Should I start to change my own tires?

[Airman]

is this a decent bead breaker?
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=92961

can the tire irons be used to break the bead?

I saw the DIY bead breaker and I havd exposed studs in the basement. but they are >100 year old heart of pine and hard as steel

The Harbor Freight bead breaker looks like it would work fine. I'm using the stud wall bead breaker. It's not as sophisticated as that. And No, the tire irons won't work for breaking beads. When I was building my breaker I saw one guy whose system used the underside of his car to anchor the end of his pivot beam.

[taosports]

That HF bead breaker is similar to mine which works well. It looks to have some vertical adjustability which is good and hopefully maybe a horizontal adjustment but regardless, I'm sure it will work just fine. Just needs to be strong enough to pop the beads which really takes more muscle than technique.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Well, plot thickens

I found a support in the basement that I thivk I can rig up a Rube Goldberg press. I found some pieces of 2x4 around town and will try to fashion my own.

I won't be doing this for another month I think, though may build it before. I have at least 1k miles left on my PR2s (at 10k now).

I think I will replace them with PR2s; it's only $40 more for the pair. And they get universally good reviews for handling and longevity.

My only concern now is the length of the threaded rod I bought. I think it will be fine, but it is close to too short. though I haven't tried a wheel on it yet. No big deal to swap it for a longer one though

John

[Dr. Strangelove]

OK I did it and it took a while because I had to fine tune the setup and forgot to balance the front and had to remove it to balance--it was very nearly in balance with the prev weight still on, but re did it anyway. I reminded myself not to forget on the rear and then forgot. I am going to ride a bit and see if I need to balance before I remove the rear.

The front took longer because there is a lot to remove and then put back--I have motolights on the brake bolts. But generally it was as easy as I thought it might be, hoped it would be.
some comments on Michael's recs

The post in the center--threaded rod? The size? 5/8" ?
and what is used to secure the tire under the wingnut--to keep it from slipping around I suppose? Is that a big washer? Would a bolt be better than the wingnut?

Yes, it's a 5/8 inch threaded rod used to center the wheel. Probably not even necessary. I just didn't want the wheel moving on me. I use a wingnut and washer rather than a bolt because it's easier and you don't need to use a wrench.

5/8 is too big for the rear; I am going to change it to 7/16; and it was much more stable doing the front with the wheel finger tight bolted down to the box frame. Overall the rear was easier because it was the second wheel I did; because the rotor is only on one side; and, much simpler to remount--remember the spacer.

And I suppose the dimensions of the box are not too critical as long as they are open enough for the rotor?

You just need it wide enough and deep enough to clear the rotor and give the wheel a solid support. My box measures 18 X 18 inches, outer diameter.

Mine also is 6" deep--those are good dimensions

After mounting over a dozen tires, I learned that the following 4 tips make the process much, much easier.

1. Put the tire out in the sun or another heat source prior to mounting. Makes the rubber much more pliable and easier to mount.

did that and agree. It was in the low 80s here today and I could feel the difference in pliability after they sat in the sum a little while

2. Use generous amounts of soap on both the rim and edges of the tire.

yes. The stuff is called "RUGlyde" and it is at NAPA at 13.99 a gallon. A baby bottle brush or the like is helpful to spread the stuff out. Too much is about right.

3. Use your knees to keep the tire mounted in place as you're working on the last half of the tire. I even end up at times using my elbows to hold the tire irons in place!
4. Pinch the section of tire closest to you with a C- clamp or two to put/keep it in the well of the wheel when you're trying to spoon that last bit of rubber over the rim. Makes a huge difference!

A 6" Clamp works fine for both wheels and you have to be careful that you don't rub the rim with the clamp

The actual time it took to change the tires after removal of the wheels was prob about 20 minutes per tire. I am very glad I did this and didn't pay a shop 1.5 hours of labor for it.
And there were no skinned knuckles and cursing only once.

And I got the valve stem remover free from a bicycle shop. I asked for a valve cap for a schrader valven that has the valve stem removal tool on it. They went into the back and came back with one free--but it is a good bike shop.

Hope this helps'
John

[iowabeakster]

John,

Thanks for the feedback. I needed to get a tire on pretty quickly before I went to Hungry Mother, so I took it the the dealer for one last tire change. From now on, I'm DIYing it.

I was wondering what brands of tools you ended up purchasing: tire irons, balancer, bead breaker (did you make one or purchase), rim protectors (plastic bottles or purchase)?

