How do I mount tires on rims myself (old school way)

Sbeghan · December 26th, 2012, 20:34

So long story short, I have some 17 inch snow tires and 17 inch long beach rims (Got them really cheap off craigslist, haha). I picked up a tire iron and some ky jelly and am trying to mount the tires onto the rims but dear god its hard. I can get the first bead on but getting the second bead on seems impossible to me. The closer I get to getting flipping the bead under the lip the tighter the rest of the bead gets, to the point that it sounds like its tearing. How the hell do you guys do this? And yeah, I know one of the problems is that I'm using 17" rims and don't have much side wall to work with.

arne487 · December 26th, 2012, 23:13

There are plenty of videos on YouTube that show you how to do it. However, it's not worth the headache. Take the wheels and tires to WalMart. Pay them $5 per wheel to do it for you. Balance them yourself with a static balancer.

Lug_Nut · December 27th, 2012, 06:58

A difference between man and animals is the use of tools.
A difference between homo sapiens and other humanoids is using the right tool.
If YOU don't have the right tool, then barter something, like a few dollars, to let a practiced operator perform the labor for you.

I'll change bicycle tires and lawn equipment tires, but the low speed construction and flimsy, tall (relative to tire width) sidewalls make them easy to mount and dismount. Wide, low-profile, steel-belted tires aren't worth wasting the time, tire and wheel.
Tell me these aren't run-flat tires, because their sidewalls are stiffer yet.
Save the wheel, save the tire, save your time and effort.

Abacus · December 27th, 2012, 07:09

Not everyone has a Wal-Mart next door, or a garage that won't gouge you to death.

The trick is to get the bead opposite of where you're putting on in the center of the rim, so it'll be at the point closest to the center of the rim. This will allow the bead on which you're working to have the most distance, so it'll be easier to get over the lip.

I bought my own used tire machine for cheap ($100) and it's a lot easier than changing them by hand, which I used I do often. The right set of tire spoons makes all the difference.

Toss an 8 ply sidewall off-road tire on a narrow rim sometime and you'll see just how easy car tires are by comparison.

Sbeghan · December 27th, 2012, 13:48

Well, I watched youtube videos of people doing it by hand and they made it look so easy, but the tires were more flexible than mine. Its a Blizzak WS-50 so it might be thicker than normal? Medium profile too, but not too thin. I said screw it and took it to Walmart but they wouldn't do used tires so I'm going to run to a used tire place across town. All the regular tire places want 20-25 a wheel which is ridiculous.

The way I see it is, if I can do it by hand I'd like to do it at least once so I know how to do it in case of emergency. I guess these tires and rims defeated me, but I'll try again on a 195/65-15 on a warm summer day.

tdidieselbobny · December 27th, 2012, 15:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sbeghan

So long story short, I have some 17 inch snow tires and 17 inch long beach rims (Got them really cheap off craigslist, haha). I picked up a tire iron and some ky jelly and am trying to mount the tires onto the rims but dear god its hard. I can get the first bead on but getting the second bead on seems impossible to me. The closer I get to getting flipping the bead under the lip the tighter the rest of the bead gets, to the point that it sounds like its tearing. How the hell do you guys do this? And yeah, I know one of the problems is that I'm using 17" rims and don't have much side wall to work with.

Did you wipe any liquid dish soap along the bead of tire? Nothing expensive,get a bottle of cheapest dish soap you can find. Beads didn't seat w/ air alone for me when I mounted son's winter tires a few months ago. A LITTLE ether assisted in setting the beads-do so at your own risk-not the ideal way of doing it,but I don't own any other type of "bead setters" or whatever you want to call them.

Jayg · December 27th, 2012, 15:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdidieselbobny

Did you wipe any liquid dish soap along the bead of tire? Nothing expensive,get a bottle of cheapest dish soap you can find. Beads didn't seat w/ air alone for me when I mounted son's winter tires a few months ago. A LITTLE ether assisted in setting the beads-do so at your own risk-not the ideal way of doing it,but I don't own any other type of "bead setters" or whatever you want to call them.

Fun to watch though!

pknopp · December 27th, 2012, 16:48

It's not worth it.

Seatman · December 27th, 2012, 17:37

Not worth it but can be fun just for the hell of it, tough on a 17 though

mrchill · December 27th, 2012, 18:11

Warm soapy water and the proper technique. Absolutely it can be done...but as it was said...it isnt worth it by a long shot.I used to manually mount and static balance tires...once radials were more common...it was tough. Low pros are even more difficult. If you have the wheel held down firmly it should be ok to do...but if not...you will have severe difficulty. You need to drop the lip of the tire well past the bread point while rotating the rest onto the rim. I know a 75 year old guy that does them like cake all day...and also does split rims by hand in under 5 minutes no machine. Technique.

arne487 · December 27th, 2012, 20:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sbeghan

I said screw it and took it to Walmart but they wouldn't do used tires so I'm going to run to a used tire place across town.

My Walmart does used tires if you don't mention that they're used.

Sbeghan · December 28th, 2012, 06:03

Haha, I'll remember that bit about Walmart next time. These tires were apparently a bit hard to get onto the rims and took the guys at the shop 10 minutes each tire. I was in a hurry and didn't notice they had mounted 3 of them in one direction (whoops), so I'll have to go back and have them reverse it later. I didn't use dish soap, I used KY jelly

engineered2win · December 28th, 2012, 06:09

What size tires are these? My dad has a Hazard Fraught tire changer and I've used it to change tires on my old cavalier, but those were 195/70R14's... I moonlighted as a tire lackey back in college and remember how easy those bike tires slipped on the wheels with a real tire changer. It took me a good 40 minutes to mount them. You're wasting too much effort on 17's. Go on tirerack.com and find the closest retailer with the cheapest mounting and balancing.

Pat Dolan · December 28th, 2012, 06:55

DO NOT use soap on your tires, ESPECIALLY with steel rims. The stuff is acidic and will attack the rubber, not to mention corrode the heck out of a steel rim. Tire lubricant is the right stuff (not sure if KY Jelly is or not...certainly not within my field of expertise - I won't ask how the OP came up with that).

If you are not dismounting, the only things you need to re-install a tire is your feet, some rubber lube and a rubber mallet. A few cracks on the bead in a radial outward direction while you tromp the opposite side of the bead into the drop with your feet will put almost any tire on in a few seconds.

My (now deceased) team mate insisted that we do all kart tires by hand (i.e. NO tools except for the bead breaker). With 6 to 10 karts at any one event, that was a LOT of tire handling. If you REALLY want to develop some skill, try that some time.

Lug_Nut · December 28th, 2012, 09:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sbeghan

The way I see it is, if I can do it by hand I'd like to do it at least once so I know how to do it in case of emergency.

What kind of emergency?
On the road when driving? If the tire comes off the rim the tire AND rim are shot.
At home? Then it's not an emergency, is it?