Question about replacing tires.

[Twista]

Can you replace tires on your own or do you need to take it to a tire shop to have it put on? Last time i got a flat they charged for the new tire and to put the tire on. Now i got a flat today and i was wondering if my new tire comes from online do i need to take it back the shop to have it put on.

 

[Kalvin00]

if you have a machine and a tire iron and some elbow grease, sure you can

 

[DurocShark]

Take it to a shop. Spin balance FTW.

 

[ArJuN]

WD40 + lighter FTW!

 

[Jeff7181]

If you're strong enough you can put the tire on yourself... the challange will be seating the bead, which is what ArJuN suggested the WD40 and lighter for. It works... but it's not the safest way. If you do manage to do it yourself, you can still take it to have them balanced, but if you do that, you might as well let them mount them too since it's fairly cheap.

 

[montanafan]

My dad used to change them himself back in the late '60s and early '70s, but he built his own tire changing machine from scrap metal. So if you can do that, go for it. 🙂

 

[Squisher]

Ah, something I've done

To remove tire: break bead away from rim by using a car jack and jacking up on the sidewall of a car that you've already got up on jackstands. Lots of elbow grease using prybars to work the bead around the rim (at least two guys).


Install: after working up a sweat with some prybars, get a chainfall and wrap it the long way around the tire to force the bead out to the rim.

 

[BoomerD]

You probably can do it yourself, but it's a lot of work, and you'll have to take it to a shop to have it properly balanced anyway, so why not just have it done right to begin with?

If you're considering buying from the Tire Rack, they supposedly have an agreement with several tire shops to do their mounting & balancing. Not sure if their negotiated prices are good or not, that you'll have to research on your own...