Does anyone do their own tire mounting?

If so, what tools do you suggest? Who makes the best pry/bars? Do you use your own home made bar?

How hard is it to do? Scale of 1-10?

Thanks

 

Hey TFTB... I bought a tire tool from Harbor Freight for $39.99 + tax, It works like a champ. I've done over 20 ATV tires, 2 15" trailer tires and one 16" tire off of my Superduty Ford. It's a good investment.

Later

 

Sounds good. Do you know the number or can tell us which one it is. Thanks

 

I do my own, be carefull seating the beads!! Keep your face turned the other way!

 

I got it at Harbor Freight model# 34542 made by Central Machinery. If you get one, make sure you bolt it to the ground or have another person helping you. Use plenty of dish soap and it's a piece of cake. Like organdoner said, keep your face turned when setting the bead. Keep your fingers clear too. Of all the tires I've done I never exceeded 12-15 psi to set the bead, that's why I use dish soap.

Later

 

SkatTrak warns to not exceed 12psi when seating bead, the thin wall of their regrinds can explode and throw shrapnel they say.....most tires give max psi on the side for bead setting.

I've been looking at that tire changer in the harbor freight catalog - wondered if it was any good for that cheap. Guess I'll be buying it now!

hinglbyds - do you ratchet strap the tire tread while bead setting? I've heard this helps a bunch.

 

Hightower... I used a strap when I mounted my Haulers, it took about 10 psi with a strap to seat. The hardest tire to seat so far was a friends Bandits, what a pain! I usually mix 3:1 dish soap to water and it helps to leave the core out too. Like I said, It's a piece of cake!

Later

 

I use the Harbor freight one also. The Key is a lot of DISH SOAP. Be carefull.PS IT's great becouse you can clean a beed any time you want.

 

Thanks for all the good responses. Good thread everyone.

A few more threads like this and our economy will be humming right along again.

Now, let's all go buy a Tire tool.

As my buddy would say. . . never knew it existed but, now that I do, I can't live without it. Ah, the American way.

Set the hook and reel me in. I am stopping by Harbor Freight tomorrow.

 

Hey guys~
I mounted my razr's on the stock DS rims with my home made bead breaker and some tire spoons. The bead breaker was fairly simple to make, just requiring some metal, conduate(sp?), welding and grinding. I just copied the pattern from one at a local tire shop and it works like a charm. It is adjustable for rim sizes from 8" up to 16". I sprayed Armor All on the tire when setting the beads and I needed no more than 13 psi to set my razr's. I did learn not to use screwdrivers to remove the old tires because it gouges the rim and hurts the tire. A good method I found for setting the bead is using a ratchet strap and about six 18" long 2x4's. Space the 2x4's around the tire and tighten the ratchet strap around the 2x4's. This will push the sidewall out more than just tightening the center of the tire. Once the tire has started holding air, remove the ratchet strap and continue carefully adding air.