TIre tools

Today my wife called and said she had a flat on her car. Well at least the weather was not bad. So I went to her and put on the spare dinky tire and then followed her home. She had run into a pothole that was filled with w ater and it had ruptured a spot on the sidewall.

So the logical thing to do would be to go to a tire store and get a new tir e mounted. But the last time my wife bought tires she brought home two of the old tires. And they were actually in good condition. Do not know why she had gotten new tires, or for that matter why she brought two of the old tires home.

So I took the damaged tire off the rim. I used to have a bead breaker, but that was one of the tools that did not make it across the country. Harbor Freight has them on sale for $50. Such a deal. So I used a hydraulic ja ck working against the trailer hitch to break the bead. Not the best tool, but the tire was already junk.

So does anyone have a better idea for a bead breaker? I am thinking of be ating a lawn mover blade into some sort of shape with some bits welded on t hat I can use with a hydraulic jack . The bead breaker that I had took to o much room to store. And it is not like I used it very often.

After the beads were broken I used large screw drivers to get the tire off the rim. Here again there must be a better tool. But still a tool that do es not take a lot of room to store. Any ideas? Large screw drives are a b unch of work.

And after mounting the new old tire, there was the problem of getting the b eads to seal. Several years ago, I watched a guy changing a truck tire. H e had a service truck equipped to service large trucks. But he could not ge t the new tire to seat on the rim. Finally he borrowed some starter fluid and sprayed into the tire. Then stood back and threw a match at the tire. Big poof and it was seated.

Me, I made a little tool instead. I connected a air quick disconnect to a

3/8 ball valve and then to a tire air chuck. I then removed the little bit that acts to seal the air chuck when not being used. With the tire valve core removed, I held the air chuck on the tire valve and opened the ball va lve. And that worked. So I did not have to use starter fluid.

So what do you people use for tires. Inquiring minds want to know. I am s ure most of you use the tire store, but some of you must live in the boon d ocks .

Oh yes, I used some spray vegetable oil on the tire bead and wheel rim. Li ke PAM, but the cheap stuff from Walmart. Handy to have around. I use it for anti spatter when welding and for general lubrication where I am not co ncerned about it getting gummy. Also for snow shovels to keep snow from st icking.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster
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I'm lucky, I scored a Coates tire machine at auction.

My son did OK, he scored an old manual tire changer for scrap iron price. You could build one of these in a day. its basically a small round table with a post in the middle. nut and collar to tighten tire in place.

The bead breaker slides on the post, has a piece to push on the tire, then about six foot of pipe for leverage. Just put it on and pull down. Flip tire, repeat.

Then he has a couple four foot long spoons. Put tongue under bead, rotate vertically 180, and against post. walk around once - bead is off. Then there's a funny shape spoon to put bead back down, hooks over rim, angles on the outside to help bead slide down.

if you are super serious, get your email to me. I'll ask the kid to send a couple pics. I'll BET a google search would turn up even better info here.

Karl

Karl

Reply to
Karl Townsend

yep, google manual tire changer plans

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more than you ever wanted to know

Reply to
Karl Townsend

So the logical thing to do would be to go to a tire store and get a new tire mounted. But the last time my wife bought tires she brought home two of the old tires. And they were actually in good condition. Do not know why she had gotten new tires, or for that matter why she brought two of the old tires home.

So I took the damaged tire off the rim. I used to have a bead breaker, but that was one of the tools that did not make it across the country. Harbor Freight has them on sale for $50. Such a deal. So I used a hydraulic jack working against the trailer hitch to break the bead. Not the best tool, but the tire was already junk.

So does anyone have a better idea for a bead breaker? I am thinking of beating a lawn mover blade into some sort of shape with some bits welded on that I can use with a hydraulic jack . The bead breaker that I had took too much room to store. And it is not like I used it very often.

After the beads were broken I used large screw drivers to get the tire off the rim. Here again there must be a better tool. But still a tool that does not take a lot of room to store. Any ideas? Large screw drives are a bunch of work.

