How to Remove a Tire from a Rim at Home, With or Without a Tire Changer

Which tools for which wheel

“Removing a tire from a rim” here means taking the tire off the wheel, not changing a wheel at the roadside. What you need depends on the wheel.

For car wheels the machine is the tool. The spoon sets we list are meant for motorcycle and small tires, not for car tires, and we found no maker's instructions for taking a car tire off with hand irons alone.

For wheels that do not go on a changer, the first tool is a bead breaker, for example the VEVOR clamp-type bead breaker^* (paid link) for ATV, tractor and trailer wheels, which grips the rim and pushes the bead off with a screw. The types are compared under tire bead breakers. The levering is then done with irons such as the NEIKO tire spoon set^* (paid link), which comes with three rim protectors and a valve tool; more on lengths and sets under tire spoons.

Why a tire comes off at all

The bead is smaller than the rim flange it has to cross. It goes over only because the opposite side of the bead can drop into the deep channel in the middle of the rim, the drop center. That gives a little slack on your side. Every step below serves this one idea. If the tire will not move, the bead on the far side has climbed back onto its seat.

Seven steps

The steps combine three sources: the owner's manual of the Harbor Freight Pittsburgh changer (item 58731) for the machine, read as the copy on ManualsLib because Harbor Freight's own PDF could not be opened, and the bulletins of the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association for lubricant, drop center and work with tire irons. Your own tool's manual comes first. We have not run these steps in a shop.

1. Deflate the tire completely

   Remove the valve core with a valve core tool and let all the air out. The tire makers' motorcycle bulletin tells you to stay out of the line of the valve stem and core while you do it. The changer's manual says to leave the valve stem uncovered so remaining air can escape.

2. Break the bead on both sides

   Lubricate the bead. Set the shoe or foot of the bead breaker at the edge of the rim and press down. Lift, turn the wheel and press again until the bead is loose all around. Flip the wheel and repeat. On a floor-post changer the wheel lies on the long end of the base against the mounting tab for this.

3. Secure the wheel

   On a changer, set the wheel on the center post with the lug pin through a lug hole, add washer and slider and tighten the post cap. If you work with irons, support the wheel so that it cannot slide, for example on a changing stand.

4. Lubricate the upper bead and the rim flange

   Use a commercially available lubricant made for bead seating. Vegetable oil and animal soap solutions may be used; silicone, petroleum and solvent-based products must not be used.

5. Lever the upper bead over the flange

   Push the bead on the far side down into the drop center. With a changer, put the mount/demount end of the bar against the bead, press down and work the bar around the rim, using the post cap as leverage. With irons, lever the bead over the flange and work around the rim; on motorcycle wheels the bulletin starts at the valve area. Use rim protectors under the irons on finished wheels.

6. Take off the lower bead

   Lubricate the second bead and the top rim flange. Pull the tire up, set the bar or iron against the lower bead and the upper rim edge, and work around again. The motorcycle bulletin notes that it is often easier to start with an iron and then push the tire off the rim.

7. Inspect the rim and replace the valve

   Clean the bead seats. Corroded or dirty rims should be cleaned thoroughly, bent or cracked rims replaced. Used snap-in valves are always replaced when a tire is replaced.

Safety points that come from the sources

• Eye and hand protection. The changer's manual calls for ANSI-approved safety goggles and heavy-duty work gloves.
• No hammering with the bar. The same manual warns against using the bar to hammer on the side of the tire during mounting.
• No screwdrivers. The motorcycle bulletin says never to use a substitute tool such as a screwdriver and not to pry sharply on the bead.
• Sensors. On wheels with tire pressure sensors, follow the vehicle maker's service procedure for where to set the bead breaker and the bar.
• Rims. The manual of the reference changer says removal and installation can cause scratches and slight marring and cautions against use on high-end rims. Protectors reduce the contact between steel and rim; they are no promise.

Typical mistakes

• Breaking only one bead. Both beads have to be off their seats before anything will lever.
• Dry rubber. The changer's manual warns that removing a tire without lubricating can damage the tire.
• Levering against a seated bead. Without the far side in the drop center there is no slack. Push it down instead of pulling harder.
• Sharp prying. The motorcycle bulletin warns against using a pry bar or lifting sharply on the tire bead.
• Improvised bead breaking. Driving over the tire or squeezing it with C-clamps is described all over the web and backed by no tool or tire maker we could find. We do not give instructions for it.

What comes next

With the old tire off, the new one goes on in reverse order, and then comes the one step with a hard limit: never more than 40 psi to seat the beads. Read how to seat a tire bead before you inflate. The machine procedure in full is under how to use a manual tire changer, the lubricants under tire mounting lube, and the machines themselves in the comparison of manual tire changers. Motorcycle wheels have their own page on motorcycle tire changers, and the overview is on the manual tire changer homepage.