So I'm kind of handy, doing most of my own automotive work, and it occurs to me that
I'm paying a lot for tires. $60 labor to mount and balance four tires and I get them
in half an hour... I bet I could do this myself given time.
I order the $39.99 tire changer from Harbor Freight. For a huge box of chinese steel
shipping is only eight bucks. I pad the order with an air ratchet and other goodies.
16 days later the UPS guy shows up. HF's tracking read "billing information received"
until the day the stuff showed up. I was getting antsy but was willing to put up with
a LOT because I'm cheap like that.
Get it all assembled and it has provisions to bolt to concrete. I leave the stand
alone for now, as I am planning a garage in the fairly new future. I have considered
bolting the thing to a sheet of plywood that I could stand on or park a vehicle on to
weigh down.
Test subject is a 95 Saturn SL2 with steel 15" wheels and a bald 195/60/15 tire. "New"
tire is a Kumho with 7/32 tread remaining I got for ten bucks from the junkyard. They
have a "tire trailer" which is like any candy store with neat shelves sorted by
diameter down both sides and a dark aisle down the middle.
Device has a bead breaker which many say is the toughest part of undoing an old tire.
Piece of cake.
I set the device on my frozen lawn and pound a couple of six inch bolts into the ground
through the base to keep it from spinning. Operation of the device is a big post goes
through the hub hole, one prys against the bead and post and "unzips" it in a big
circle. No freaking luck. I pry and pry and sweat. Put soapy water around the bead
which freezes. Apply enough pressure to bust a weld on a retainer for the lug pin
which keeps the tire from spinning. Lug pin remains effectively in place but can now
be removed entirely. Omen of quality issues to come, or efficiency improvement? Who
knows.
I move inside the basement assuming if I can keep the soap liquid I'll have an easier
time. I've added two 15" tire irons with pointy ends to the 4 foot long spoon the unit
came with. Eventually I figure out that I had the wheel on upside down and found the
deepest part of the wheel, where one side of the tire's bead has to hide to provide
enough stretch to the side one is pulling off. Tire comes off pretty fast. I
unmounted it like a bicycle tire (only bigger) but levered in fixed positions, each new
lever a couple inches from where the last was. I feel it was easier on myself and the
bead than "zipping" around.
New tire goes on pretty much like the old tire came off. My soap ran out and I should
have used more putting it on. Going to seat the bead it wasn't really slippery enough
inside. The bead (I guess this is a so-called 'safety tire') likes to sit half an inch
away from the edge of the rim on a sort of inner rim, then it pops out to the edge. The inner rim has to be somewhat air tight to hold enough pressure to pop the bead out.
Went inside, got a dish soap bottle, mixed 1 part joy with 10 parts water, shook it
good, got tons of suds, then went outside and hosed everything down.
Put air to the tire, kicked it around a little bit, and the beads popped into place at
about 10-15 psi. Nowhere has anyone really described the process like I could
understand. This is by far the most dangerous part of the job IMO.
Notes, I didn't remove the valve stem core, which I guess lets air in faster. Kept the
old valve stem in fact. Haven't balanced the new assembly yet, I have no balancer, but
am rigging something with a laser pointer, rubber ball, and traffic cone. Stay tuned.