out of the wheel and cried like a baby.)

wonder if he earned a new patch for his vest with that one?

 

[Travelover]

One thing to remember is to take out the inner valve from the tube stem before you inflate it the first time. I made this mistake and the tube pulled into the rim as it inflated. I had to puncture the tube to remove it.:ashamed: