Just thought I would share a method for breaking the bead that I came up with tonight. I wanted to get the tire off of my GS1100 rim. It wouldn't fit in the vice, clamp was too small, etc. I tried standing on the tire and jumping but that did nothing. I got to thinking that if I could displace my weight over a smaller area it might break the bead easier. So I then saw a chair and thought that one leg on the tire might just do it. Sure enough the weight of myself and a friend on the chair broke the bead nicely. So you don't need any fancy tools for a tire change. You will need 3 good tire lever though, oh and the 12" ones will work just fine.
I have a valve spring clamp that I think would work for up to a 170 rear most likely.
I used a caravan, its jockey wheel, and a piece of wood.
Lowered the carvans with the jockey wheel using its weight to pop the bead.
and I used a shampoo bottle I cut into pieces as a rim saver for my tyre irons + windex as lube :thumb:
yeah i have a few small prybars that work wonders
like a giant bicyucle tire =-P
take just a biot more grunt though LOL
i ripped this image off google's cache, so i'll apologize from wherever it came:
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d93/ohgooditsme/beadbreaker1.jpg)
basically it's a simple lever, and multiplies whatever weight you have to pull with. broke my beads on 2 year old tires in about two pushes. if you have a full-frame car/truck you can also lift one side of the car off the ground in about 2 seconds ;)
take car not to damage your disc brake doing the bead breaking ! see the 2x4's used to keep the disc off the ground !
Now THAT is a slick way to do the job. I'm puttin that one in my bag of tricks now.
I had an old Ford Escort I used as a bead breaker for many years back when I used to change my own tires. Just put wheel/tire under side of car and placed jack on tire and jacked it up a bit. Worked good.
I initially tried running the bead over with my car(very carefully) but it didn't work. I like the chair because I was inside(out of the cold), I used nothing special, and it was easy.
Side stand off another bike usually works too. You can stand on that thing for extra force.
Cool.
Buddha.
Quote from: ohgood on January 07, 2009, 04:45:02 AM
take car not to damage your disc brake doing the bead breaking ! see the 2x4's used to keep the disc off the ground !
A car wheel laid on its side works well for this. I use an extra 15" wheel w/ tire to do the same thing, which keeps it in position without any sliding around.
I always just drive over the wheel in my car...or the tire, I mean...to break the bead. Works great.
ugh I finally got my tires off the wheels last night, I didn't try the 2x4 method but I wish I would have.
I used:
c-clamp
windex
tire spoons
knife
chair leg
jumping
diagonal cutters
hammer
screw drivers
and a mere 2 hours later the tires were off.
new roadriders should be here tomorrow :thumb:
.....and then, some dumb ass like me uses a modified Harbor Freight tire stand and MoJo lever.
prs
well so, i read this post a while ago and was curious to see if it would work for me. lo and behold, i got the old tire off the wheel successfully. :)
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/_x_2mzGVE5Dw/SfXHS6jHSWI/AAAAAAAAAPg/BC6IL9ZNIwQ/n54904790_31265260_4406931.jpg)
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/_x_2mzGVE5Dw/SfXHS483e9I/AAAAAAAAAPo/3f3Tf14Yk34/n54904790_31265262_367515.jpg)
my "tools" included: soap, water, patio chair, 2 tire irons. :D
cheers,
~drin
:cheers:
I know this is old, but I did my rear tire yesterday using a 2x4 as a lever. The pivot end was bolted to a stud in my shed and a smaller piece of 2x4 was bolted to the lever to break the bead... it was SOOOOOOOO easy! I was expecting a fight, and was glad I didn't get one!
:thumb:
Our Harbor Freight tire changer comes with a bead breaker, and thank gawd I don't have to use a C-clamp anymore. I'm going to get the No-Mar bar to make the change procedure even faster.
There's probably a tradeoff of hassle and expense where a tire changer isn't worth it, but when you're changing tires once a month or more, the thing is really worth it. If you can get buddies to pay you a few bucks to use it to change their tires, too, then it'll probably be worth it even if you don't use it as frequently yourself.
This works great for me (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7546109776315225781), especially since I knew I'd be doing it fairly often.
Great methods for breaking beads...
But as someone who may soon (next week or 2) try a tire change for the 1st time, please tell me:
1) Is it hard to get the tire off the rim? If yes, any pointers?
2) Is it hard to get the new one on, and seat it? Any pointers?
3) I have 2x 12" or maybe 14" tire irons. Is this enough?
So far what I know:
a) use a lever to break the bead on the old tire
b) use some bits of strong plastic as rim protectors
c) use some lubricant / soap to help removing the tire (and install the new, I'd imagine). --wish I'd known this when doing my 6" snowblower tire in January!
Quote from: 5thAve on April 28, 2009, 06:21:26 AM
But as someone who may soon (next week or 2) try a tire change for the 1st time, please tell me:
1) Is it hard to get the tire off the rim? If yes, any pointers?
2) Is it hard to get the new one on, and seat it? Any pointers?
3) I have 2x 12" or maybe 14" tire irons. Is this enough?
1 and 2: Define hard ;) Depending on the tire, it might take some muscle, but more than that it takes patience. As for seating the bead, try not to inflate the tire to more than 45 psi...if the beads don't seat by then, try bouncing the tire a few times, let the air out, and reinflate it.
3: three tire spoons would be best, but two will do. If you can find something to use to hold the tire in place as you walk the spoons around the wheel, it makes it a lot easier. I've used a big flathead screwdriver.
Don't get discouraged, tires take some persuasion, but with patience you can do it without scratching your wheel.
Good luck!
EDIT: With those tire spoons, you'll have a LOT of leverage. Don't try to force the tire...it's definitely possible to tear a bead. Again, be patient and use some sense...if you think you're pulling too hard, you probably are.
Quote from: 5thAve on April 28, 2009, 06:21:26 AMc) use some lubricant / soap to help removing the tire (and install the new, I'd imagine).
Not some. Lots and lots and lots. Let no surface be dry of lube.
Use the center drop. Get the tire into it on one side before levering the other off. Same with putting on the new tire - get one side in the center drop, then lever the other side on.
I like spoons better than irons. YMMV.
Set the bead with high pressure, then bleed down to operating pressure.
back when I was a poor teenager, (as opposed to a poor adult) I would use a 2X6, place it on the bead, and drive a car up the board, always made it super easy