I have an 8 inch wide rim and an 8 inch wide tire. 15 inch rim and 15 inch tire. I am using a harbor freight manual tire mounting tool mounted to a solid base. I was able to get the back side of the tire on the rim but for the life of me I can not get the top side of the tire on the rim. When I get the tire on about three quarters of the way, I can not pull the tire tool around any more to get the tire on. It doesn't even look like the tire is close to going on. I put an extension tube over the tire tool to get more leverage, and ended up bending the tire tool trying to get the tire on. I used a lubricant on both edges of the tire and the rim before I started. Checked rim for smoothness.
I have used this tire tool for years and have had struggles with it before, but in the end could always get the tire on the rim.
Anyone have an idea of what to do to get the tire on the rim, or wht I am doing wrong? Thanks
Once you have part of the tire'sfront side over the rim, are you making sure that portion of the bead is down into the "Drop" area near the center of the rim(area where center is welded into the rim, but on the tire side of wheel hoop), and not staying up near the bead lip??
If the part already over the rim edge is up near or on the bead seat, you will never get enough stretch to get it one there...need to shove the already over the lip portion down into the center clearance area of the wheel hoop.
Can be a bit tough to do with extreme low profile tires.....the goofy "donk" or Import "rubber band" look.
I am finding tire stores are getting really picky about mounting any used tire on rims.
I ended up using a piece of all thread, and two wood blocks to anchor a wheel to a pair of heavy metal saw horses, and used motercycle tire irons to pry the tires on the wheels.
Make sure the tire bead on the opposite side from the tire iron is down in the lowest, or smallest place on the rim. I found if I only try to work a 1/4 inch of the bead over the lip of the rim, I can do that, and taking many small "bites" is actually faster than trying to pry a larger area of the tire bead on the rim.
Do not forget to use some lubricant between the tire and the rim. I used Dawn dishwashing liquid, mixed in water.
^^^THIS!!! This is why I now have my own rim clamp tire machine ($300 on CL).
There are waaaaay too many lawyers in the world. Not only am I tired of the pickiness, but I'm REALLLLY tired of the "we can only sell you a set of four tires because they have to be exactly the same diameter" BS. I guess their lawyers have never heard of a differential.
You guys are a life saver. Ericnova72 and DanielC hit the nail right on the head. I had the tire up too close to the rim on my first attempt. As soon as I pushed the tire down as far as it would go, I was able to mount the tire. Thanks so much for pointing that out. I did have one small leak between the rim and the tire after mounting. I aired the tire up to 50 psi, left it there for an hour, then reduced the air pressure back down to 30 psi and that fixed the leak. The reason I did not want to take the tire to a service station is the first thing they tell you is that they are not responsible if they break the rim. That means if they break it they hand you your $500 rim back in pieces and say sorry. I would much rather do those myself. Thanks
. I use DAP silicone rubber caulk to mount tires on the same kind of changer... black color for black steel rims... aluminum color for aluminum/mag rims... super slippery when wet, then cures to rubber in a few hours... never rim leaks later... no rusting under bead... great for stored, seldom driven custom vehicles... use it under valve stems, also... (wear old clothes, it's guaranteed not to come off for 50 years)
. Also use it to fix torn/damaged beads before attempting to mount the tires... build up missing rubber on beads... fix punctures with it, also... put rubber cement over hole, after it dries put DAP over it instead of a patch... for some reason that works amazingly well...
. In these summer temps, tires usually pliable enough can just push/twist them on the rims by hand, so less stretching of the bead than if using the tool...
. Always check where the deep 'drop' relief area Eric mentioned is on a rim before attempting to mount a tire... if near the outside of the rim, mount tire from the outside... if near the inside of the rim, mount tire from the inside on upside down rim (protect face of rim from damage by tire changer flange)... some rims have a wide relief and tire can be mounted from either side of rim... I just did some old American Racing mags from a swap meet with mag face welded to steel rim, had to mount tire from rear because mag face bigger diameter than rim edge and relief is to the inside of rim... which I wanted to do anyways, so tool wouldn't damage finished mag face edge...
