Removing a tire without specialist tools

Now I'm aware this has been done before, and it's from this site I got the idea but I thought I'd post it with pictures as a step by step for any noobies as a bit of content :thumbsup:

So first things first, this is what you'll need :-

• A long plank of wood (6ft should be more than enough).
• 3 or 4 pieces of wood thick enough to keep your brake disk off the floor.
• Spray bottle filled with fairy liquid and soap
• Piece of 2x4, approximately 20cm in length.
• A stable object with an area the plank will fit underneath such as the sill of a car. the thing i used was around a foot off the floor (ive not tried it with anything else, but the smaller the height, the more likely the piece your breaking the bead with will be shot out from underneath).

Firstly you need to remove the wheel from the bike (duhh!) and deflate the tire. you can poke the valve with a screwdriver or something till air stops audibly escaping then a couple more seconds for good measure. i used a track pump with a release valve cos it was handy. You can buy tools to take the valve stem out but I don't find it to be necessary.

Next, position your rim on three or four pieces of wood so it is off of the floor and won't get scratched. I found the best place is roughly 1.5 ft away from the object you'll be levering against. In my case I'm using a wooden fence thing.


consruct the contraption like so, at first i used a bigger piece of wood as the bead breaker part but changed it out for a smaller one to reduce the angle. (Ignore the hose, I hadn't let all the air out at this point)




spray some fairy liquid/water mix around the edge of the tire to help it slip off the bead a bit easier.




with one foot, hold the tire so it doesnt move/ tip up and put downward pressure on the long plank of wood. i did this twice with the wood in different positions, one to manipulate the tire so the bead was visible, and the second to push the bead off its seat.



Here's after the first

Reconstruct the breaker with the wood vertical,like so





Push down again and it should slide off nicely.



once the bead is broken,kneeling on the tire and working your way round will be sufficient to guide the rest of the bead off.



and there you have it, one side done in less than 5 minutes.




next flip it over and do the second side in the same manner. make sure the wood your resting the rim on is thick enough to keep the brake disk from touching the floor.




the next step is to remove the tire from the rim. this can be done using cable ties. squeeizing the tire together increases the diamater of the inside of the tire and allows it to slide off without the use of tire irons which could scratch the rim. To squeeze it as much as possible, i use of of these vice things and slide a cable tie underneath.



i then attach another cable tie to the first, so its long enough to go around the tire. im sure there are longer cable ties available but i had these to hand already.

This will keep the tire compressed. repeat this process around the whole tire



after taking this, i applied more cable ties but i forgot to take a picture of the final so this will have to do.

then its time for your trusty soapy water mixture. saturate the edge of the tire, and the lip of the rim itself with the mixture. stand on the rim (with wood underneath of course) and pull up and towards you, rolling the tire over itself.




if your a weak bastard like me, use something to lever it off i used and old axle and a broken screwdriver. take care not to scratch the rim though, i put a thick rag over to protect it. then give it a wipe down with some good ol' wd40 so its all shiny and pretty again.:thumbsup:



finally, take off the cable ties. if youve got a shit load, by all means cut them off, but you can use them again to put the new tire on which ill show in a new thread when i get round to it. to remove them easily allowing them to remain re-usable, take a small flat head screwdriver and push it between the cable and the latch thing, if you cant get it in by itself, pul on the cable slightly which will let it in easier.

 

Or pay £20 and have someone do it for you whilst you have a brew

 

its all part of the fun though... and im a tight bastard lol

 

If you're not using the tyre afterwards, has anyone thought of just cutting it off the rim?
Would save you a lot of bother

 

Leave my dodgy mix of imperial and metric units out of this! Haha. Parents thought me imperial but school thought me metric, so I'm a crazy hybrid of the two lol

 

I cut one off the other week, Only a small tyre though. I used a normal wood saw for a rough cut then a Dremel with a cutting disc on. Would probably be just as easy to do it the proper way.

 

That's autocorrect for you matey. It too me long enough to write as it is. Can I fook be bothered doing the spelling haha

 

Just take the fooker to smudger