easiest way/tool to mount and dismount tires?

[Rod Hawkins]

I have recently gotten into this sport and prefer to do as much maintainance as I can, on my own.

 

Is there a good tool to mount and dismount tires?  I have mounted a few sets without a tool and it is much more difficult than it looks like on the videos on youtube.

 

thanks!

[Chris Beebe]

Tire pryor or whatever its called. Works great and fast.  There is even a u tube video on how it works.

[Rod Hawkins]

<div class=”d4p-bbp-quote-title”>Chris Beebe wrote:</div>Tire pryor or whatever its called. Works great and fast. There is even a u tube video on how it works.

Is it actually as easy to use as the videos show? So just this and a bead breaker is all one needs?

[Chris Beebe]

Yes, just as easy.  I use my harbor freight press for a bead breaker so I dont know any thing about good bead breakers out there. I will say my press does a great job at breaking beads. :)

[Rob Kozakowski]

Yep, bead breaker and tire tool.

While doing by hand is without a doubt the fastest way when you get the hang of it, any of the tools like the tire wizz, etc, really do make it just as easy as on the videos.  I’ve got the Righetti tire tool and it makes life easy.  Now, the most difficult part of the entire process is getting the bead to set when inflating the new tires.

[Peter Zambos]

Actually, there are two tools that you need that have not yet been mentioned.  When you inflate the new tire, you want to constrain the tire around its tread, so that, when you pump it full of air, it doesn’t over-expand, leading to inconsistent tire diameters and possibly damaging the tire.  There are a couple of different versions of this that you could use.  The first is a hard tire band.  Two of this type can be found on this page:

http://www.cometkartsales.com/store/tools/tiretool.htm

There’s also the soft trap.  The best strap that was ever made was constructed by Exotic Toy Builder, who also made the Tire Whiz mounting tool.  If you ever come across something made by ETB, buy it, as he no longer makes kart tools and his stuff was always top-notch.  Since you can’t go back in time, here’s another example of the soft strap:

http://host0114.csmhosting.com/IW_Products.m4p.pvx?;MULTI_ITEM_SUBMIT

Some people just use a tie down strap.  If you go this route, make sure you put a towel between the tire and the ratchet, so that it doesn’t dig into your tire.

Another tool you’ll need is some sort of waterless lube, to lubricate the inside of the wheel so that the tire will bead up nicely.  There are dedicated lubes for this, but you can also get away with WD40, as it contains no water, and also is designed to displace water.

[Rod Hawkins]

Thanks guys

[Kerry Matthews]

Not that you’re gonna run out and buy one, but the best tire changing tool ever is the Italian made Semel Baby kart tire changing machine like I have in my race trailer.  I bought one from a friend who was selling off a lot of his stuff, so I got it fairly cheap. ($1k)  I had a beadbreaker and a Tire Wizz, maybe even one of those straps, now that I know that’s what it was… from the time I started karting.  But I struggled trying to change tires that way.  I’ve watched people do it by hand in a few seconds, and I’m always amazed by their talents.  Unfortunately, that’s not what happens when I try to change tires, and an hour later I walk away tired and exasperated with a set of tires mounted.  Now I’m done in 10 minutes!

[Dustin McGrew]

Is a tire band used often in sprint karting? For some reason I was thinking those were mainly used in dirt karting.

[Ryan Horses]

Hi there Rod,

 

If your looking for tire changing tools. Than there is only 2 kinds of tools you’ll need. Here is a link so you can see for yourself. And they won’t cost you $1K +.  lol

http://www.italianmotorsusa.com/collections/general-tools/products/bead-breaker

http://www.italianmotorsusa.com/collections/general-tools/products/manual-tire-changer

 

Hope this helps you

Ryan

[Rob Kozakowski]

+1 to Ryan.  We bought our bead breaker from Italian Motors 20 years ago (they’ve not changed much if any and it’s been amortized to about $5/year of ownership so far) and finallly got smart and ordered the manual tire changer from them this year.

[Ted Hamilton]

I can mount the 5″ dia tires by hand, and dismount with the addition of a single tyre iron, usually. I spray the bead and rim with wd-40 and inflate to around 60psi to seat bead and immediately relieve pressure after both sides !!POP!!

6″ tires, well, they’re a pain.

Incidentally, I’ve noticed that I can seat beads much more easily with the valve stem cores in….wonder why?

www.facebook.com/hamiltonhelmets/
2014 Praga Dragon / IAME KA-100

[Ted Hamilton]

…oh, and don’t forget the carpet square on the floor when mounting tires to protect those mag rims…

www.facebook.com/hamiltonhelmets/
2014 Praga Dragon / IAME KA-100

[John Savage]

<div class=”d4p-bbp-quote-title”>Dustin wrote:</div>
Is a tire band used often in sprint karting? For some reason I was thinking those were mainly used in dirt karting.

For MOJO’s ie a hard walled tyre (tire) I always use one

For mounting and dismounting I have always found ‘Tyre Tongs’ do a quick and easy job – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jpAhWANLp8

Jetting and Kart Set-up Software

http://www.rotaxjetting.com

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