bead breaking

thanks Footloose,

I've never had to braek a bead ( or even seen it done) but thought that you could use the tongue of the towbar and the foot of the jack on the tyre.

Then it might be a matter of just turning the tyre.

Yep, you can do it that way quite successfully. Personally I prefer to shift positions rather than the tyre :)) It's worthwhile practising on your spare if you feel that you may to do it one day. Easier to drag out a coldie at home than on a 45degree slope of sand in 44 C .

yeah, actually I never thought of being on uneven ground, might make things a bit more interesting.

I have an R and R and thought before I went away I would practice with it. I took the 15" spare from my trailer and had a go. The tyre was almost welded to the rim by the rust but after a while I broke the bead all around. Big mistake though trying it on a 15" wheel. Very hard to get off and back on again because it does not have the spare circumference of a 16" or better still of a 17" to stretch the tyre over the rim. I have not found where I can play the video on the car yet!
Richard

That's interesting, I've never done a tubeless repair. No wonder the beadbreaker tools are so much easier to use. Temp repairs sound easier also. But I won't be changing from 235XR16 LT's on splits.

The beadbreaker tools can take practice. I watch plenty of people struggle with tyre pliers. The R&R is a nicer tool, but I think it costs twice more.

In my experience, the average tubeless tyre is easier to take off a rim than the average split rim. The average split rim will have had the tyre on for a while, and they get rusty, the rubber band sticks to the rim, and the tubes sticks to the inside of the tyre. To break the bead on a split rim you usually have to go all the way round. Then it can be an effort to lever off the split. Reassembly of course is a piece of cake.

The average tubeless tyre doesn't have the rust issue, the bead breaks once and your boots push the rest of it off. Levering the tyre off is what people struggle with and is greatly aided by lubricating the tyre and rim edge with detergent before levering off, and making sure the opposite side of the tyre is well inside the wheel well.

But with tubeless, you can pretty much get by with plugs and leave the hard work to the next repair place you come to.

Cheers
Phil

phil after doing over 30 splitties last year it would seem obvios you havnt done many most changes dont need anything more than 2 levers and no breaker and is actually easier than a bike tyre

Hi Davoe,

I reckon if I had to fix 30 splitties in a year, they wouldn't have time to collect rust or sieze up. I'm not surprised that yours come off easily, but I don't think most people have that many punctures. Notice that I used the word "average" a lot.

Cheers
Phil

Too right!!! All we ever did in the mustering camps over the past 20 odd years. The only thing that you have to be wary of is that the tyre that you are attemping to change doesn't pop out from under the car and hit someone. Also used a lump of timber on the tyre right near the rim set up like a ramp. Just drive up it, same rules.

Good to see that mentioned guys. Have a lever in a shed here that has done many too, including the very difficult quad or trike bike tyres. Mate was buying special gear to do that and I was popping them easily already. Just my weight as the power, multiplied of course.

Correct me if I'm wrong (I often am...) but if you drive over the tyre, won't you bend the tread in half radially? It's not designed to bend like that and you could end up with damaged steel belts, leading to premature tyre failure.
This method of tyre removal was a big no-no when I was in the forces.

Cheers, John.

MrBitchi you are probably right, but in circumstances where you have not been able to change the tyre because you didn't have the right tools, a bit of ingenuity may have got you to safety. A bit like the folks that have died because they didn't know to let the tyres down a bit to drive out of a sand bog.

JohnR, I prefer the Car Bead Breaker (see Phil G above) but also carry tyre pliers. I guess if I became desperate I'd use your method but only as a last resort.

Cheers, John.

I think I said that above John, I would prefer to do it with some sort of bead breaker too. Would signal more danger with wire bands under the tread. High tensile does take a lot to break it though. I agree with the last resort but others have practiced it regularly I see.

The bead breaker I have in the shed is a lever and a curved piece to fit down and under the rim with a lot of purchase from my bodyweight and the other end of the lever pinned to the upright of the shed.

Never had a tyre damaged this way yet. But saying that, most of the tyres used are rag tyres of the work utes(dont have the luxury of being able to carry everything, just the essentials to live by). Have done it on a few occassions on our own vehicles with radials but also must admit on using the sliding bead breaker(which is a bar that is curved on the end to fit under the rim and then the other end is in another pipe with a solid end at the other end. Lift up and then let it slide back down so that it acts like a slide hammer. Works like a dream. Maybe heavier to carry than tyre-pliers etc, but less time to set up and only a fraction of the price(or they were).

I prefer the Car Bead Breaker (see Phil G above) but also carry tyre pliers

... we all would if they werent so typically 4wd accessory priced.

True, they are expensive but I got them a few years ago at the 4WD show for 60% of normal retail. Bargains can be had occaisionally :-)