Anyone change your own tires?

clean

clean

Registered
Hi guys,

Looking for some tips specifically about bead prep when tire changing. I did my first tire change at home today, and had no problems changing the tire, but once aired up, and leak tested I had some tiny micro bubbles at one spot. the tire was at 50psi and the bubbles were extremely small, and very slow to arise. I would assume it would take quite awhile to lose any substantial amount of air with a leak this slow. Is this common? Would something like this almost be normal for a close to 20 year old wheel? or is it 100% unacceptable to have any leaks no matter how small?

I noticed there was some very small (tiny) corrosion spots on the rim lip probably from previous tire changes leaving dishsoap/lube in there ( I only use proper rubber lubricant). I cleaned the rim lip up with a rag thoroughly , but didn't do any extensive cleaning, or wire brushing etc. I was thinking that maybe some guys would wire brush/file smooth and repaint any questionable areas? apparently some shops use bead sealant in this scenario? that might be an option too. Wondering what you guys do with your wheels?

TIA.
 
clean said:
Hi guys,

Looking for some tips specifically about bead prep when tire changing. I did my first tire change at home today, and had no problems changing the tire, but once aired up, and leak tested I had some tiny micro bubbles at one spot. the tire was at 50psi and the bubbles were extremely small, and very slow to arise. I would assume it would take quite awhile to lose any substantial amount of air with a leak this slow. Is this common? Would something like this almost be normal for a close to 20 year old wheel? or is it 100% unacceptable to have any leaks no matter how small?

I noticed there was some very small (tiny) corrosion spots on the rim lip probably from previous tire changes leaving dishsoap/lube in there ( I only use proper rubber lubricant). I cleaned the rim lip up with a rag thoroughly , but didn't do any extensive cleaning, or wire brushing etc. I was thinking that maybe some guys would wire brush/file smooth and repaint any questionable areas? apparently some shops use bead sealant in this scenario? that might be an option too. Wondering what you guys do with your wheels?

TIA.
Click to expand...
I used to change my tyres I made a manual tyre changer and balancer machine to change race rubber which have very soft side walls. Okay with road tyres getting them on and off is different Dunlop’s especially are harder, It’s easy to damage the alloy rims if you don’t know what you are doing so I get the tyre mechanic doing it, if you need to do it yourself buy a decent tyre changer and lightest tyres Ps if your tyres are done properly then they won’t have chips or scratches on the rims
 
Anyone can grab a 14" tire iron and lever the edge over but I'm extra careful not to pry any harder than necessary. I still have managed to put a couple tiny scratches on the bead surface of my rims. I normally encourage people to bring their wheels in to a tire shop if they don't already know how to do it themselves. I have seen a video of a guy who can use tire irons to put a tire on quickly using minimal force but it must have taken a lot of practice to learn that. Saving money sure isn't my motive in changing my own tires. If it costs $40/tire to have a shop do it, that is well worth it. I do it because the dealership shop scratched the whole outside edge of my OEM wheel, apparently not clamping it hard enough in the hydraulic tire changer. I won't risk that with expensive aftermarket rims.

My advice is, if you're going to use tire irons, learn to do it with your OEM rims and and do it with the understanding that you will be changing to aftermarket rims someday. If you don't feel confident that you can change tires yoursef at that point, bring them to a shop you know you can trust. My next step is a Cycle Hill tire changer. Hope it's a lot better because at $700, that's many years of tires installed at a shop with a hydraulic machine.
 
Let the leaking tire sit a day and check it. Then decide if you can use it for whatever kind of riding you do. I don't see a problem with a leaking tire provided you can easily get it aired up again before your next ride. I wouldn't let it go flat while sitting. That could break the bead if the wheel is sitting under the bike's weight.
 
bigoltool said:
Re-break the beads and lube them lightly with soap and reseat them. I use dish soap, but not that critical.
Click to expand...
Yeah, maybe the bead didn't stick perfectly all the way around. Worth a try but my hunch is that you have a gouge in the bead surface of your rim. I never need to add air to mine and I have some gouges on mine. Rim protector slipped or some damn thing.
cz.beadscrape1.jpg
 
I have heard of polishing the bead surface. If you actually would need to file away metal to get it flat before polishing, I'd be youtubing that before I tried it. Sounds like you have a good set of rims to practice on if they're actually corroded. I have only had black tire residue on the rims and I have used dish soap as well as tire lube.
 