And after mounting the new old tire, there was the problem of getting the beads to seal. Several years ago, I watched a guy changing a truck tire. He had a service truck equipped to service large trucks. But he could not get the new tire to seat on the rim. Finally he borrowed some starter fluid and sprayed into the tire. Then stood back and threw a match at the tire. Big poof and it was seated.

Me, I made a little tool instead. I connected a air quick disconnect to a 3/8 ball valve and then to a tire air chuck. I then removed the little bit that acts to seal the air chuck when not being used. With the tire valve core removed, I held the air chuck on the tire valve and opened the ball valve. And that worked. So I did not have to use starter fluid.

So what do you people use for tires. Inquiring minds want to know. I am sure most of you use the tire store, but some of you must live in the boon docks .

Oh yes, I used some spray vegetable oil on the tire bead and wheel rim. Like PAM, but the cheap stuff from Walmart. Handy to have around. I use it for anti spatter when welding and for general lubrication where I am not concerned about it getting gummy. Also for snow shovels to keep snow from sticking.

Dan

I learned manual tire-changing on split rim truck tires in the Army. They insisted that the only proper lubricant was soap because oils could weaken the rubber.

I take road vehicle wheels that need to be spin-balanced to the store but change smaller tires myself on the Harbor Freight mini changer, which turns an impossible task into a merely miserable one.

In addition I use a pair of their older two-foot tire irons, two shorter and handier ones meant for motorcycles, and large C clamps to help break the bead.

The one time I took a glued-on 23" garden tractor tire to supposedly the best local dealer they gouged the bead so badly it wouldn't seal.

-jsw

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

I am serious, but do not have any space to set up a regular tire machine. I can manage with what I have, but would like some tools that would make it easier, but not take up a lot of space.

I did a search and found lots of stuff,but most of it takes a good deal of storage space and needs bolting to the floor.

Now if I just had you as a neighbor.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

I think vegetable oil is okay. Best check on that. I just wipe the rim and tire bead with a paper towel with some vegetable oil on it. I had some genuine rubber lube, but that is another thing that did not make it across country.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

From the Michelin truck tire site.

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Reply to
dcaster

Yeah, the canola oil from Dollar Tree helped me put the new tube in my wheelbarrow tire.

And I thank you for letting me make more space for you.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Keep in mind that vegetable oils oxidize; first they go rancid; then they get sticky; and then they get hard. Linseed oil is an extreme example.

They eventually can become pretty good glue.

Reply to
Ed Huntress

See below.

Heat to cherry red and flatten out a 1+ inch diameter bar of steel/iron to make a spoon with a rounded edge. They're much easier on the bead.

I've seen pictures of people who used a bit too many hydrocarbons to do that. It looks like the guys who had a split rim truck wheel come apart. What a mess. I strongly recommend against that method.

Tire rubbers are impervious to most oils, but that's not true for other rubbers, especially cheap o-rings. They'll swell like hell if you try to grease 'em with oil or petrolatum.

Yes, they do work well.

A 3# sledge and 12" tubafore work for that, too. Spray with soapy water, then start hitting it. As you move it, the soap gets into the rest of the bead and helps slide it off.

The moron probably did it dry.

We had a nice Hunter balancer and tire machine at Flynn's, to complement the Hunter 111A 4-wheel alignment machine I used. Next to the tire machine was a 1gal bucket filled with soapy water and a mop to run around the bead of the rim and tire prior to sealing. There was also an inflatable band which went around the tire to make the beads touch for easier seating. That can be cloned by using a simple rope and stick, tourniquet style. Yes, remove the valve core and jam the air hose directly down on the valve stem for quickest seating. Once it has air in it, reinstall the valve core and use a chuck to air it to proper pressure.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

I traded some worthless junk for a discarded shop-made 1/4" plate welding table of equal value. To make it storable I sawed off the 3" channel iron legs at 6" and beveled 2x4 legs to fit into the stubs snugly, and attached wheels to one edge to move it.

The HF mini-changer bolts to it. I put a wooden block under the rim where I'm breaking the bead to support it more solidly than the central post does.

