DIY Fitting wide low profile tyres

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Thu 7 Feb 2013 03:17
DIY Fitting wide low profile tyres - 1litregolfeater

I've had good results fitting tyres myself using a hole in the wall at about 2 foot high, a good long lever of 4x2 and another length about a foot long, to break the bead.

Right now I've got four 225/50 x 16 to fit and I don't think I can do this myself as I suspect they may be just too wide and inflexible without a machine.

Anybody done any tyres like this?

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Thu 7 Feb 2013 07:52
DIY Fitting wide low profile tyres - thunderbird

Even if you could fit the tyres yourself withought damaging the tyres and rims (and yourself) how on earth are you going to balance them.

Don't be such a miser, take them to a tyre fitter and get them done correctly and safely..

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Thu 7 Feb 2013 12:41
DIY Fitting wide low profile tyres - Chris M

I've never heard of a glory hole being used for tyre fitting before. I live and learn.

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Thu 7 Feb 2013 14:07
DIY Fitting wide low profile tyres - Sofa Spud

Best to get such a safety-related job done by a professional. Are you sure that these particular wide low-profile tyres will make your car better and safer to drive?

Edited by Sofa Spud on 07/02/2013 at 14:12

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Thu 21 Feb 2013 21:03
DIY Fitting wide low profile tyres - Bromptonaut

I've never heard of a glory hole being used for tyre fitting before. I live and learn.

As a teenager I identified a gap in a wall just the right size for a pedal cycle crank remover. Stuff it in there and turn the wheel. Lot less effort and fewer skinned knuckles than using a wrench.

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Mon 4 Mar 2013 04:27
DIY Fitting wide low profile tyres - 1litregolfeater

A glory hole indeed. One would think this was San Francisco, or the BBC.

I had a dead useful tumble dryer hole in the house, but I fixed that, leaving me without tyre fitting facilities.

Took a bit of lateral thinking. Those big gaps in alloy wheels are just the job. You must wrap a rag round the end of the lever obviously.

So I have upgraded to a mobile fitting facility.

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Thu 7 Feb 2013 14:04
DIY Fitting wide low profile tyres - countryroads

You will never be able to fit tyres with anything made of wood...I have fitted tyres myself but they were to steel wheels with old fashioned tyre levers on things like trailers etc..just get the job done correctly.

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Thu 7 Feb 2013 16:17
DIY Fitting wide low profile tyres - madf

I take it this is an early April 1st post?

If not, it's just plain stupid, dangerous and designed to ruin the beads.

Edited by madf on 07/02/2013 at 16:17

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Thu 7 Feb 2013 18:05
DIY Fitting wide low profile tyres - gordonbennet

OP i think they're being deliberately obtuse, they know full well you're only using the lever system to break the bead seal.

At one time when i drove a rolonoff skip lorry i used to use part of the body work to break beads.

If you can break the bead by your method and work out by the wheel well design which side to remove refit, there is no reason why you can't lever the tyres on and off the old way, using plenty of soap mix for lubricant.

Nothing inherently difficult about tyre changing, i have a proper truck bead slammer which is fine for car steel wheels bit too heavy handed for car alloys.

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Thu 7 Feb 2013 18:13
DIY Fitting wide low profile tyres - Bobbin Threadbare

OP i think they're being deliberately obtuse, they know full well you're only using the lever system to break the bead seal.


Seen it done to motorbike tyres using a vice and some brute strength. I would worry about balancing and tracking if I had the muscle to do my own tyres though!

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Thu 7 Feb 2013 18:17
DIY Fitting wide low profile tyres - skidpan

There is no way you could break the bead on a 225/50 without a propper device and there is no way you would get the tyre off even if you could.

Total fantasy.

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Tue 19 Feb 2013 03:33
DIY Fitting wide low profile tyres - 1litregolfeater

thanks skidpan and gordonbennet especially.

b***** and blast, I should never have got them but i have them now and MOT is looming.

Just replaced a knackered valve in the ex's Astra today and what should have been a 20 minute job turned into a much longer one as I repeatedly dropped the valve into the tyre.

Having learnt from your advice, I think what I'll do is phone up a few places nearby and ask for theirs.

While out getting fit on Sunday there was a cheap tyres place that was very busy, loads of old cars, could be the place.


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Wed 20 Feb 2013 12:19
DIY Fitting wide low profile tyres - Ed V

Posted at 3 a.m.!!

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Thu 21 Feb 2013 16:42
DIY Fitting wide low profile tyres - Roger Martin

Why dont you try it out with some cheap budget tyres first just to see how you go? Just in case you make a mistake, which i have done before. Just lets you know what your dealing with.

Edited by Avant on 22/02/2013 at 18:27

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Thu 21 Feb 2013 20:15
DIY Fitting wide low profile tyres - focussed

There is a diy way of breaking the bead seal that doesn't involve breaking anything else or yourself.

Place a piece of 2" x 2" timber across the edge of the tyre bead but missing the rim on the wheel laying flat on the floor under a jacked-up vehicle and use the weight of a vehicle to push the tyre bead off the rim by slowly lowering the jack. Jack the vehicle up again and turn the wheel etc etc. This is a third-world way of working but it works if you are too impoverished/tight to use a tyre shop to do the work.

For seating the bead either use a rope tournequet tightened with a winding stick around the cicumference of the new tyre or you could try the quick redneck method videoed here-

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkzoPIyJcRk This is a reasonably responsible youtube video of how to do it - ie the guy is sober.

remember to pump the tyre up immediately after seating the bead using this method or the cooling gases can suck the bead back off the rim.

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Mon 4 Mar 2013 04:13
DIY Fitting wide low profile tyres - 1litregolfeater

They are budget tyres, all part worn. Only two match and it took me an hour just to decide where to put them, unfortunately two are Z rated so they'll be noisy and wear out fast, so they can go on the back, for now. I paid £66 for four instead of £280 for the four, so cost saving is the plan.

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Sun 17 Mar 2013 22:38
DIY Fitting wide low profile tyres - 1litregolfeater

I was the original poster, I fitted a couple of these tyres the other night so here is an account of my experiences.

In summary; it's certainly possible, but not to be recommended.

Getting the old tyre off is hard work, too much hard work. With a good long lever it does pop off like all the rest.

Getting the new tyre on, you must have two big G cramps or C cramps to hold the opposite side into the wheel well. The job cannot be done without these. I cannot emphasise this strongly enough.

You must have at least one big serious tyre lever. Two is good, taking it an inch at at time to persuade the b***** on. I think mine are 18".

It takes brute strength and some cunning.

So probably only worth DIY if you fancy sorting out corroded alloys or saving a tenner.

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Sun 17 Mar 2013 22:55
DIY Fitting wide low profile tyres - gordonbennet

Well done that man, never found a tyre yet that couldn't be removed refitted by hand given decent levers and plenty of lube, incl lorry tractor earthmover etc.

At one time i had the knack of fitting standard car tyres by rubber mallet alone and quicker than machines of the day could.

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