I would love to say that I did it to save money, but the reality is between time spent, valve stems at retail pricing and the craigslist small air compressor in addition to still needing to pay for balancing it was really more of just for the challenge. Hand mounted up some 235/50r17 Michelin Pilot Alpin snow tires to run on a 1996 Mustang this winter. Tires are used with about 6k miles and just a hint of browning but no checking. Wheels are OEM Ford steelies 17x7.5 inch off an unknown vehicle. They did get cleaned, sanded, primed and painted with Rustoleum Gloss Black "professional." Turned out ok, but I have had better results with their automotive enamel in the past. But that's not the topic of this post.
Thankfully the wheels were bare, as I have heard dismounting is truly the hard part. Well, hand mounting 17 inch tires is no walk in the park. Definitely at the limit of my 24 inch spoons as they were just beginning to bend. Its a basic process, though. First pick your lube. I known many people have used dish soap with great success, but I have heard the sodium hydroxide is caustic to both rubber and metal during long term contact, so I stayed away. Too cheap to buy the fancy stuff either... So what to do? Well, how about the same thing I used to mount my motorcycle tubeless tires a couple years ago- Meguiars Rubber and Vinyl Cleaner and Conditioner (m40). No slipping what so ever in that app, so I'm hoping it works as well on the car tires. I will be washing the mounted wheels/tires with a degreaser prior to balancing and installing.
The first bead goes on pretty easy, just get in a good position and work it on with some elbow grease, not too difficult. For my wheels, the "bead mounting groove thingy" was positioned towards the outer edge of the wheel, so I put them on with the backside bead first. Working on the second bead is...considerably tougher. And a nice learning curve! The technique is pretty much just like any other tire install but with one difference. Well, 235/50r17 tires don't really like to deform or move much so it took about all of my 260lbs kneeing on one spot to pop part of the second bead down into the groove. THIS IS KEY!! After you get 6-12inches of this bead started YOU MUST maneuver it into the groove near the center of the rim. After that, you pretty much just move around the rim alternating between the left and right spoons. I found it very helpful to stand on the tire with my work boots just behind the spoons to help coax the bead in. Also, I propped the tire up on some boards and stood/jumped in the middle of the wheel a few times which seated the first bead quite nicely before working on the second part (necessary to make enough room for these wide tires to drop into the groove).
Setting the bead was the easiest part. I did use a ratchet strap around the outside of the tire to help seal it and as a safety measure, but I betcha it wasn't necessary. Just remove the valve core, thread on your blowgun with inflation adapter and air her up! Even my 2 gallon Coleman did the job fine; just took a few cycles.
Some pics below... No "action shots" as I was running solo and had my hands a little busy
I'm half done, I'll post a nice pics of all four tonight when I have time to finish.
Thankfully the wheels were bare, as I have heard dismounting is truly the hard part. Well, hand mounting 17 inch tires is no walk in the park. Definitely at the limit of my 24 inch spoons as they were just beginning to bend. Its a basic process, though. First pick your lube. I known many people have used dish soap with great success, but I have heard the sodium hydroxide is caustic to both rubber and metal during long term contact, so I stayed away. Too cheap to buy the fancy stuff either... So what to do? Well, how about the same thing I used to mount my motorcycle tubeless tires a couple years ago- Meguiars Rubber and Vinyl Cleaner and Conditioner (m40). No slipping what so ever in that app, so I'm hoping it works as well on the car tires. I will be washing the mounted wheels/tires with a degreaser prior to balancing and installing.
The first bead goes on pretty easy, just get in a good position and work it on with some elbow grease, not too difficult. For my wheels, the "bead mounting groove thingy" was positioned towards the outer edge of the wheel, so I put them on with the backside bead first. Working on the second bead is...considerably tougher. And a nice learning curve! The technique is pretty much just like any other tire install but with one difference. Well, 235/50r17 tires don't really like to deform or move much so it took about all of my 260lbs kneeing on one spot to pop part of the second bead down into the groove. THIS IS KEY!! After you get 6-12inches of this bead started YOU MUST maneuver it into the groove near the center of the rim. After that, you pretty much just move around the rim alternating between the left and right spoons. I found it very helpful to stand on the tire with my work boots just behind the spoons to help coax the bead in. Also, I propped the tire up on some boards and stood/jumped in the middle of the wheel a few times which seated the first bead quite nicely before working on the second part (necessary to make enough room for these wide tires to drop into the groove).
Setting the bead was the easiest part. I did use a ratchet strap around the outside of the tire to help seal it and as a safety measure, but I betcha it wasn't necessary. Just remove the valve core, thread on your blowgun with inflation adapter and air her up! Even my 2 gallon Coleman did the job fine; just took a few cycles.
Some pics below... No "action shots" as I was running solo and had my hands a little busy
I'm half done, I'll post a nice pics of all four tonight when I have time to finish.
