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Is there an easy way to get a tire off a rim ?

B

BillSchlatterer

Well Known Member
Sponsor
:confused:

Just did the Grove Nose Wheel swap on my RV7a. The swap was a 15 minute process but breaking the tire off the old rim took me two hours?

There has got to be a better way than blocks of wood and large hammers. Seems like I saw someone use big C-Clamps but I didn't have any.

Is there an easy way to get the tire off the rim short of taking it to an aircraft shop? What do they use to get it done?

Thanks Bill S
7a finishing
 
Bill,
There is a bead breaker tool you can buy from Aircraft Spruce among others that makes the job easy, but it is not necessary as you can either use a large vise or C clamps as you suggested. This would be done after you split the wheel of course. A couple of pieces of 2 X 4 and a vice will work. I have the Bogert tool shown on Spruce for $125, works great.
 
Do not buy a bead breaker!!!

Here's a link to the $1.98 Home depot Bead breaker that I have personally used >ten times this year (motorcycle racing tires last about a day-and-a-half so I get LOTS of practice).

http://www.webbikeworld.com/t2/bead-breaker/motorcycle-tire-bead-breaker.htm

Now personally, I recommend shortening the piece that goes between the tire bead and the lever to no more than 8 inches, mine is maybe 5 inches. Places it closer to the distal end of the lever giving lots of leverage. This depends on the height of the vehicle used to lever under. The Chrysler Cirrus I use is very close to the ground.
 
Harbor Freight

Harbor Freight has a small tire break down tool that works pretty well. I use this one: ITEM 34552-9VGA
but this one is cheaper and looks good too: ITEM 98875-2VGA
 
Well, some things are so obvious, they are oblivious ;-) The 2 x4 trick would have been great and the HF $20 tool would have worked just as well. Either one is a huge improvement over what I did.

Thanks for the help! Now,.... I have a plan !

Bill S
 
A 2*4

Who would have thought?..:)

As my tires are now officially bald and rotated once, I really must change them before I see canvas..:)

Frank
 
2x4s or a stiff pair of boots and good old body mass. Works better the older I get :(.
 
gasman said:
Cut a circle in a piece of plywood just to clear the rim and then stand on it.
Click to expand...

No one who can fit into an RV weighs enough to bust the bead on a nose wheel tire. Mains are easy, but busting loose the nose wheel tire bead has caused new cuss words to be invented.

I bought a small arbor press for this purpose. That, plus a few blocks of wood, make it tolerable.
 
I put a dull air chisel in my drill press and press it down on the tire right next to the rim. Works great!:)
 
captainron said:
Old style bumper jacks work great also.
Click to expand...

Typically I jack my pickup up with a jack then lower the truck down on a short 4 X 4 that I cut special to add pressure on the tire and break the bead.

Hard to describe but works well. I am too CHEAP to go buy something when I have something that works so well.
 
Bead Breaker

My Bogert bead breaker worked great! I found the hardest part was putting a new tire and tube on the rim without pinching the tube. :eek:
 
Break that Bead

What Scott said. With the wheel/tire flat on the floor and valve core out, I stand on the wheel with my right foot. I put my left heel on the sidewall right up close to the rim OD. Give it sharp jabs with most of my weight for a few times. Move 180 degrees and repeat. It busts the bead in about 15 seconds. The other side comes away with little persuasion.
 
Thread is about Nose wheel tires...

Bob Gordon said:
What Scott said. With the wheel/tire flat on the floor and valve core out, I stand on the wheel with my right foot. I put my left heel on the sidewall right up close to the rim OD. Give it sharp jabs with most of my weight for a few times. Move 180 degrees and repeat. It busts the bead in about 15 seconds. The other side comes away with little persuasion.
Click to expand...

Have you tried this with a nose wheel tire? Bill's original post is regarding nose wheels.
 
AlexPeterson said:
Have you tried this with a nose wheel tire? Bill's original post is regarding nose wheels.
Click to expand...

Yep! I've done it a few times recently with nothing but me and my shoe. Agreed that the mains are easier, but it doesn't take any more than a minute or two if you weigh enough (I'm only 170# :). They're all different. Do what you gotta' do.
 
Why Is This True?

scard said:
2x4s or a stiff pair of boots and good old body mass. Works better the older I get :(.
Click to expand...

Scott,
I am right there with you! I have noticed that my 50 y/o body can break a bead much quicker than when I was in my 20's.
 
I just used the air chisel method

I just wanted to report that a swapped my nosewheel out with a Grove set up today on my project. I broke the tire bead using the drill press/air chisel method as outlined above. It was a piece of cake. Thanks for the idea!!
 
ArVeeNiner said:
I just wanted to report that a swapped my nosewheel out with a Grove set up today on my project. I broke the tire bead using the drill press/air chisel method as outlined above. It was a piece of cake. Thanks for the idea!!
Click to expand...

When you go to change the tire off of the GROVE wheel, you will find that it will be much easier due to the fact that the GROVE wheel is tapered where the tire bead drops into the wheel. Another nice feature of the GROVE wheel.....;)
 
best solution is to convert the plane to a taildragger

ive got my nomex on.....

bob burns
rv-4 N82RB
 
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