Changing my own tires

lBasket

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I can't really find anyone within an hour of my house to change my tires so I am thinking about figuring out a way to just do it myself.

I think I saw somewhere on the forum that someone had a scissor jack with some metal welded to it to push the bead down or something? And it mounted into a trailer hitch if I remember right? Anyone have pics of that?

I've seen stuff like the harbor freight changer and what @NashvilleTJ uses (yes I read your entire build thread 😉), but things like that require concrete that I don't really have. I could pay a little pad if I had to I suppose but curious if there are other options.
 
This the image your thinking of?

1721416124848.jpeg



Breaks the beads but then there is the whole other part of spooning that tire off the rim…. Never tried it manual. watched my brother in law wrestle with a light passenger tire while I sipped a fizzy drink. Look like to much work when we had a tire shop inside 5 miles from the house.
 
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This the image your thinking of?

View attachment 543980


Breaks the beads but then there is the whole other part of spooning that tire off the rim…. Never tried it manual. watched my brother in law wrestle with a light passenger tire while I sipped a fizzy drink. Look like to much work when we had a tire shop inside 5 miles from the house.

That is it yep! Okay so it sucks to try to use? Maybe I should try another solution.

The closest (only) tire shop that I KNOW will do my tires is around 2h from my house now. So it'd have to be really miserable to DIY to be worth that 😂

I've also seen those tire pliers,I think someone here also had those but I also don't remember who. Maybe a combination of those plus something to break the bead is what you need.

Does anyone have an experience with the HF one they sell? There is some decent feedback on it but I don't know about people using it on 33" LT tires.
 
Do you have beadlocks or are there just no tire shops at all near you?

I have changed an entire set myself before using spoons and a bead breaking wedge/hammer. It wasn't all that fun and took longer than 2 hours.

I haven't done a set since lol
 
I am a professional mechanic, the battle would be legendary if you were to attempt all 4 on the ground.

You need to secure the rim from rotating, break both beads, get enormous tire levers/ pry bars, and walk the beads off while trying not to destroy your wheel. Then you should replace your valve stems, which is pretty easy enough with side cutters and knife.

Then, the likely only easy part, slide the first bead on, using plenty of tire lube, then the hard part again, pry the other bead on. The. You have to inflate the tire and seat the beads, keeping the wheel and tire assembly secure so it doesn’t go flying when they do pop into place.

Then you have to balance them.

Literally any repair shop should be able to do tires for you, I hope they closest isn’t 2 hrs for real, you must be in the WOODS lol
 
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I am a professional mechanic, the battle would be legendary if you were to attempt all 4 on the ground.

You need to secure the rim from rotating, break both beads, get enormous tire levers/ pry bars, and walk the beads off while trying not to destroy your wheel. Then you should replace your valve stems, which is pretty easy enough with side cutters and knife.

Then, the likely only easy part, slide the first bead on, using plenty of tire lube, then the hard part again, pry the other bead on. The. You have to inflate the tire and seat the beads, keeping the wheel and tire assembly secure so it doesn’t go flying when they do pop into place.

Then you have to balance them.

Literally any repair shop should be able to do tires for you, I hope they closest isn’t 2 hrs for real, you must be in the WOODS lol

It's not like there aren't tire shops... There just aren't any shops that will do my tires. It's stupid. They are OEM wheels.

Corporations won't put a 12.5" wide tire on a 7" wide rim.

Closest indie shop won't mount a tire they didn't sell...

Second closest indie shop has no availability for weeks...

Third closest shop indie shop... Idk I called them asked if theyd do it, they said yes, drove maybe 30mins to them, they're all hanging out outside (it's 11:08am), they told me they decided to close early??

I don't know how difficult this really would be if I spent money on some decent tools honestly but exploring. If a 2hr 1way drive is still less shitty than doing it manually then maybe I just need to suck it up and make the drive
 
It's not like there aren't tire shops... There just aren't any shops that will do my tires. It's stupid. They are OEM wheels.

Corporations won't put a 12.5" wide tire on a 7" wide rim.

Closest indie shop won't mount a tire they didn't sell...

Second closest indie shop has no availability for weeks...

Third closest shop indie shop... Idk I called them asked if theyd do it, they said yes, drove maybe 30mins to them, they're all hanging out outside (it's 11:08am), they told me they decided to close early??