Mythos said:
I have heard of polishing the bead surface. If you actually would need to file away metal to get it flat before polishing, I'd be youtubing that before I tried it. Sounds like you have a good set of rims to practice on if they're actually corroded. I have only had black tire residue on the rims and I have used dish soap as well as tire lube.
Click to expand...
the micro bubbles at that spot actually ended up stopping after a little while so I think I'm good to go. Agree you have to be really careful not to mess your rims up. Oddly the old tire was harder to get off then the new one was to put on, and the new one was a Dunlop q3+. with sufficient tire lube applied the first bead just pushed over by hand with no irons necessary. the second bead needed a little spooning, but nothing serious. piece of cake really. used motion pro bead protectors which are a bit of a gimmick / rip off, but work nicer then a piece of hose cut in half etc.

next time I'm thinking the rim lips could be wire brushed / inspected and use bead sealant in any questionable areas. We'll see what @c10 says.
 
clean said:
used motion pro bead protectors which are a bit of a gimmick / rip off, but work nicer then a piece of hose cut in half etc.
Click to expand...
I've never tried a piece of cut hose as a rim protector but I've used an off brand of rim protectors. They were white in color and they were worn out after the first use. Motion Pro rim protectors last me at least two or three tire changes before they get to loose to use. When I pry, loose rim protectors will actually start rolling around the edge of the rim. Some heavy duty plastic from water jugs works well. Milk bottle plastic is way too thin.
 
My local shop does is all for $17.50 a tire if you buy the tire from them. The tire prices are fair as compared to E Bay and other sites and that includes the disposal fee. Its simply not worth it to change my own tires anymore. The shop is Temecula Motorsports in Temecula CA.
 
zrxmax374 said:
My local shop does is all for $17.50 a tire if you buy the tire from them. The tire prices are fair as compared to E Bay and other sites and that includes the disposal fee. Its simply not worth it to change my own tires anymore. The shop is Temecula Motorsports in Temecula CA.
Click to expand...
I'll say it again, if you know of a shop you trust implicitly, it's totally worth it to pay for tire removal and installation. The key is knowing for absolute sure they will take proper care with your expensive wheels. I'd pay extra and be willing to wait a few days if that's what it took to make sure it was done carefully.

Other than that, letting the tires sit out in the hot sun for several hours helps and lots of practice or else a No-Mar tire changer. The No-Mar bar is similar to the Mojo bar in c10's link above. I like the No-Mar stands because the bar that passes through the axle hole is supported on both ends. If you buy a cheap motorcycle tire changing stand of which there are many, all very similar, I'm not sure that would work so well with one of those special bars. Sure, there is a center rod that you could lever against with a Mojo bar but that rod is only attached to the stand underneath. Without the center rod supported both above and below the wheel, it seems like the top would flex all over the place not to mention the threads on the rod would get damaged by the lever bar. Also, you would need to mount the cheap tire changing stand to something with U-bolts or welds to hold the stand stationary while you levered the bar. For a carbon fiber wheel, I would (will) only go with the No-Mar HD Classic tire changing stand. It's a lot of money to pay for supporting a rod at both ends and having a ready-to-go floor or truck hitch mount but after using tire irons, I know I wouldn't use those with expensive CF wheels. I get a little scared using tire irons on my aluminum wheels. So far no bent rims though, I've checked them twice with a dial gauge. I am super careful though.
 
After looking at the links from the Mojo bar page, the Harbor Freight motorcycle tire changer stand looks up to the task much better than the "hose reel" type stands I'm familiar with. One thing you would need for the Harbor Freight tire changer is a set of Mojo blocks to hold the rim while you lever and to prevent it from getting scratched. I don't see Mojo Blocks online anymore. Also, the Harbor Freight changer stand has preset pin lock positions for wheel diameter. I'd be skeptical as to how firmly it would hold the wheel but I trust it works if c10 has used it. The No-Mar stands have a levering lock system that will apply a great deal of pressure to hold the wheel firmly. Pretty big difference in price though!
 
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