[Dr. Strangelove]

John,

I was wondering what brands of tools you ended up purchasing: tire irons, balancer, bead breaker (did you make one or purchase), rim protectors (plastic bottles or purchase)?

Motion pro, the kit for the irons, three of them and they were just fine. I needed three and that kit with the three different sizes ( I think 16, 10 and 8??) was perfect. Recommended

I used the Marc Parnes tire balancer and his weights--recommended

I made my own bead breaker with the 2x4s. I had to tweak it once made, and I recommend making it well before you're going to use it. I think you had a video from youtube posted? Or it was posted on this thread.

Plastic bottle strips, not rim protectors, and I am glad. Although the tended to slide around a little bit, and maybe the rim protectors wouldn't, man, if those rim protectors fell into the tire, that could be a major hassle, I think.

The hardest part was removing the front wheel, hadn't done that before. The RUGlyde stuff worked very well.

Haven't ridden the girl yet, that comes tomorrow morning.

PR2s, btw, my second set

do it

[iowabeakster]

Thanks...that was pretty much...well exactly...the tool set-up I was planning.

[Biff's R]

If you drill a hole in the rim protectors, you can thread a zip tie through it. It helps keep it in place and gives you a handle it they fall off.

[Dr. Strangelove]

When I considered the commercial rim protectors I thought I would use a mini bungee, one end on the rim prtr and the other on the rotor. But the plastic bottle thing worked so well that that is the technique I will use next time

[duckdave]

For my second tire change I spent some of my saved $$ on real rim protectors---they cost about $8 for about $0.50 worth of nylon/plastic. WELL WORTH IT! Last change I managed a couple of scratches using my cut up detergent bottle for protection; this time things went much smoother. The guy at Cycle Gear recommended I tie a loop of string through the provided hole in the tabs. +1 that one.

I also talked a guy at the local auto parts store into giving me a half-jar of tire lube. For some reason they had a 2 gallon bucket of concentrate sitting in the back that had been there forever, and wasn't even for sale or on their inventory. Brought my own jar, that seemed to cinch the deal. That stuff ROCKS. But don't use a disposable brush to apply---I got a loose bristle stuck in the bead and at first it leaked (one stinking bristle)!!!

So far I have not built a box, or bought a tire changing machine from Harbor Freight. I just used an old tire, on top of a 4X6 ft scrap of rug, on the concrete floor of my garage as a work surface. But I'm prolly going to build a box for next time.

+1 Marc Parnes tire balancer!

[Airman]

For my second tire change I spent some of my saved $$ on real rim protectors---they cost about $8 for about $0.50 worth of nylon/plastic. WELL WORTH IT! Last change I managed a couple of scratches using my cut up detergent bottle for protection; this time things went much smoother. The guy at Cycle Gear recommended I tie a loop of string through the provided hole in the tabs. +1 that one.

I also talked a guy at the local auto parts store into giving me a half-jar of tire lube. For some reason they had a 2 gallon bucket of concentrate sitting in the back that had been there forever, and wasn't even for sale or on their inventory. Brought my own jar, that seemed to cinch the deal. That stuff ROCKS. But don't use a disposable brush to apply---I got a loose bristle stuck in the bead and at first it leaked (one stinking bristle)!!!

So far I have not built a box, or bought a tire changing machine from Harbor Freight. I just used an old tire, on top of a 4X6 ft scrap of rug, on the concrete floor of my garage as a work surface. But I'm prolly going to build a box for next time.

+1 Marc Parnes tire balancer!

I'm using a 15" Toyota truck rim with a piece of carpet over it for my platform. 5/8" threaded rod up though the center. Aerostich sells a plastic bead breaking clamp. I won't buy one from them, but I'm going to look at hardware stores for something similar. My 2x4 thing doesn't work as well as I would like.

[takemeaway]

FWIW. I've been reading many threads back and forth about DIY'ing the tires. So finally decided to save a little money since I'm going through the tires a little quicker. Bought the Harbor Freight set up and it worked well. Two must haves: rim protectors and brake rotor protection. Found out the hard way on the rim protectors. And with the R12R dual rotors you need to think about protecting them. Luckily I didn't have a problem with that.

My first time try took a little longer because of the cold weather and late night, stubborn tire and cold rubber. But it was easy and fun. I do have a couple scratches in my pretty rim, but they will just be reminders in the future.

For anyone thinking of it, just do it. It isn't as difficult as it is in your mind.