Changing your own Tyres- Seriously Considering this..
Discussion
S0 What said:
kurwa said:
We have 4 cars in family which need tyre swapping all the time summer/winter.. , I just hate to visit garages and try to do most of the stuff myself as I always feel ripped off by high prices and not good worksmanship...who doesn't i know I know 
. But swapping tyres is one thing I thought I couldn't do myself just because I don't have the machines, and I'm always frustrated as fuk when they charge me £40 to swap 4 tyres which takes them 15mins and I have to waste half a day to schedule changing them/get them done etc. just sick of this tyre changing rip off.
Untill I found there is a manual tyre changer and balancer,
changer- £35
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tyre-Changer-Wheel-Mount...
balancer- £52
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Portable-Wheel-Tyre-Bala...
checked few yt videos& it looks piss easy.
Watcha say guys?
That tyre changer will bend/disintigrate on any tyre that's been on for more and a few days, the balencer is old school and will do an ok job on a totaly straight wheel but wont balence side to side to take into account kerbing dings or slightly out of true wheels or worn/tracked tyres. . But swapping tyres is one thing I thought I couldn't do myself just because I don't have the machines, and I'm always frustrated as fuk when they charge me £40 to swap 4 tyres which takes them 15mins and I have to waste half a day to schedule changing them/get them done etc. just sick of this tyre changing rip off.Untill I found there is a manual tyre changer and balancer,
changer- £35
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tyre-Changer-Wheel-Mount...
balancer- £52
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Portable-Wheel-Tyre-Bala...
checked few yt videos& it looks piss easy.
Watcha say guys?
Simply put either get them done at a tyre shop or get decent equipment, your better off buying 2nd hand decent stuff, i have a hand tyre remover, made in the 50's and it's still a royal PITA compaired to a air powered changer.
HustleRussell said:
So you're discerning about the type of tyres you buy but you don't want them to be perfectly balanced.
I'd love them to be perfectly balanced, however lots of garagess completely f
k up balancing anyway so it's no worse off. I would like a proper balancer as I have a few French cars with centreless wheels, which this set up can't do. However, I went kwikfit to get two tyres fitted the other week and another pair balanced. 2 1/2 hours! Then the wheels came back with weights double stacked so they could get enough on. Me; "Are you sure you had it on the machine straight?" Kwikfit professional, "yes of course, I checked, it's spot on". Me, "riiight". Of course they're not balanced correctly, but I can't afford yet another 2 1/2hrs out of a weekend to let them try again. Which for me is that main advantage of being able to do it myself (and frustration at not being able to do centreless).
simonh9 sounds like you need to go to another tyre fitter
I fit and balance my own as I have access to the equipment. I must've fitted getting on for a hundred tyres by now and have never had one balance up at 0-0 without weights. On average they need 40-50g in total. Quality tyres on small steel wheels sometimes need as little as 5 or 10g.
I fit and balance my own as I have access to the equipment. I must've fitted getting on for a hundred tyres by now and have never had one balance up at 0-0 without weights. On average they need 40-50g in total. Quality tyres on small steel wheels sometimes need as little as 5 or 10g.
simonh9 said:
I'd love them to be perfectly balanced, however lots of garagess completely fk up balancing anyway so it's no worse off. I would like a proper balancer as I have a few French cars with centreless wheels, which this set up can't do.
However, I went kwikfit to get two tyres fitted the other week and another pair balanced. 2 1/2 hours! Then the wheels came back with weights double stacked so they could get enough on. Me; "Are you sure you had it on the machine straight?" Kwikfit professional, "yes of course, I checked, it's spot on". Me, "riiight". Of course they're not balanced correctly, but I can't afford yet another 2 1/2hrs out of a weekend to let them try again. Which for me is that main advantage of being able to do it myself (and frustration at not being able to do centreless).
You need to go to Costco for tyres. k up balancing anyway so it's no worse off. I would like a proper balancer as I have a few French cars with centreless wheels, which this set up can't do. However, I went kwikfit to get two tyres fitted the other week and another pair balanced. 2 1/2 hours! Then the wheels came back with weights double stacked so they could get enough on. Me; "Are you sure you had it on the machine straight?" Kwikfit professional, "yes of course, I checked, it's spot on". Me, "riiight". Of course they're not balanced correctly, but I can't afford yet another 2 1/2hrs out of a weekend to let them try again. Which for me is that main advantage of being able to do it myself (and frustration at not being able to do centreless).
They do the DOT in the correct spot and take 15 mins all in
Rich_W said:
finishing touch said:
There is one advantage that I can see.
At least fitting yourself you could put the paint dots in the right place.
That's something the "pro"
tyre fitters can't seem to do.
If you buy a half decent tyre. that dot doesn't really represent an extra 10kgs in that one area. Most tyres tolerances are far far smaller!At least fitting yourself you could put the paint dots in the right place.
That's something the "pro"
tyre fitters can't seem to do.I've rarely bothered to line up the DOT. Mainly cause it makes no difference at all once the wheel has been dynamically balanced.
It takes no longer and costs no more to do the job properly. And the least number of weights needed the better in my book.