When not in use the table and the changer take up little shed space atop the cement block collection.

The HF clerk told me that the cast aluminum handle may be weak, so I reinforced it with steel side plates.

-jsw

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

He told me it didn't fit their machine so he had to break the solidly glued bead by hand.

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

On 03/10/2015 10:51 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote: ...

If it was truly "glued", not at all surprising to me and probably would have been virtually impossible to do w/o damaging the tire would be my best estimate no matter how approached it...

Reply to
dpb

The brown glue residue was clearly visible. Since the inside of the rims was rusty and Sears is nearly useless I bought tubes and mower deck mandrels from a rural parts store that looked like a relic of the

1950's, complete with a sleeping dog in the middle of the floor. Their web site prices were up to date, though.

-jsw

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

I've broke a lot of tires off the bead with a wagon jack under the bumper, tow hook, or hitch receiver of a truck.

aka: farm jack & off road jack and probably few other things. Works pretty darn good.

Reply to
Bob La Londe

Last summer I needed to patch the tube in one of my backhoe tires. After I got the wheel off of the machine I used the hoe to push the tire off of the bead. Worked great. When putting the tire back on I ran into a little trouble. Hanging on with all my weight to one of the really long spoons it came out of the tire and I fell backwards landing with my spine centered on one of the outrigger feet. It hurt but I persevered and got the tire bead seated and got everything mounted back on the backhoe. A couple weeks later I was getting a bone scan to see if a cancer had spread and they found what looked like one fractured vertebra. The doc asked if I had injured my back in any way and I told him what had happened. He said that was good because if I had not injured my back it would have been a sign of bone cancer. Eric

Reply to
etpm

When I was a young lad I worked in a "Service Station" on weekends. We, or I should say the Boss, who was a big brawny guy, changed truck tires with hand tools, which actually consisted to a manual bead breaker (useful only on automobile tires), several "tire Irons" and a

10 lb. sledge hammer.... and an air compressor :-)

Storage space? Well maybe lean the sledge and the tire irons against the wall and set the "bead breaker " in front of them and it would be, say 1 square foot. See

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for a home made bead breaker in use.

Reply to
John B. Slocomb

On the farm we had a set of "spoons" (tire irons) and a slide hammer bead breaker. Just a chunk of sched 80 2 1/2" water pipe with the end loaded with about 2 feet of lead, sliding over a steel bar with a 3 inchX 3.8" bar on the end, with the edges rounded to protect the bead. Whale the heck out of the bead with the slide hammer, never having to worry about damaging the rim.. The complete set took about 10 square inches in the corner of the driving shed, right beside the "handy-man" or "jack-all" high lift jack/fence strtcher, fence post puller which could also be pressed into service as a bead breaker if you got a particularly stubborn bead. Put the foot on the tire, and the jack snout under the drawbar of the 44 Massey, jack a few strokes, and then hit it with the slide-hammer. Jack another stroke and hit it a few more times. (The tractor DID take up a fairly large footprint in the shed - but did not need to be bolted to the floor)

Reply to
clare

Then he should have bought you a new tire after ruining the old one, or was it entirely ruined? It'd certainly be out of balance after that, though not an issue at mower speeds.

This just in:

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Just because you can, doesn't mean you should build it, right?

Reply to
Larry Jaques

I can manage with what I have, but would like some tools that would make it easier, but not take up a lot of space.

I bought a Harbor Freight manual tire changer. Currently on sale for $40 s o with a 20% off coupon it was $32. It would be hard to make one for less if you count your time as worth anything.

I tried adding some wood to the base, but you really need a big heavy base. But I have a support in the basement that has a plate that will accomodat e a vise or a reloading tool. So unbolted that from the floor and then mad e an adapter plate that bolts to the same threaded holes in the concrete an d the tire changer bolts to it.

The Harbor Freight changer has a bead breaker built in and I think it wil l be okay for home use. It is built out of fairly thin tubing and I would not recommend it for commercial use. But the design seems to be okay and g ood for home use. I have a welder and can make beefier replacement parts i f needed.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

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