Tire change tools

Professional Torque Multiplier The above link is what I use in my shop when I have to remove a tire. I have a 5 horse upright Ingersoll Rand air compressor but only a HD 1/2 icnh impact. The x12 is overkill but when we had our Bluebird it had Budd wheels and you need a means of holding the inside stud while undoing the lug nut. The x12 was built for that purpose. I will not change a tire on the side of the road. I carry that X12 with me when we travel in Mexico. if the tire guy cannot get the lug nits off I let him use my wrench. The most dangerous place to be is on the side of the road. Tow truck drivers, police and emergency personnel get killed that way all the time. I call CoachNet and let a Pro do the job. If you do not carry a spare ( very few do) you will need road service to change the tire anyway!

Lipets wrote:
Since I go off the beaten path at times I wanted to be able to take a wheel off if needed.

Also to do my own work at home. :h

I guess I need a 3/4" breaker bar but since the wheel lugs are 450-500lbs, how long an extension pipe do I need to slip over that breaker bar to break them loose?

A six foot piece of pipe slipped over that 3/4 breaker bar will make quick work of getting those lug nuts free. Just be sure to use a heavy duty pipe. I can tell you for sure that chain link fence pipe will not work (that's what I had so I tried it). :)

As another poster indicated, getting the wheel hub at the right height makes getting that big tire off and back on fairly easy. When I took the front tires off to lube the brake cams, I used a small board for leverage to lift the tire a little bit. There is no need to do heavy lifting.

Fred

Lipets wrote:
Me too, but they will not help when doing maintenance.

Coach-Net, Me too. And I don't go off road with my diesel pusher. Don't have that kind of ground clearance. And for maintenance, I call the local tire road service guys.

A tip of the ole Stetson to those who enjoy changing tires. Like Scott says..."it can be done with one arm"....for me, although I've changed enough tires in my life, I'm done with it. My one arm is used to sip my beverage while the tire guy works....one of the pure joys of retirement....just sayin....Dennis

rgatijnet1 wrote:

Dog Folks wrote:
I use Coach Net. Sorry, I could not resist.

Coach Net will also NOT help if you are way off the beaten track. They will send someone to an designated RV Park, National or State campground, no matter what the roads are like. The exception is if you are off of the main roads and out in the back country boondocking. In fact I believe that they say for a tow, they will limit you to 100 feet from a designated paved road.
There are plenty of places to boondock that are so far off of a designated road that CoachNet might not be able to help you, at least without you footing the entire bill.
I know that I have been in places out West that were close to 100 miles from the nearest gas station, let alone someone that will come out and change a tire. At other times I guess it depends on how long do you want to wait, especially if you are just at the side of the some lonely country road.
I have all of the materials to change a tire, or plug a small leak, but if available, within a reasonable time frame, I will call CoachNet. If CoachNet cannot or will not help, you're left to your own ingenuity.

Works for me though. Our dually Dodge is not allowed off the pavement.

Lipets wrote:
Since I go off the beaten path at times I wanted to be able to take a wheel off if needed.

Also to do my own work at home. :h

I guess I need a 3/4" breaker bar but since the wheel lugs are 450-500lbs, how long an extension pipe do I need to slip over that breaker bar to break them loose?

Lipets,
Well Sir, you've been given a whole host of answers. Some do it, some don't even attempt the removal of the larger 22.5 wheels and tires. Some use different models of torque multipliers and some use air. Well, I most certainly applaud you for wanting to take care of yourself when out in the outback. Depending on an emergency service even on the pavement someplace can sometimes be iffy.

I asked the same question quite a while ago and received about the same type of answers. "Don't do it" you'll kill yourself and your first born" type things. Yeah, yeah. One suggestion was to look into a Torque multiplier and I did. Well, the one that I ended up with is phenomenal in its strength and gearing. I can sit on my butt and, with one arm, loosen all 10 of those 450 lb. lug nuts, WITH ONE ARM.

I purchased a 3/4" breaker bar that is 41" long. Well, to say the least, more length was needed to even start to break one of those lug nuts loose. So, that's when I got the torque multiplier. Now, I also purchased a "Truck tire & wheel dolly" for the lifting, removing and handling of those tires and wheels. The aluminum one with a 255 tire on it is, 142 lbs. The steel one with the same tire, is 167 lbs. While I'm 6'2" and hovering around 235, I can handle them but, why, when there's mechanical advantage tools around to do the hard work for me?

Now, of course that dolly really like's concrete to roll around on so, in the outback, it might not work so well. I also purchased off Ebay, a "KD", 1" drive click type torque wrench that is structured for 150-600 lbs. That thing works absolutely great. Now, just in case you're at home and want to pull the brake drum too, I use a cheap, Chinese hydraulic motor cycle jack. Talk about easy. That 80-90 lb. brake drum just glides right off without any effort at all with that M/C jack.

Anyway, you've got some ideas on which way to operate. Below is the T/M that I purchased off Ebay. It has the lowest gear ratio of all the ones that I looked at.
Scott

Although I do much of my own work, I carry a cellphone and a check book for the difficult jobs, (like wheel removal).
Mel
'96 Safari, 132k miles, (105k mine)

Dog Folks wrote:
I use Coach Net. Sorry, I could not resist.

Coach Net will also NOT help if you are way off the beaten track. They will send someone to an designated RV Park, National or State campground, no matter what the roads are like. The exception is if you are off of the main roads and out in the back country boondocking. In fact I believe that they say for a tow, they will limit you to 100 feet from a designated paved road.
There are plenty of places to boondock that are so far off of a designated road that CoachNet might not be able to help you, at least without you footing the entire bill.
I know that I have been in places out West that were close to 100 miles from the nearest gas station, let alone someone that will come out and change a tire. At other times I guess it depends on how long do you want to wait, especially if you are just at the side of the some lonely country road.
I have all of the materials to change a tire, or plug a small leak, but if available, within a reasonable time frame, I will call CoachNet. If CoachNet cannot or will not help, you're left to your own ingenuity.

Me too, but they will not help when doing maintenance.

I use Coach Net. Sorry, I could not resist.