. I don't have the proper inflatable tool, so if tire beads won't go out and contact the rim, I use a strap clamp around the center of the tread to force the beads outward before putting the air gun to the valve stem to pop them all the way out/on...
. I use DAP silicone rubber caulk to mount tires on the same kind of changer... black color for black steel rims... aluminum color for aluminum/mag rims... super slippery when wet, then cures to rubber in a few hours... never rim leaks later... no rusting under bead... great for stored, seldom driven custom vehicles... use it under valve stems, also...
. Also use it to fix torn/damaged beads before attempting to mount the tires... build up missing rubber on beads... fix punctures with it, also... put rubber cement over hole, after it dries put DAP over it instead of a patch... for some reason that works amazingly well...
. In these summer temps, tires usually pliable enough can just push/twist them on the rims by hand, so less stretching of the bead than if using the tool...
. Always check where the deep relief Eric mentioned is on a rim before attempting to mount a tire... if near the outside of the rim, mount tire from the outside... if near the inside of the rim, mount tire from the inside on upside down rim (protect face of rim from damage by tire changer flange)... some rims have a wide relief and tire can be mounted from either side of rim... I just did some old American Racing mags from a swap meet with mag face welded to steel rim, had to mount tire from rear because mag face bigger diameter than rim edge and relief is to the inside of rim... which I wanted to do anyways, so tool wouldn't damage finished mag face edge...
Oh good grief! it is a tire, on a wheel. it is not so critical that a slight imperfection in the sealing surface of a tire will scrap an otherwise good tire. If it saves you from having to crawl aroung a vehicle in storage, to inflate the tire, why not use a silicone sealer.
Ever been off road, you eventually will need to know how to change a tire on a wheel, with out having a tire mnachine. You might have to use beer for a bead lubricant and a piece of rope to get the bead to a point where it will seal enough to hold pressure to inflate the tire.
I've changed thousands of tires too working at a big chain store. Car tires, semi tires and even agricultural tires. Actually at one time I was a big time four wheeler.
When you are four wheeling off road and need to do something to get yourself back to civilization is a completely different story. You are usually driving very slow so if a tire pops off the rim it usually isn't too big of a deal. If it is to the point where I repaired something I think is unsafe I won't drive the vehicle on a public highway putting other peoples lives at risk.
Something like using silicone to fix a bead that is busted up to the point where it won't hold a seal on its own is asking for trouble. Even driving around with tires that are too old. A lot of times the beads will chunk because the tire is past its life to be used safely.
You can do whatever you want but if you ever kill someone and they find out it was because of some safety issue, you could be in for a big surprise! :nono:
. Once I was able to pop a tire on the bead with a hand pump... once... after 10 tries... several other tires I never got on with the hand pump, always too much leakage at some spot... so great to have an air compressor and an air gun...
I don't go to the big chain "tire stores" so I don't have a problem with it. I have a local guy who I have gotten to know and we both have common sense, working together it gets done right.
I an amazed at the equipment he has. The tire mounting machine doesn't touch the rim at all,I can give him a freshly painted rim and he mounts a tire on it without so much as a smudge. And it's all automatic, set it up for one tire, put each of the others on and wham, it does the exact same thing until you change the setting. Awesome stuff they have now.
. Local used tire shop used to mount for $3-5/tire, but last time I went he charged $30 for two... and I had about 20 more I wanted mounted that week, so got the $99.95 H.F. machine on sale for $69.95... it's $39.95 all the time, now... buy quick there... because price will drop tomorrow... LOL ... Got the budget balancer, as well...
Use a flat tire iron and put it on like you did with a bike tire when you were a kid...thats how I do them. I have an old manual Coates tire machine. Beats slugging your guts out
. Oftentimes a bead lip is chipped by a careless person removing a good tire...
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