I've had the displeasure of changing tires on rims here in the yard, with nothing more than a small assortment of prybars and tire irons to work with.. one of the toughest things was to break the bead on the tires.. The only method I found that worked half decent was to lay the tire flat under the bumper of a car, put a board on it, then sit a bottle jack on the board and jack up the car.
Quite a pain in the @$$.
So as luck would have it, a few weeks ago at the local auction I bought an apparatus called a "bead breaker" for $35.. man this thing is the cat's pajamas!
Lay the tire on it, push down on this bar, and what used to take me an hour happens in less than a few seconds!!!
Getting the tire off the rim after the bead is broke loose still presents a time consuming challenge.. but i'm betting theres a special bar or tool that makes that process alot faster.. any of you old school guys know what it would be called?
Yea, yea.. I know you can take a tire to a place and get it mounted and balanced for $10.. but there are times when it comes in real handy to be able to swap a tire at home without having to drive into town.. especially when the only vehicle you have at the time is the one that needs the tire!!
