Hi i am thinking of taking the tires of the rims myself, what tools do i need and is it a smart thing to do it myself? thx

 

You can take the tire off the rim with a smooth crow bar or something like that. You just have to deflate it and derim it. If it doesn't come off easily you can run a car or truck tire over the tire (don't hit the quad rim) to get it to break the bead. It can be a real pain to reset the bead when you put the tires back on. There are a lot of tire shops that will do them for $10 or so per tire. Worth it in my book. My local Town Faire Tire did it for free as I've bought a couple sets of tires from them.

 

i bought a harbor freight tire changer. the $50.00 tire changer has worked out great for changing out atv tires, you just need to go easy, have plenty of liquid dishsoap(slick'em lubricant for the beads). Moose is right, go easy, do not bend the rims. you may let the atv tire shop do a couple and watch them and see if you feel comfortable in doing the next ones next time.

 

If you've never done it before......take it to a tire shop and let them do it. I charge 5 dollars for a dismount of an atv tire. 20 bucks for 4 tires is alot cheaper than if you would bend a rim and have to replace it.

 

What if you have changed plenty of car tire rims? I have done plenty of them, but with a machine. I bought the 3 tool set from rocky mountain ATV and am going to try some. I know how to seat the new tire beads with carb cleaner, but am worried about breaking the old tire seats. Guess we will see what happens.

Ryan

 

I just changed the tires on my Big Bear for some new mudlite xls...I used the tire changer and bead breaker from Harbor Frieght...whole project only took a couple hours tops...when you break the beads down...go around the tire a couple times rather than try the whole bead in one shot...if you leave a little pressure in the tire the sidewall will stand up better and not just collapse when you try to break the bead...as far as resetting...use a two inch ratchet strap around the tire to get the beads to separate and then remove the core from the valve stem to put air in...I found that the rears were muuch more of a challenge than the fronts...good luck...post back with anymore questions. ( I did them myself b/c I was too tight to spend anymore money after I already spent 400 bucks on the new tires)
Mudslinger2

 

I have the harbor freight bead breaker.

Stock 4x4 tires are really light and flimsy, so the sidewall tends to roll out from under the bead breaker, and they are welded to the bead.

I've found the trick is to break the bead with like 6 psi in the tire. Get one bead moved a bit, and flip it and do the other side.

Mounting them, I used to use soap, and occasionally a ratchet strap around the middle.

I've since found it easier to mount them using water with no soap. You can get one side of the tire shoved up on the taper leading to the bead, and it will actually stay there. With soap, as soon as you try to get the other side up to the bead, the first side slips off.

Also, I use a short length of air hose cut off to put over the tire valve with the core removed. It seems to flow more volume that way, and gives you a better chance of it seating the bead.

Mostly, be patient on the first few, or have a buddy around who has done them before. There is a knack to it, and after you've done a few sets they get easier.

 

The hardest part is breaking tire from the rim after you remove the valve core and the tire is deflated. If you have a highlighter jack (also known as handyman jack), thread a chain through a hole in the rim, wrap it around the other side and the tire, and hook it to itself on the top side. Place the bottom of the jack on the tire right where the rim and tire meet. Place a towel between the chain and the rim where it is threaded through to protect it. Slide the chain onto the claw (lifting part of the jack). Hold the jack straight and begin jacking. The tire will "pooch" and begin to slide done off of the rim.