Replacing tires on stock 16 inch rims

[Veeder]

I’m thinking of getting new tires and contemplating changing the tires myself so that the rims don’t get scratched in the process. (Stock 16inch rims with tubes)
Thoughts?

[mcgarrett]

Bought one of these, bolted it to the concrete floor. I do all my own tire changes and it works very well.

https://www.harborfreight.com/manual...ger-69686.html

[mcgarrett]

I also use a product like this to help make things go smoothly off and on.

https://www.amazon.com/Tire-Tube-Mou...a-838771049259

[tubman]

I wouldn't even attempt to do it on the ground with tire irons. Instead, I bought a $99 tire machine from Northern tool about 15 years ago (Harbor freight sells one that is the same or similar). It required some reworking, but it worked fine for me until a couple of years ago when my arthritis took me out of the game.

A couple of things. The larger the rim size the easier it is to do (14's were tough, 15's OK, and 16's were easy; I think it has to do with the larger circumference of the bead). The machine has to be solidly mounted to be effective. The tire tools that came with the machine are totally useless and were replaced with regular tools from reputable source; I ended up with more money in tools than in the machine.

This purchase was a last choice. The days of $200 used manual tire changers on Craigslist and at auction are long past.

[tubman]

Originally Posted by mcgarrett

Bought one of these, bolted it to the concrete floor. I do all my own tire changes and it works very well.

https://www.harborfreight.com/manual...ger-69686.html

That's exactly the same as the one I bought. Comparing the prices, I see that the price has come down a whole bunch. I could never make that tire tool (shown) work.

[ronn]

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great suggestion- I usually just use 2 harbor freight bars and finess. I only do 2 tires at a time, as it winds me.

going to grab one of these today or tomorrow at HF.

[cas3]

I do it with tire irons on the floor. use tire lube to make it slide on easy, and mount from the back to not scratch the front. Easy peasy

[TJ]

A good tire shop can mount the tires without scratching the rims. Also they can balance them at the same time.

[Mart]

I used a machine like the ones shown Just yesterday. It was a vintage machine, heavily made. It was actually pretty good. It did come from an era when nobody expected not to get some marks on the wheel. A step up from working with levers on the floor.

It does not necessarily need to be anchored down. I braced it to a pillar with some heavy angle.

Tyres were heavy duty 6.50:16s. It wasn't easy, but easier than levers on the floor. Of course, some sort of powered modern type of machine where the levers are kept clear of the wheel would be ideal, but unless you are in the trade and can pick one up cheap they are expensive. They also take up a lot of room



It'll be shown in an upcoming video.

[Ray in La Mesa]

Went the HF route & saved $90 on breaking down 5 & remounting 4 16" tires. Plus can now do future ones.

[GB SISSON]

I have done this countless times on the floor with tire irons. This includes 24" rear tractor tires. The 16's should be easy like already stated. The 'drop center' wheel rim was a very clever invention, but you need to make sure that before you insert the tire iron, the bead is broken down fully and is in the deepest part of the recess directly opposite where you are you place the first tire iron. A common mistake at this point is accidently grabbing a small bite of the inner tube and 'pinching' it. Not good. I do have a Coates Tireman manual tire changer I bought for 80 bucks and I love it, but this morning I changed a 7.50 x 17 on a multi piece wheel, and so it was back down on my hands and knees on the concrete. You'll be fine, and report back!

[AnthonyG]

I have a ‘35 irons r perfect & in black. I had a trusted mechanic change on his electric nematic machine. No scratches. FYI, I’m running tubeless w no issues for 10 yrs,

[34fordy]

Originally Posted by AnthonyG

I have a ‘35 irons r perfect & in black. I had a trusted mechanic change on his electric nematic machine. No scratches. FYI, I’m running tubeless w no issues for 10 yrs,

What width wheels and what size tires Anthony? Original drums?

[Kube]

Originally Posted by TJ

A good tire shop can mount the tires without scratching the rims. Also they can balance them at the same time.

TJ, you are 100% correct. The issue is finding a good shop. I had a local shop install tires on our Benz and they scrapped the crap out of the rims even though "yeah, we know what we are doing".
Brought the Porsche and Aston to the dealer, nearly 100 miles away, to have those tires mounted. A shame indeed that hardly no one cares enough to do good work.

[Kube]

Originally Posted by Veeder

I’m thinking of getting new tires and contemplating changing the tires myself so that the rims don’t get scratched in the process. (Stock 16inch rims with tubes)
Thoughts?

I'd installed a set of five on a '34 a few years ago. I placed a large plastic bag over the rim, pushed one bead down over that and then sprayed the contact areas with tire glide. Pushed the second side of the tire down. Done.
The first one took about a half hour. After that, about 15 minutes each.
There are You tube videos that show this process.

[TJ]

Originally Posted by Kube

TJ, you are 100% correct. The issue is finding a good shop. I had a local shop install tires on our Benz and they scrapped the crap out of the rims even though "yeah, we know what we are doing".
Brought the Porsche and Aston to the dealer, nearly 100 miles away, to have those tires mounted. A shame indeed that hardly no one cares enough to do good work.

Kube, I'm very lucky as my tire guy grew up in his dad's tire business and his dad was Mr. Careful when it came to putting tires on accessory(mag) wheels. The young man is also a "car guy" so he knows what to do. Been my go to guy for almost 50 years.

[51504bat]

The service station I worked at in the mid '70's sold a lot of tires in addition to other mechanical work. We had a Cotes 2020 tire machine that worked pretty well and with the right application of shop rags it wouldn't scratch the mag wheels of the era. Two things I do remember was mounting Cragar SS wheels. The snout on the wheel was a weak point and when you screwed the hold down onto the wheel there was pressure on the snout when you broke down the tire bead. If you weren't careful the snout would break. If it did usually the SS cap would hide the damage but not always. Second was a local Corvette owner who was always swapping tires on his mags according to what was the "in" combo at the moment. As I said, copious quantities of shop rags on the front side protected the mags from damage but noooo, Mr. Corvette insisted that the back side be protected as well. Eventually he took his business elsewhere and he became someone else's problem.

[sidevalve8ba]

I would hate to think how long I have had this gallon of RuGlyde but I have found over the years a generous application really helps when applied to the bead while mounting tires.

[cas3]

Using a lubricant also protects the rim from corrosion, and makes it easy to get the tire off some day down the road. Way mo better than soapy water we used at the gas stations years ago

[Kube]

Originally Posted by TJ

Kube, I'm very lucky as my tire guy grew up in his dad's tire business and his dad was Mr. Careful when it came to putting tires on accessory(mag) wheels. The young man is also a "car guy" so he knows what to do. Been my go to guy for almost 50 years.

You are indeed fortunate. Isn't it sad that something as simple as installing a tire has become a "lost art".