Changing a tire at home

Forgot to say - it might be the valve - spit on the valve w/o the cap (duhh) and see if the are any bubbles - if so get a new valve core.

I remember as a little kid, watching a guy install a tube. He just broke the bead, then stuffed the tube into the tire, covered with a lot of soap solution (to make it slippery). Then he inflated the tube a little (I think the valve was removed), deflated it, repeated a few times till the wrinkles were taken out & the tube was settled in pretty well. Valve was put back, tire was fully inflated, tire was ready.

I've done the same with smaller wheels, such as wheelbarrows. Works fine.

Joe

Not impossible, but it is work. The hard part will be breaking the bead off the rim. I have done this using a bumper jack with the base on the tire and the jack trying to lift a car.

Dan

Yep, that is standard way for home repair. But, remove the valve guts first- makes breaking the bead much easier.

Others have good advise here, if you have a big enough C clamp or vise that can help in breaking the tire bead loose from the rim, then stuff in the tube. It may be easier if you break the bead loose on both sides. I find big tires easier to work on than the little ones. Once you get both beads loose there is enough room to get your hands in there, not so with the small tires.

CarlBoyd

Can I use 2 small blocks on each end of the rubber tire, placed under my 8n, then jack the rim with my floor jack to remove, then install the tire if I were to take the whole tire out or would that cause dammage?

There is room to get a tube with the tire still on the rim?

This isn't the answer you asked for but have you considered using Slime w/o the tubes?

My 20 year old snowblower's tubeless tires would go flat in about 2 days. I didn't feel like buying new ones since sears seemed rather proud of theirs.

So I bought a bottle of Slime. It is a tire sealant often used in dirt bikes and such. I tested it by putting it in the deep freezer for a day and it was still liquid.

I haven't put air in my snow blower tires in about a month. You do have to take your tires for a trip to coat them. I thought at first this was a failure but after a few times snow blowing, the air leakage stopped.

Wes

What's that Lassie? You say that stryped fell down the old rec.crafts.metalworking mine and will die if we don't mount a rescue by Wed, 4 Feb 2009 05:37:06 -0800 (PST):

Quite possible. I did it on a 13in tire without any special tools. Pull the guts out of the valve stem. I used a long length of 2x4 to pound the bead off the rim.

And mark the tire so you can re-install it in the same position on the rim if it is balanced.

If the tires look good take them to an Les Schawb tire store if you have one and they will check it for free. Even fix a flat for free. But I would pay the 10 bucks a tire, last time I paid for a mount, to a tire store and have them mount the tire. Is worth the money to save the work and agravation. Other tire stores most likely will check them for free also. They have water tanks for this.

It's not impossible, but a heck of a lot of work. You need to break the beads - I've done a lot of them with a slide hammer on the farm and doing "in the feild" equipment repair. I've done it with a jack under a beam or heavy vehicle. Have done it with a tractor loader, and by driving over them with a truch.

Then you need a pair of good tire irons to pry the bead off the rim, and to put it back on after inserting the tube.

Generally a WHOLE LOT smarter to just take them to a tire shop or general garage and have them done on the tire changer.

and such. I

Why in He double el they put tubeless tires on snow blowers and wheelbarrows, etc., I'll never figure out. After a maximum of five years you must either do as above or install tubes; so why not develope customer satisfaction in the first place. Its not like they are having a heat problem from high speed driving or something. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

A spray bottle with soapy water plus a bit of glycerin works for me most of the time. A bit of extra air helps. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

Someone has to ask: How old are the tires, and what kind of shape are they in? If they are 15 years old and weather checked all to heck, time to go get new tires and save the best old one for a spare.

Because putting a tube in it masks the fact that it's dry-rotting away and ready to blow. Trust me, that's not fun to deal with, especially if you are pushing the load limits of the tow vehicle.

Remember: If you go for passenger car or LT (Light Truck) tires instead of the ST (Special Trailer) tires, you have to add 25% extra load, usually bumping up two notches on the Load Rating scale from a B to a D or E. That usually removes the financial advantage of using passenger or LT tires.

And they will rot out faster - ST tires have extra oxidation inhibitors in the rubber because trailers sit unused for long periods.

Just don't get too vigorous - you don't want to bend or break the steel wires in the core of the bead, and you don't want to damage the sidewall of the tire either.

There are several hand bead breakers for motorcycles and ATV's that you can use. Or just the stomp on one side trick...

After you get the bead seated, deflate the tube to empty one last time before replacing the core and filling for good, so if the tube is twisted it can untwist.

Don't worry about the balance too much - the tube is most likely molded uneven, so it will change the balance point. If you can see or feel it hopping go get it balanced, otherwise don't bother.

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Because it is cheap, but I know you knew it. ;)

I tried the Harbor Freight $50 manual changer on 10-inch tires, and could not get this to work and felt it was impossible. Bead breaking was OK, but not getting the beads off the rims. It worked on my 8-inch lawn tractor tires but barely.

I used to just put one of those Slime type sealants in for leaks like that. Never had a problem but probably pissed of the guy that had to change the tire. Karl

Speaking of slime, would it be a good idea to add this to the tube before installing the tire? The tire "appears" in good shape although I dont know the age of the tire.

Also, I have been reading alot about "liquid tire balancers". I have also read that it is possible SLime would work the same way to "balance" the tire. Is this true?

The trailer is hardly ever used but it is frustrating when I have to go down in the field to get it and two tires are flat. I got a 4x4 stuck trying to pull it to the house during rainy weather to bring it to the house to air up the tires.

I already bought the tube but I wish I would have thoguth of the slime stuff. May have been easier.

I will say I have had good luck with tubes in trailer tires.

Use the heaviest vehicle and a spotter guides you to run over the tire and just brush the rim. Or, use an arbor press like I do. Then, dish-soapy water and a pair of tire spoons. We used to change tires on VWs on the hoist without removing the wheels. backed off the brakes shoes and static balanced them in place.

What's that Lassie? You say that Bruce L. Bergman fell down the old rec.crafts.metalworking mine and will die if we don't mount a rescue by Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:29:30 -0800:

Oh yah. Forgot he was adding a tube. When I did mine I was just fixing a bead leak.