Bead breakers

Tyre pliers...work for me.

I had one tailor made for my hilift by a local steel fabricator for $30 or something. Have only ever used it 'practicing' in the shed - but it was very effective - even on the old rusty rim I borrowed from the local wrecker for the purpose.

Johnny boy I've had the R&R Beadbreaker for about 2yrs and have used in anger a few times and find it a breeze to use especially when replacing tyre back on rim gettinf those last few cm of bead over the rim is a breeze. OK they are a bit pricey but mine was a Father's Day pressie
Mike

The other good idea is a length of 50 mm square tube (thick walled) about 250 mm long with a hole or pin to take the top of the normal jack. Fit the tube in the towbar receiver and put the base of the jack on the edge of the tyre near the bead and simply wind the jack to break the bead from the rim. It works well. I have made one and if you want a photo just ask. I also have an R & R bead breaker which is better and a bit more versatile but heavier,bigger and much more expensive.

I have the R&R beadbreaker as well for a few years now.....never used it yet...LOL....but it goes everywhere I go and so it is well travelled... : )

I also have a tyre plug kit and I have had to use that and it works great........ it has saved the day more than once...glad I have that.
The original safety seal kit.....it's a bewdy.

John

I bought my first Tyrepliers in 1992. Still have them and have split many rims in the ensuing years. Think I paid about $80 for them then. They are very good for working with split rims.

R&R Beadbreaker is good for normal tyres and steel or alloy rims.

Any device needing the use of a Hi Lift jack, needs a mounting point on your vehicle, and this needs to be a special fit as modern vehicles do not have places to mount the Hi Lift


Cheers

John,

I bought the R&R at the Caravan Show. Hopefully I won't have to put it to much use outback this trip but it certainly looked to make the whole process a lot easier. I'll have to do a bit of practise over the coming weeks. Will let you know how it goes.

Cheers Mick

Made mine from a piece of square hollow tube and welded a lip on it. Slides into the tow bar slot and then use my hydraulic bottle jack (flat base on the tyre and lift point in the lip under the hollow tube) workes every time on my 16" steel rims.
Cost me nothing and weights about 1/2 a Kilogram. You just have to remember to put the hand brake on as it tends to lift the vehicle and push it forward.

I've used and made lots of beadbreakers over the years. Started with the scissor jacks, which work well, then got fancy by welding up ones that work similar to the bought ones, then went back to using jacks, because they were something that I rarely used on trips and were just extra weight. I made the one in the photos above for the Prado because I didn't carry a highlift jack, but my current vehicle has solid, stable jacking points, so I've gone back to using a high-lift because its very quick and easy and has many uses.

I agree with Willem in that if you use split rims, a tyrepliers works best because you have to work around the bead a fair bit to get the split out. Tubeless are easier and quicker in my experience. I took 5 tyres off splits and put them onto tubeless rims last week, and it just reinforces my preference.