How to Change Tire on Rim Without Machine: Skip the Mechanics!

Contrary to common belief, you can actually change a tire on a rim without the use of an expensive machine. Sure, it is a more laborious task than if you could use a machine, but the results are the same through both methods, which is the most important part. 

This article will eliminate any fears you might have about changing a tire on a rim by showing exactly how to change a tire on a rim without a machine.

How to Change Tire on Rim Without Machine

Before we start going through the steps, make sure you have safety gear such as gloves on. Feel free to consult your car’s manual and also a mechanical professional before taking up this task. 

Once you are prepared, gather the supplies you will need to change the tire on the rim. These include a screwdriver, a pry bar, liquid dish soap, a car or a truck, something to protect your ears from the noise, and a removal tool for the tire’s valve core.

Step 1 – Removing the Valve Core

The first step is to take off the valve core on the tire. For this, you need to use a removal tool. 

Before you begin, put on ear protection gear. This is because, once the valve core is loose, the sound air coming out might be very high pitched and uncomfortable, or even painful to hear. 

Keep the tire on flat ground and find the valve. This is usually a small and metallic (or rubber) spoke. Using your hand, begin twisting the cap on the valve counterclockwise until it is removable. Once it is off, stick the removal tool into the valve and twist counterclockwise in order to remove the valve core.

Doing so will deflate the tire, making it easier to remove it from the rim. 

Step 2 – Separate the Tire’s Bead from Its Rim

The bead of a tire is the circular edge that is attached firmly to the rim. Though a very difficult task to complete by hand, it is a matter of minutes if you have a car (or better yet, a truck). 

What you are going to be doing is placing the tire on a flat ground surface, and driving over just the rubber tire with a car or truck. This could take you a few tries, or you could get it done in one go. 

Once the bead has separated from the rim on one side of the tire, get out of your vehicle, turn the tire over, and repeat the process on the other side. The older your tire, the more tries it will take to separate the bead and the rim. 

Step 3 – Lubricating the Tire’s Rim

To make it even easier to remove the tire from the rim, coat the area between the bead and rim with a lubricant. This can be liquid dish soap, a mixture of liquid dish soap and water, tire-specific lubricant, or even cooking oil. Do this step on both sides of the tire.

Let the lubricant make its way between the rim and the tire and loosen up their connection so that the next step goes smoothly. 

Step 4 – Prying the Bead over the Rim’s Top Lip

Take out your pry bar and screwdriver. Stand or kneel on one side of the tire to hold it down firmly. Next, slip the pry bar between the rim and the tire, and ‘scoop’ up the tire’s edge so that it is over the top lip of the metal rim. 

Let the pry bar stay where it is, under the bead (over the rim), and use a large screwdriver to lift up the rest of the tire’s edge over the rim. Make sure to get a pry bar and screwdriver which have flat heads. More surface area on the tools ensures an easier removal of the tire.

Step 5 – Repeating Step 4 on the Other Side of the Tire

You might be able to pull the rim out of the tire after just the fourth step. However, it is more likely that you will need a few tries of prying up the tire over the rim on both sides of the tire before the two components are easy to separate. 

These last two will be the most laborious steps of the whole process, and they might also take a long time. But keep trying and make sure to not let the bead retreat back under the rim’s edge if you take a minute to rest up. 

Step 6 – Installing a New Tire on the Old Rim

After the old tire is finally off, you can now put your new tire on the rim. To start off, place the rim on a flat and solid surface and throw the tire down onto it with force. This should give you the initial attachment between the two parts. 

Next, use the screwdriver to stick the tire’s bead under the rim. That is, do the opposite of what you did earlier with the old tire. During this process, you might need to step down onto the tire again in order to keep it in place.

Make sure you are matching the top side of the rim with the top side of the tire, and the bottom side of the rim with the bottom side of the tire. 

Conclusion

It is probably obvious that, especially during the end of the process, this method of changing the tire on a rim is laborious. However, it is also a cheap and relatively quick method. 

If you are in a pinch, with no professional help nearby, you can simply follow the steps above to properly remove an old tire from a rim and replace it with a new one. 

Although, you should definitely be safe and employ the help of a friend if you are unsure about being able to go through with the process on your own.