I don't know how difficult this really would be if I spent money on some decent tools honestly but exploring. If a 2hr 1way drive is still less shitty than doing it manually then maybe I just need to suck it up and make the drive

Dang this is turning into story…. Corporates have taken the fun out swapping tires! I sometimes have better luck being in the wheels off the vehicle. Nothing to reference for the insurance piece maybe. Sucks the independents don’t show any professionalism… puff puff pass I suppose….
 
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It's not like there aren't tire shops... There just aren't any shops that will do my tires. It's stupid. They are OEM wheels.

Corporations won't put a 12.5" wide tire on a 7" wide rim.

Closest indie shop won't mount a tire they didn't sell...

Second closest indie shop has no availability for weeks...

Third closest shop indie shop... Idk I called them asked if theyd do it, they said yes, drove maybe 30mins to them, they're all hanging out outside (it's 11:08am), they told me they decided to close early??

I don't know how difficult this really would be if I spent money on some decent tools honestly but exploring. If a 2hr 1way drive is still less shitty than doing it manually then maybe I just need to suck it up and make the drive

Let’s put it this way if you want to know how difficult this would be: I would never.
 
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As a kid I worked in tire shops and have done what you are thinking about. It sucks and you will be at it a good long while. Find a reason to be in the town that is two hours away and get the tires done while you are there.

Dang ok. Thanks for the input kinda what I was wondering.
 
Dang this is turning into story…. Corporates have taken the fun out swapping tires! I sometimes have better luck being in the wheels off the vehicle. Nothing to reference for the insurance piece maybe. Sucks the independents don’t show any professionalism… puff puff pass I suppose….

Yeah lol a little frustrating. I likely will take them off and throw them all in my truck if I go into town for this, it was a bit crowded in the Jeep with 4 tires.

And yes I agree, I've always been a local business supporter kinda guy but man, the local businesses out here kinda suck! Maybe I should've expected that moving somewhere more rural.

Let’s put it this way if you want to know how difficult this would be: I would never.

Sucks that bad huh 😂
 
Yeah lol a little frustrating. I likely will take them off and throw them all in my truck if I go into town for this, it was a bit crowded in the Jeep with 4 tires.

And yes I agree, I've always been a local business supporter kinda guy but man, the local businesses out here kinda suck! Maybe I should've expected that moving somewhere more rural.



Sucks that bad huh 😂

I would do an-y-thing for [the] love [of cash], but I… WONT… DO… THAT!
 
I didn't know there was anywhere in the U.S. that was 2 hrs away from a Walmart :eek: ! Most have a tire center and will mount and balance tires. I've had them tell me if I find them cheaper than there to buy them and bring them to them to install. I guess we learn something new every day :)
 
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I didn't know there was anywhere in the U.S. that was 2 hrs away from a Walmart :eek: ! Most have a tire center and will mount and balance tires. I've had them tell me if I find them cheaper than there to buy them and bring them to them to install. I guess we learn something new every day :)

Haha there is a Walmart closer than that! This is America!!!

But my experience is that no corporate tire shop will install a tire that is over 5" wider than the wheel it's going on. Muh poor mans beadlocks. My wheels are 7" wide and the tires are 12.5"
 
It's not like there aren't tire shops... There just aren't any shops that will do my tires. It's stupid. They are OEM wheels.

Corporations won't put a 12.5" wide tire on a 7" wide rim.

Closest indie shop won't mount a tire they didn't sell...

I had the same issue when I had a similar setup. Firestone and other places wouldn't do them. One shop wanted $55 a tire to mount/balance because I didn't buy the tires from them. I ended up driving 30 minutes and my mechanic did them for $15 each.
white jeep (2) (2017_11_20 00_38_12 UTC).jpg
 
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Get some 3ft tire spoons. A couple/few years ago, I fully mounted five 35" MTRs onto factory wheels with Coyote internal beadlocks. The work is tedious, but not all that difficult once the first one is learned from and done.

By the third or forth, I could do one in about 90 minutes and much faster if I wasn't messing with the Coyotes.

The beads on the existing tires can be broken with a bottle jack under the Jeep frame.

Thread 'How to change a valve stem on the trail' https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/how-to-change-a-valve-stem-on-the-trail.44510/