Well, it was a few years ago when I swapped from the original OEM Michelin Z tires that came on my 110 (which were tubed) to my BFG MT's. My purpose of getting the plyers was primarily so I would be able to repair tires on the trail, given that my objective was international travel, and I also wanted to eliminate the need to carry a second spare. by being able to remove a failed tire, I would have many more options at arranging a field fix to get me back to civilization.
Anyway, here's the items I needed (from memory) when I replaced my tires in my driveway.
- my tire pliers are from Extreme Outback, and I have a pair. They are the deluxe version.
- Air Compressor (mine is the yellow cheap chinese made one that I got from Pep Boys. So far it has been pretty robust)
- lubricant (dish soap or veg oil)
- valve tool (for removing/replacing air valves-I got mine from Expedition Exchange and it proved to be a really important tool for me)
- cargo ratchet strap
- Hi Lift jack
I taught myself to do the tire change using the pliers from a video that Extreme Outback had on their site. They have since redesigned the site and don't have the video, but I'm sure that Martyn's video is simliar. Once you do it, you won't forget, but you really need to do it live. I had to keep running back to the video during the process to understand some things. There is also a very significant learning curve. The first tire took me probably 30 minutes, and the last took me about 10 min IIR.
Tire Removal
- Use valve tool to remove the valve from the valve stem
- Use Hi-lift in reverse (using bumber) to break bead on both sides of tire
- lubricate inner rim of both sidewalls (to make removal easier)
- use tire pliers to work out top sidewall, then bottom sidewall to remove tire
Tire Installation
- lubricate both sidewall lips (don't hold back)
- place tire on top of wheel, and use tire plyers to work bottom sidewall onto wheel (tire will drop down to ground when this is complete)
- use one tire plier to work part of upper sidewall into wheel (you'll get about 40% of tire onto wheel)
- Hold your 40% under wheel with first plier, then use second plier to start working remaining sidewall into wheel (this is the hardest step of them all and requires practice and lubrication)
- When the entire tire is in the wheel, place the ratchet strap around the outer circumference of the tire in the middle and start cranking. This will squeeze the tire and start pushing out the sidewalls, thereby closing the gap against the inner rim
- Once the inner tire rims are snug against the wheel, turn the tire vertical and continue cranking until completely snug. this will give you enough seal so that your 12V compressor can get some pressure in there to hold the bead
- Attach the compressor and fire it up. With proper lubrication, when the pressure gets sufficient, the beads will seat by themselves. You can always wack on them if they are being stubborn.
- once the pressure is set, you're done (except for balancing)
When I did my tires, I used Equal to balance, but I won't do that again, so I don't have a field fix solution for balancing, although if you kept a bag of equal, that would balance you for a while on an expedition trip. It just didn't prove to be a good long term solution for me, so I went back to weights.
Martyn, chime in if I missed any steps. it's been a couple years since I did it.
I have a couple small quickfists that need to get mounted, that will be perfect for storage of my tire pliers.
Good luck, and watch Martyn's video's!
