As I get older, sometimes I want life to be a little easier, and so (within my limited means as a fixed-income pensioner) I sometimes tend to pay people to do things that I USED TO do myself.
However, changing my own tires isn't one of those things. The older I get, the more I realize that it doesn't need to be a difficult job, and the shops are no longer charging $15 to change a tire on a wheel I bring in. (More like $30). Plus, neither the car nor bike shops want to handle the 15" wire knockoff wheels on my MGC.
So I have accumulated the things I need to make tire changing a reasonable thing to do at home, with heavily discounted tires that I buy wherever I want to buy them, and not just what the local shop sells.
I had a Harbor Freight tire change stand and bead breaker once, but it was made out of very cheap metal, and the dismount bar snapped on me. I have often considered buying a "No-Mar" or other home-shop tire changing machine, but I've seen them in operation and it's really not that much more trouble to just do it by hand.
Ingredients required -
1. A sturdy work surface. I converted an old shooting bench, which was already the right height for me. Has to be solid and not move around.
2. Finally bought a set of decent tire spoons. For some reason, even the really nicely made tire irons are typically just solid steel, with no accommodation for gripping them with hands slimy with tire lube, talcum powder, and sweat; it hurts to pull even a little bit on them. I bought a set of three, 15" long, with nicely contoured grips on the end, for about $40 shipped. Makes a big difference!
3. Lots and lots of purpose-made tire lube, not just soap or Windex. RU-Glide or P80 is available anywhere. Doesn't rust the rims, either. Talcum powder to dust a tube when you install it so it can find a place where it doesn't crimp or pinch as you pump it up.
4. A little thumbscrew stop to screw onto the rim to "hold what you got" when you make your first two pulls of the bead away from the rim, so it doesn't slip back while you go around pulling the rest of the bead.
5. A decent bead-breaker. There are lots of ways to do it; I finally settled on a ratcheting one that's small and portable.
6. A little thing on a chain to screw into the tube valve to pull the valve up through the hole in the rim. Trying to do it without that is a crapshoot that can take a long time to get lucky.
7. And one item that doesn't cost a thing; the knowledge of what the center drop-well on a tire rim is for.
With this setup, I now change all my bike tires, the 12" tires on my '90 Ford Festiva, and the 15" tubed wire wheels on my '69 MGC. Saves money, and a certain satisfaction that comes from any demonstration of self-reliance and ability to do things "the old way" on my part!
Lannis
However, changing my own tires isn't one of those things. The older I get, the more I realize that it doesn't need to be a difficult job, and the shops are no longer charging $15 to change a tire on a wheel I bring in. (More like $30). Plus, neither the car nor bike shops want to handle the 15" wire knockoff wheels on my MGC.
So I have accumulated the things I need to make tire changing a reasonable thing to do at home, with heavily discounted tires that I buy wherever I want to buy them, and not just what the local shop sells.
I had a Harbor Freight tire change stand and bead breaker once, but it was made out of very cheap metal, and the dismount bar snapped on me. I have often considered buying a "No-Mar" or other home-shop tire changing machine, but I've seen them in operation and it's really not that much more trouble to just do it by hand.
Ingredients required -
1. A sturdy work surface. I converted an old shooting bench, which was already the right height for me. Has to be solid and not move around.
2. Finally bought a set of decent tire spoons. For some reason, even the really nicely made tire irons are typically just solid steel, with no accommodation for gripping them with hands slimy with tire lube, talcum powder, and sweat; it hurts to pull even a little bit on them. I bought a set of three, 15" long, with nicely contoured grips on the end, for about $40 shipped. Makes a big difference!
3. Lots and lots of purpose-made tire lube, not just soap or Windex. RU-Glide or P80 is available anywhere. Doesn't rust the rims, either. Talcum powder to dust a tube when you install it so it can find a place where it doesn't crimp or pinch as you pump it up.
4. A little thumbscrew stop to screw onto the rim to "hold what you got" when you make your first two pulls of the bead away from the rim, so it doesn't slip back while you go around pulling the rest of the bead.
5. A decent bead-breaker. There are lots of ways to do it; I finally settled on a ratcheting one that's small and portable.
6. A little thing on a chain to screw into the tube valve to pull the valve up through the hole in the rim. Trying to do it without that is a crapshoot that can take a long time to get lucky.
7. And one item that doesn't cost a thing; the knowledge of what the center drop-well on a tire rim is for.
With this setup, I now change all my bike tires, the 12" tires on my '90 Ford Festiva, and the 15" tubed wire wheels on my '69 MGC. Saves money, and a certain satisfaction that comes from any demonstration of self-reliance and ability to do things "the old way" on my part!
Lannis
) I still found the No-Mar a bit of a PITA.
I haven’t used it yet.
