Improvised Bead Breaker

[Kwai Chang]

I had to remove a tire to patch a puncture. I checked out the tire install machine from Harbor Freight, it looks cool. I know that it is best to have the proper tools for the job; but I don't plan on doing a lot of tire mounting, so I improvised a way to break the bead on my tire.

Here is what you need:

Something long and sturdy to use as a lever (I used a 48" aluminum pipe wrench because I had one, but I'm sure that something like a shovel handle will work)

Something to concentrate the force on the correct part of the tire (I used a rubber mallet with a fiberglass handle and a rubber grip, so that if it slipped it would not damage anything)

Something solid to use as a fulcrum (I used my truck bumper)

Here is what you do:

Put your tire/wheel on some blocks of wood near the fulcrum (truck bumper). Wedge one end of your lever (pipe wrench, shovel handle...) under the fulcrum (truck bumper) and place your concentrator in the correct spot of the tire and close to the fulcrum end of the lever (rubber mallet standing on end so that the butt of the handle rests on the tire near the rim and the lever is pushing down on the head). Push down on the business end of the lever. Work your way around the tire. (Don't try to break the bead all of the way the first time around. Take your time, remember this is not the correct tool for the job and sometimes bad things happen when you are improvising. I went around the tire twice, and the bead was free.) Flip the tire over and break the other side loose. Make sure that you put yor tire on blocks of wood and take the apropriate measures to protect your break disk(s), sprocket, wheel.

Pardon my field engineering. If I planed on doing a lot of tire mounting I would buy the tool from Harbor Freight, but this worked for me.