Mounting Race Tires at Home

I have a set of 23.5/10-15 slicks that need to get married to some 15x10 wheels. I don't trust most shops down here to handle the job.... "No we can't align you Miata, you have aftermarket suspension on it."

So... Can I do it myself?

Tools I have:

1- Gloves

2- 2' breaker bar

3- Lots of beer

4- Ample blood to be shed

5- Epoxy covered floor for easier cleanup of said blood

You'll hate it.

Kinetic?

Look harder, seriously, I would take it to a shop, the savings in time will be worth it.

Raze wrote: Look harder, seriously, I would take it to a shop, the savings in time will be worth it.

Not to mention that racing with busted hands isn't conducive to lower lap/run times.

I take mine to a local shop that does them for $10. I can't bleed for that kind of money.

One day I will own a tire machine.

I was once impressed with a man's workmanship at the local super walmart. You just need to find that one guy or gal that will take the time to do it correctly.

ask your local auto-x/ RR club, usually there's a recommended tire/ alignment shop the members use

I was expecting more adventurous replies than this.

I think I found a local roundy-round racer with a mounting machine and a thirst for beer.

We used to change tires at the track on the modified just about every race.

You'll probably want to balance them, too. I recently used the simple bubble balancer from Harbor Freight for this, it worked alright. I'm fortunate to have a buddy with a tire machine right around the corner from the house.

robert

I don't think you can do it better than those shops you don't trust. Cut the bead or damage the sidewall and you will wish you were not such a paranoid cheapazz.

Mounting race tires is hellacious. There's no telling what the offspring will be.

Better?

Find out where the local stock car racers get their tires done

The local guys get them done right at the track. I should have had them done right when I bought the things but I didn't have the wheels with me.

They're Bias-ply tires so the sidewalls aren't as massive as radials.

In reply to DaveEstey:

That doesn't make them any less stiff or easier to mount. You're working with very stiff beads and a single breaker bar is only the first frustration you're facing.

But, hey, the beer helps; buy more and use it to pay the guy who mounts them for you.

Good one SVreX!!! Whatcha got cooking behind the fence these days?

DaveEstey wrote: I was expecting more adventurous replies than this. I think I found a local roundy-round racer with a mounting machine and a thirst for beer.

Most of us have adventured enough to tell you the above response...find somebody with a machine. I've never tried to cut steel tubing with a butterknife, but I'm pretty sure that's about the same feeling as trying to mount/dismount most types of tires without a machine.

Bryce

Well I have done it eight times and that is all for my lifetime!!

They were probably the toughest tires to change; 205/40-15 dot R's on OEM Mini run-flat wheels. I used a HF manual changer and a couple of assisting tools made from 2x4's and threaded rod. First tire took 2 hours, and the last 25 minutes. This was an awful job that I will never forget (or attempt again, even with regular wheels).

I sold the wheels and the next guy who tried to change the tires with a good changer called me late at night cussing and wanting to know just how I did it.

I used to change high profile (70) narrow tires with ease. Those were VW wheel and I used only a couple of hand tire tools. I expect that as you get to 55 aspect ratio and below, it would get rather hard to do.

Pay the $10-$15 bucks and save your hands for something else.

Yeah these work out to about a 35 ratio Haha.

Back when I was racing RX's, you had to be very careful to buy wheels with the correct drop center. Otherwise even the really good mounters who work at the Hoosier trailer couldnt do the tires. I sold a very nice set of wheels due to this issue. The Hoosier guys said that they would have charge extra the next time.

In reply to whenry:

He should be OK on that front. The 15" Aero's have a decent amount of full diameter barrel and he is putting an appropriately wide tire on the10" rim.

The owner of this shop in Peabody, MA is a former SCCA road racer with lots of experience with FCs.

http://www.fastrackservice.com/

I've got the Tractor Supply version of the HF Manual Tire Machine. I can do a set of regular street 185/65R14s in about an hour or so (break bead, dismount, mount, set bead, fill, next). Snow tires are a cinch, trailer tires were stupid easy except for setting the bead, and I've done a couple sets of rally tires without much trouble. The key is sidewall flex -- I'd be hesitant to do anything smaller than a 55 aspect ratio. We tried to dismount a set of Cama/Bird tires that had been sitting for years and were rock hard solid and that didn't go too well.

Either trade in the slicks for rally tires and mount them yourself, or ask around with the guys you run with and use whoever they trust. Or buy a used tire machine.