DIY tyre changing?

[Station]

I bought a set (5) of these:

 

 

and last night I bought four of these:

 

 

There's a place open near me all weekend (inc Sunday), but was considering doing it myself. Machine Mart sells tyre levers which will be a mini investment as I'll use them again fo' sho', but wondering how difficult this is?

 

Bearing in mind the alloys wheels are 7" wide and the tyres are 165/65 (ie 6")... I was also considering the butane gas and lighter trick. Or maybe I should just take 'em to the tyre place?

[eddyramrod]

If the alloys are 7" wide I'd be wanting more than a 165/65 on. More like 185/65 for peace of mind. Just my opinion, obv....

[Ross_K]

Seen a guy using one of these before. Is this what you're talking about:

[KruJoe]

Where's Mr_B's thread on this? Was it ont' blue channel?

I thought I'd bookmarked it but can't find it now...

[skattrd]

Fitting tyres is easier than removing them, but it can still be a PITA ... don't forget you'll need new valves and balancing as well.

If you do decide to diy then tyre soap helps as well.

[cobblers]

I've changed tyres quite a few times with levers on steelies and it's not that hard to fit a tyre, but you can't just lever against the rim on alloys without destroying them so levers are completely useless.

 

Breaking the bead to get the tyres off the old wheels is not easy. I've had success sticking them in a vice like, but it's a slog without the proper gear.

 

Getting 165s to seat on 7" wheels is by far the easiest part of the job you have ahead of you!

[Station]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16egWpgQ ... re=related

 

I'll be numb from anaesthesia tomorrow and travelling to work on a National Express so I think I'll leave it to the experts!

 

You can break the bead by levering a long t-shaped plank under your car with enough slack for the tyre underneath it.

[stuboy]

get tyre shop to do it as i mullered an alloy wheel due to impatients and my mate whinging he needed tyres as his were sliks

[Station]

I got Kwik Fit to do it in the end, and to be honest, they were flipping Kwik (20 minutes all four tyres balanced, new valves and a repair on a puncture) and cheapish at 55 quid, with no complaints whatsoever about the tyres being stretched. Glad I did that in the end, obviously because one was punctured.

 

 

 

[cobblers]

They look pretty nice. What are they going on?

[KruJoe]

Mk1 MR2? They'll look smashing Dave.

[wackywacerwill]

On car pic required plz

[Station]

 

 

 

 

The Eclat bolts that came with them were imperial thread and my hub adapters are metric, and they're held on by tapered bolts. I'll have to get new imperial tapered bolts for the adapters. The Eclat bolts had sleeves on the end as the port hole on the wheels are nearly 2.5 cm's wide. Or probably 7/8's of an inch.

[cobblers]

That looks pretty fit! I always fancied one of these after seeing a picture of a red one without a spoiler on the back, just looked a lot more "right" that way.

[Cavcraft]

Hard work and not exactly build quality of the year (obv.) but does a job

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BRAND-NEW-SEA ... 3cbd9e465c

[KruJoe]

It does indeed look smashing, but even more so than I imagined! Good work sir.

 

...I always fancied one of these after seeing a picture of a red one without a spoiler on the back, just looked a lot more "right" that way.

Have you seen a Mk2 MR2 with all the bits of spoiler removed? They're flippin' ace: