Cars - What tools are needed to change a tire?

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What tools are needed to change a tire?

Related to the other thread I started, what items/tools are needed to
change a tire besides the tire-changing unit? I'm not sure what
actually comes with the unit.

Any good links to do-it-yourself auto tire changing?

Thanks for all input.

Doc wrote in rec.autos.tech

> Related to the other thread I started, what items/tools are needed to
> change a tire besides the tire-changing unit? I'm not sure what
> actually comes with the unit.
>
> Any good links to do-it-yourself auto tire changing?
>
> Thanks for all input.

Changing your own tires is not easy. You need, at the very least,
an air compressor, a set of tire irons, a balancing machine.
You will also need a tire lube for the bead.
First thing you have to do is to let the air out. Then you have
to break the bead loose. I watched one man hit it with a 10 pound
sledge. When that didn't work he ended up driving his car over it.
We then spent a while prying the old tire off the rim, I was planning
on watching but ended up helping.
Once the old tire was off, we put on the lube, and then spent an good
hour getting the new tire on the rim. They are very stiff and hard
to put on, especially since it is a very tight fit to begin with.
We spent over an hour doing it.
I would guess that the machine you are looking at will make things
easier, but how much will it cost, how often are you going to use
it, and how long will it take to pay for itself?

I used to work in a full service gas station where I changed hundreds
of tires with a nifty machine. But it was very heavy duty, and we
all received training and supervised practice on it before we were
allowed to do it on our own.

>

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Where do you get balance weights?

In article .net>,
"Doc" > wrote:

> Where do you get balance weights?
>
>

Probably just about any reasonably decent auto store. (Which pretty much
excludes Kragen's, Auto Zone, and similar)

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I respond to Email as quick as humanly possible. If you Email me and get no
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I got one of these from HF over a year ago and it has much more then paid
for itself. I used to work at a gas station (1960's) and we changed and
patched tires all day on a manual tire changer kind of like the one from
HF, except it was much heavier duty then the HF one. It brings back lots
of memories using the thing. I mounted mine on a brake drum from a semi
truck and buried the drum so it would be good and solid. The machine
itself is not all that sturdy and care must be used to keep from bending
some of the parts when using it. There are a lot of tricks to breaking
the bead and removing the tire and getting it back on and the longer the
tire has been on the rim the harder it is to deal with. I enjoy doing
this kind of thing but I'd say it's not what most people consider
entertainment. I wouldn't recommend doing this unless you have someone
around that can teach you the finer points of messing with a tuff old
tire and rim. I find it satisfying to find and fix the slow leaks that
a shop doesn't have the time to repair properly. I suppose I've changed
or patched at least 20 tires using the machine in the past year. My
neighbor bought a set of 4 tires for an old Ford he stores, it has the
old deep dish 14 inch rims and the tires and those must be taken off and
installed from the back side we changed them a couple at time over a
couple of days. They are a real SOB to change especially if they have
tubes in them. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend trying to change your
own tires unless you have someone to walk you through the process. It
may not be rocket science but working with concrete isn't either, and
you'd better know what you are doing before you order 10 yards of ready
mix.

Doc wrote:

> Related to the other thread I started, what items/tools are needed to
> change a tire besides the tire-changing unit? I'm not sure what
> actually comes with the unit.
>
> Any good links to do-it-yourself auto tire changing?
>
> Thanks for all input.