Mounting your own tires?

On Sun, 23 May 2004 11:29:09 -0700, > wrote:

||
||"Don Bruder" > wrote in message
...
||> In article >,
||> (Doc) wrote:
||>
||> > > wrote in message >...
||> >
||> > >
||> > > For those of us who grew up in rural areas, mounting and dismounting
||tires
||> > > is not exactly rocket science. You can break the bead with the car's
||own
||> > > jack, dismount and mount the tire with simple tire irons, seat the
||bead with
||> > > air pressure, and balance it with a bubble balancer. No big deal,
||really.
||> >
||> > Can you outline how you break the bead with the jack?
||>
||> Pull the valve core out, and set the tire/wheel assembly on a hard
||> surface under the car or other *VERY* heavy item. Car is usually
||> handiest and heaviest. Set the jack base on tire (not on wheel!) near
||> bead, under something solid on car. Operate jack until bead breaks. If
||> needed, rotate tire/wheel, reposition jack, and repeat until bead is
||> broken around entire rim. Even a "tough" tire usually only takes 2-3
||> times of pumping up the jack to get one side ccompletely broken loose.
||> Often, once gets things started well enough to easily finish by hand or
||> with a tire iron or large screwdriver.
||
||What he said, except nix the big screwdriver. The sharp corners of the
||screwdriver can cause leaks later on due to scratches on the rim or tears in
||the tire rubber.
||
||Real tire irons are a must have and not that expensive. They are just about
||extinct at normal auto parts stores, but are easily found at farm and
||motorcycle parts outlets. The longer the better.

Find a local parts store that has access to Ken-Tool. Most big warehouses have
them, but not all retail-oriented stores do. Ken-Tool makes a wide assortment
of professional tire irons, as well as pro bubble balancers and other usefull
stuff.

http://www.kentool.com/product.htm
Texas Parts Guy

When I use my bubble balancer:

I mark the tire and put the back two of the four weights on, then put the
tire back on the balancer. Then I can fine tune the bubble with the front
weights, as per the instructions that came with the balancer 25 years ago.

LOL
Refinish King


"Bob Paulin" > wrote in message
news:01c44035$63863280$9e9bc3d8@race...
>
>
> wrote in article
> <SyIrc.95810$iF6.8420467@attbi_s02>...
> >
> >
> > On 22-May-2004, (Doc) wrote:
> >
> > > Yes, it's a bubble balancer. No time like the present to learn. I just
> > > got done putting in another engine/transmission, and heft plenty 'o
> > > iron at the gym, I imagine I can handle mounting tires, if in fact the
> > > machine works halfway decent. And hey, I have a large supply of
> > > expletives to draw upon. The thing would pay for itself on the first
> > > set of tires.
> >
> > -- Years ago (like in the fifties) bubble balancers were the only thing
> > available. And lots of places still use them, especially places that
deal
> > only in used tires. A sharp guy who does this for a living can do a fair
> job
> > with one of these. But it's easy to have too much weight on one side or
> the
> > other of the wheel. A spin balancer takes the guesswork out, and you get
> the
> > right amount of weight on each side every time. If you just jig around
> town,
> > a bubble balancer is fine. If you drive the freeways, pay for the spin
> > balance.
>
>
> On page 75 of the March 2002 Street Rod Builder Magazine, it states,
> "Goodyear uses a good old-fashioned bubble-balancer to balance large
> diameter, fat-tread street rod tires....a good bubble balance is perfectly
> accurate....Finally, spin balancers are not designed for use on
> large-diameter tires."
>
> I use a Micro M-60 bubble balancer for ten-inch, oval-track race car tires
> and my personal street vehicles - all of which run 55 and 60-series BFG
> Radial T/A. Not a shake in the bunch at speeds from 70 mph on up.
>
> The key is to do it correctly - with four weights evenly split
front/rear -
> not just pile on weight opposite the heavy spot.
>
>
> Bob Paulin - R.A.C.E.
> Race Car Chassis Analysis & Setup Services
>

..
"Refinish King" > wrote in message
...
> When I use my bubble balancer:
>
> I mark the tire and put the back two of the four weights on, then put the
> tire back on the balancer. Then I can fine tune the bubble with the front
> weights, as per the instructions that came with the balancer 25 years ago.
>
> LOL
> Refinish King
>
>
> "Bob Paulin" > wrote in message
> news:01c44035$63863280$9e9bc3d8@race...
> >
> >
> > wrote in article
> > <SyIrc.95810$iF6.8420467@attbi_s02>...
> > >
> > >
> > > On 22-May-2004, (Doc) wrote:
> > >
> > > > Yes, it's a bubble balancer. No time like the present to learn. I
just
> > > > got done putting in another engine/transmission, and heft plenty 'o
> > > > iron at the gym, I imagine I can handle mounting tires, if in fact
the
> > > > machine works halfway decent. And hey, I have a large supply of
> > > > expletives to draw upon. The thing would pay for itself on the first
> > > > set of tires.
> > >
> > > -- Years ago (like in the fifties) bubble balancers were the only
thing
> > > available. And lots of places still use them, especially places that
> deal
> > > only in used tires. A sharp guy who does this for a living can do a
fair
> > job
> > > with one of these. But it's easy to have too much weight on one side
or
> > the
> > > other of the wheel. A spin balancer takes the guesswork out, and you
get
> > the
> > > right amount of weight on each side every time. If you just jig around
> > town,
> > > a bubble balancer is fine. If you drive the freeways, pay for the spin
> > > balance.
> >
> >
> > On page 75 of the March 2002 Street Rod Builder Magazine, it states,
> > "Goodyear uses a good old-fashioned bubble-balancer to balance large
> > diameter, fat-tread street rod tires....a good bubble balance is
perfectly
> > accurate....Finally, spin balancers are not designed for use on
> > large-diameter tires."
> >
> > I use a Micro M-60 bubble balancer for ten-inch, oval-track race car
tires
> > and my personal street vehicles - all of which run 55 and 60-series BFG
> > Radial T/A. Not a shake in the bunch at speeds from 70 mph on up.
> >
> > The key is to do it correctly - with four weights evenly split
> front/rear -
> > not just pile on weight opposite the heavy spot.
> >
> >
> > Bob Paulin - R.A.C.E.
> > Race Car Chassis Analysis & Setup Services
> >
>
>
>