How to mount Bias-Ply Tires in your own garage!

We all might have a different way to do it, but the key is to not puncture tube or rough up the bead. I put the tube in the tire first, air it up just enough to locate it, set the wheel in the tire cockeyed with the valve stem in the hole, lube the beads with liquid soap and bump it together with rubber mallet.

 

Good thread. Also shows there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Neat tip I learned from my pal Karl is to keep a carpet remnant a little bigger than your tire around the shop. Lay it down and change the tire on top of it. Less chance of picking up pebbles and such that may find their way into the tire and scuffing a tube later. Also protects the sidewall.

 

I just bought a fresh set from Coker and was planning on having the local tire shop do the install. You guys make this look too easy, guess I am going to give it a go myself. Thanks for the tips guys!

 

Kool you shared this for those who don't know. Rather than screwdrivers or tire irons I use ax handles. Lots of leverage, little damage. Once you get one side up enough to get under one for removing, set 1 ax handle in the center hole of the wheel, the other under the bead and pull it around like a tire machine. Works every time with little effort. I'm kinda lazy like that. BTW, ax handles are great for big slicks.

 

Now THAT is not a bad idea! It would also protect the edge of the wheel from being scuffed up too. Thanks!

 

OH NO !!! Dollar Store Baby Powder !!! Watch out the " you get what you pay for people will get you ""

 

I prefer Gold bond, that way after you break a sweat you can spritz yerself and feel all fresh and minty!

 

I've had the dubious pleasure of installing hundreds if not thousands of bias ply tires and tubes during my "servitude" in the family business (which included selling new and used tires). I suppose the one bead at a time method works just fine, but on any of the old tire machines you ran the risk of grabing the tube and pinching or tearing it when you put on the second bead.

We completely mounted the tire on the wheel. Then with the valve stem core out of the tube, you air the tire up enough to inflate the tube and smooth it out inside the tire. If the stem is off a bit from the hole you then adjust the position by moving the tire around the circumference of the wheel. By the time the tube is deflated you are ready to stick in the core, and air it up. (To my recollection there was a problem with using baby powder (we never did), but for the life of me I cannot remember what it might have been.)

SAFU

 

Thanks for the post. It's funny how most people don't even change their own oil anymore so to me, finding someone who will change out tires is a real treat - it's also good exercise. Ben Franklin said; 'the more advanced we get, the more lazy we get'. I always check the rim close too for sharp edges. Tire irons and wheel weights can leave sharp protrusions that will slice up tubes (and hands) when they are installed.

 

Good Roadside Repair Tech.

I dont have any room for a spare in my hotrod, but I could easily fit an extra tube and the basic tools to do this on the side of the road.

I always changed my own bike tires as a kid, but sadly many of the kids today probably couldn't even do it. It'd be a miracle if you were able to get them off their ass to go play outside in the first place.

 

Don't lose hope on the kids yet. Around here mountainbiking is huge. About 1 in 3 trucks or cars in the HS parking lot has an MTB hanging off it. The snoboard crowd has taken up downhill in the warm months so these kids are learning how to wrench.

 

One other thing to keep in mind is most wheels have a right side and a wrong side to mount from. You want to mount from the side with a straight drop to the center of the rim. This will make the job easier, sometimes impossible if coming from the wrong side.

 

There a lot of ways to break a bead and I've probably tried them all. The old 600x16s you could just jump on and usually break them. I've run over them, used bumper jacks. I came up with this a while back. Its works pretty well depending on how long the lever is. Sometimes I use an 8' 4x4. Yes it will scuff the sidewall sometimes if your not careful but I've broken some pretty tough beads with it. Just thought I'd throw it in.

 

I like this one!

 

Here are some tools you might find useful. You can find them regularly at swaps sold by guys who are too lazy (smart) to change their own.

The bubble balancer is accurate enough for all U.S. highway speeds. You Krouts are on your own with the Autobon.

The bead breaking hammer I haven't got the hang of yet but a guy from a tire place used one well when I was stranded on a highway with a company trailer with a flat tire.

The spoons are better than big screwdrivers but I've used a lot of screwdrivers.

I'm buying new Coker tires soon for my roadster and plan to mount and balance them all myself. However I'm going to have them shaved by a professional.

I'm learning some new tricks from this thread. Never too old to learn.

See you Fathersday.

 

I love bubble balancers! Never had a problem with a tire carefully balanced using one. Doing it yourself you can take the time to slide the tire around the rim to get as much weight off-set as possible, and end up using fewer weights. Besides, it keeps some yahoo at the local discount tire store from putting the weights on the outside of your fancy wheels or not sticking them in well enough on the inside rim. Can't remember how many times I've left a discount tire store only to hear a weight hit the inside of the fender well before I got 5 miles.

SAFU

 

For field/trail repairs, I have driven up onto a a tire, lying flat on the ground, to break the bead. Not the best thing for a nice tire, but if it is the only way you are going to get home....

I hand mount all of my off-road tires, up to and including the bias-ply 36" tires on my DD.

I use balance beads, which are a misnomer, they are more dampening beads. Believe it or not, they do actually work. I will take you for a ride and show you. I am running 36" bias Swampers, which are known to be impossible to balance, at 75, with no issues, and no weights.

 

do people still run tube type tires on your cars? why?

 

GOOD one!!!!!!!!

 

Old-tech, riveted or spoked wheels don't always hold air too well.

 

I'm on the lookout for one of those bubble balancers, for now the mechanic across the street from my work lets me use their cpu balancer, but I want my own!

Old wheels from the tube-type era don't have a bead area that's designed to "lock" the bead like modern wheels do. When you're running tires and wheels that were designed for a tube, it just seems to make sense to run one.

 

Nice write-up Thunder!

 

OK makes sense now. thanks

 

Used to work for a Uniroyal/BF Goodrich dealer that didn't trust tire machines. Did plenty of tube tires by hand every day.

One bead, tube in tire, little air to smooth things out, second bead and air it up. We had (I still have) a tool that screwed onto the stem and let you blow air in without using the core and when you quit blowing it just let the air back out. It also kept the stem from pulling back through the hole when you let the air back out. If you turned the tool, it allowed you to blow air through the tool and suck the air out of the tube to get it really flat for removal.

No baby powder, either corn starch or nothing. Baby powder will lump if it get moist.

SPark

 

A small dab of silicone on the rivit heads, on the inside of the rim will eliminate any leaks. For those who don't use tubes...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSDPHjo1zRU&feature=related

 

Thanks.

A lot of folks don't want to carry a full size spare in their car. Its easy to toss some tubes in the car and be half way to a spare, without all the loss of space. You can even carry a correct tube for the little fronts and big rears. Cool.

 

I didn't know about having to deflate the tube then reinflate or the baby powder. Thanks for posting.

 

i have seen a guy use a bumper jack to brake the bead on a tubeless tire,
and two lug wrenches to remove the tire

 

A little off subject. It concerns tubeless tires. I just read it in Popular Mechanics with the disclaimer "we are not responsible for burnt eyelashes or pinched fingers." the article was about other uses for things such as carburetor cleaner. One other use for Carb. cleaner was seating tubeless tire beads. Said to spray some around the bead of a mounted tubeless tire and light a match. It would blow the bead right on. I have not tried it yet but probably will the next tubeless bead I have trouble seating. I'll let you know.
Remember this was in Popular Mechanics.

 

^^^Look at post #55, 345 DeSoto posted a video of that process.