DIY tire changing

I was wondering how many others can or have changed tires on the rim for them self ?
I've done it for years in my younger days especially when broke .
Post SHTF there are a lot of things one will have to do for them self we once relied on some one else to do .

 

Two tire irons and a Tire Hammer

 

...and a manual, lever action bead breaker (for the hard part)

 

@techsar a what?

can't i just spray foam? lol

 

It's out back...I'll get a pic for you in the daylight

 

Google It.

 

Once we get where we are going; I don't see as much need for tire changing as I do gasoline so it can run.

 

Mine is similar to the red one...just not made in china

 

If you plan ahead you can have have a solid foam product filled tire. Strictly low speed.

 

In a pinch you can break the bead on a tire by laying the wheel flat on the ground and carefully driving on the sidewall with a car or truck. As soon as the bead separates from the wheel (use a spotter) reverse direction. Not the best way, but sometimes you don't have the right tool.

 

Or break the bead with your bumper jack. Fixed many a flat out in the bush when working for Hendricks GeoEx.

Of course this was on old-school Power Wagons.

 

Did all my major breaking as a kid, while working in a wreaking yard.
All work and all manual tools.

 

I am truly impressed ,good to see others are not afraid of getting into it with tires .
the trick on split rims is cleaning the ring and the slot ,then using a lock on filler with a long hose and finish filling with the tire in a cage or slipping it under the truck .
I've never had a failure, but I've been to paranoid to be careless.

 

When in my late teens, just about all the boys in my small town knew how to at least use a Coats pneumatic machine to change a tire, or remove it to patch a leak from the inside without having to re-balance when mounting it back on the rim..

It was just one of those basic skills. I could still do it, even with a manual machine or if necessary, or with a couple of tire irons in a pinch. Reminds me, I need to acquire those tools and a patch kit for my BOL since it's 60 miles to the nearest town with that capability. Bubble balancer would be a nice addition also.

Basic skill. I wonder how many 18 year olds today know how to do that? Most probably can't even be bothered to soil their pretty hands by so much as swapping a spare tire on their vehicle. I work with some adult engineers like that. I have a nephew in his early 40's like that. Worthless.

Come SHTF, these people are going to be so screwed.

I need to retire (no pun intended) in the middle of nowhere and get away from the prissy masses of jellyfish people. Imagine one of them trying to field dress a game animal without getting grossed out and puking!

End of rant...

 

I did just that "retire (no pun intended) in the middle of nowhere" then they ,half of Texas, found out how clean the air was way west of DFW.

I got neighbors that have actually put in an extra water well to water their grass every day!
What a way to empty the aquifers.

Why is it that folks find a nice area and then want to bring all their nasty habits with them?

Instead we have cow pies in the front yard and green grass without wasting water.

 

When without a bead breaker I used the curved tire iron and the Tire hammer. OK on car tires a real bear on 10 ply truck tires, on those it was usually the Bumper Jack method.

 

Yeah my sister bought a house on 80 acres in north eastern Arizona - desert. In talking to the neighbors, they said the former owners ran the propane generator almost constantly, in part to run the well pump to keep their swimming pool filled and to run the filter pump for the swimming pool.

Must've cost them a fortune in fuel, not to mention emptying the aquifer for something so frivolous. If they were pumping water to raise crops, it might be a little different.

 

Not to go off topic but I do have a question regarding that fix-a-flat. I have heard two different opinions on that stuff. Some swear that the tire will be trash after using it while others say, carry fix-a-flat foam. Tires are expensive so is that foam stuff going to ruin your tire forever or not?

 

My time was pre-tubeless, so, pull the tire off, check for the nail etc, cleanup the tube apply a HOT Patch with the special clamp and while that cooled clean the rim and check the rubber band on the inside of the rim. Then check the tube in the water tank, dry it replace and on down the road.

Now I carry the complete SLIME kit and could, never had to yet, do a quick fix and get out of Dodge faster.