i don't know how the rest of y'all do tire changes, BUT, that $50.00 tire changer harbor freight has got works good. good enough for me. my son bent his rim on his TBlzr and ruined it. i got another silver rim, i was worried that the changer would hurt it, BUT NO, it didn't. i didn't have any camel snot, but i used liquid dish soap to slick up the beads. i did take my time and it saved me a lot of headaches so far. didn't know how others did tire changes, so i thought i'd throw this out there!

 

Thanks for the input! I've been eye balling those for quite a while now and just can't justify it since I already have plenty of tire bars and such. Someday when I get tired of wrestling them I'll finally go buy one.

 

well, if you get one, let me give you some advice: the wheel has to be on the ground to break the bead. yeah, i felt stupid. i finally youtubed it and watched how it functions. yeah, i'm laughing at myself for the stupidity i displayed while trying to work it. ha ha. anyway, the bead breaker was what helped me the most. BTW, i ain't telling you how long i messed with it before i youtubed it to learn how to work it. let's just say, i felt shtoopid. ha ha.

 

I have one, too.

Factory tires on a 4x4 can be a bitch to get off, because of those flimsy sidewalls.

The trick I've found is to break the bead with like 10psi in the tire. Seems counterintuitive, but it keeps the sidewall from flopping in and the bead breaker's foot from slipping off.

I did have to weld a bit of steel on the arms to the bead breaker, to keep it from bending when I really have to reef on it, but otherwise I'm very happy with the purchase.

They go on sale from time to time, so watch their ads.