Paul G
truck71 said:
Are the videos of ordinary folk changing tyres that have been on a vehicle for some time?
The first piece of kit is a leg breaker, it relies on the leverage from the long pole to create enough pressure on the bead of the tyre to break the contact seal with the rim. I used to use a proper air powered one and wouldn't want to use that tool, you need to focus on accuracy not force so you don't damage the rim.
As for the balancer, I don't know where to start. I wouldn't.
Do you really think it's that difficult?The first piece of kit is a leg breaker, it relies on the leverage from the long pole to create enough pressure on the bead of the tyre to break the contact seal with the rim. I used to use a proper air powered one and wouldn't want to use that tool, you need to focus on accuracy not force so you don't damage the rim.
As for the balancer, I don't know where to start. I wouldn't.
And static balancing is fine, have done it loads of time at the track
yonex said:
Do you really think it's that difficult?
And static balancing is fine, have done it loads of time at the track
Surely the issue might be the OP is using cheaper tyres which wear out quicker than the longer lasting Michellin meaning he is utterly wasting his time considering a tyre changing machine. And static balancing is fine, have done it loads of time at the track
Can OP state how many tyres he wears out a year - surely it cannot be 2 sets of tyres for his car (if so it could be poor quality rubber or driving style burning them out too quickly)
finishing touch said:
Rich_W said:
finishing touch said:
There is one advantage that I can see.
At least fitting yourself you could put the paint dots in the right place.
That's something the "pro" tyre fitters can't seem to do.
If you buy a half decent tyre. that dot doesn't really represent an extra 10kgs in that one area. Most tyres tolerances are far far smaller!At least fitting yourself you could put the paint dots in the right place.
That's something the "pro"
tyre fitters can't seem to do.I've rarely bothered to line up the DOT. Mainly cause it makes no difference at all once the wheel has been dynamically balanced.
It takes no longer and costs no more to do the job properly. And the least number of weights needed the better in my book.
Paul G
finishing touch said:
Rich_W said:
finishing touch said:
There is one advantage that I can see.
At least fitting yourself you could put the paint dots in the right place.
That's something the "pro" tyre fitters can't seem to do.
If you buy a half decent tyre. that dot doesn't really represent an extra 10kgs in that one area. Most tyres tolerances are far far smaller!At least fitting yourself you could put the paint dots in the right place.
That's something the "pro"
tyre fitters can't seem to do.I've rarely bothered to line up the DOT. Mainly cause it makes no difference at all once the wheel has been dynamically balanced.
It takes no longer and costs no more to do the job properly. And the least number of weights needed the better in my book.
Paul G
It's simply not worth the effort. Once it's balanced (and that includes "road force" balancing that very, very few places offer. There's simply noting in it. And I guess I should point out those tyres a few inches off. Are not having 80g+ stuck to each side. Mostly still in the 10-20g range.
The other problem is that actually the red dot (valve stem) is great on a perfectly true and round wheel, but unless it's brand new that may not be the case, so you aren't actually getting the 100% perfect location anyway.
Rich_W said:
Do a 305/30R20 on an automatic machine and when you're 3" out. Spend another 5 mins trying to wrestle it off and then realign it. Then refit it again. And find it 1" out and rinse repeat. I've probably fitted 1000+ tyres in my lifetime. (And I'm far from a dedicated tyre fitter)
I've never done a size that ridiculous but I've always found it easy, with the tyre soaped and mounted, to simply grab the tyre and rotate it on the rim.Rich_W said:
Do a 305/30R20 on an automatic machine and when you're 3" out. Spend another 5 mins trying to wrestle it off and then realign it. Then refit it again. And find it 1" out and rinse repeat.
I've never used a fully automatic machine - but I've done quite a few on the usual semi-auto ones, so I might be missing something here...Simply line the tyre up with the rim before you start - they don't rotate relative to each other while you're doing 'em. If you forget when you do the first sidewall, then you can rotate 'em before starting on the second.
Looking at this vid of a fully-auto (well, apart from where the operator has to do manual things...), I can't see why the same wouldn't apply.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD3qynDFx-I
AlexIT said:
Pah... that's no fun!
you should bury a couple of dinosaurs, some plants, add water and wait until you get the good stuff from the pump
Didn't Welshbeef once post that if you had a Bentley Continental GT you could run it quite economically by buying literally a barrel of oil and servicing it yourself rather than visiting a dealer?you should bury a couple of dinosaurs, some plants, add water and wait until you get the good stuff from the pump
Hope he sees this and can correct or confirm.
TooMany2cvs said:
... they don't rotate relative to each other while you're doing 'em. If you forget when you do the first sidewall, then you can rotate 'em before starting on the second...
As a rule there's always a little bit where they move relative to each other. We're not talking half the wheel, just a little bit which will stop the OCD types Hence the "it's just not worth it" Because once the wheels is on I've never been able to move a low profile tyre on the rim to get it where the dots are. It does seem to be sidewall height related. A 175/80r14 (Mk4 Golf) is easy to get in the right place.
Edited by Rich_W on Sunday 6th November 18:18
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