Bought new tires today................

[Tallpine]

You still can, if you've got steelies... just have to be careful.
I still have a set of truck bars in the garage.

Yeah, but that's a lot more work than just sliding the wheel into the tire 

[Grandpa Shooter]

Just don't make my mistake like I did on my truck...  at the tire shop and within the tire model I was looking at the options were 6 ply and 10 ply with the 10 ply costing $3 more per tire.  Obviously 10 ply is better right?  The 1/2 ton GMC now rides like a tired old duece and a half.  However, whenever I load up the bed of the truck with a huge amount of weight the tires won't blow.  This seems to not come up ever in my 1/2 ton with a v6 in it.

The gas mileage took a bit of a hit too.

I buy E's specifically because they are load range E with 10 ply sidewalls.  The roads we drive on and the loads we carry or haul need the extra oomph of good tires.  Over time the rubber will stiffen and the truck will ride a little harder, but I expect that in a truck.

[geronimotwo]

You still can, if you've got steelies... just have to be careful.
I still have a set of truck bars in the garage.

before my dad had his auction i was able to grab a set of old tire irons that we used many many times over the years.

[seeker_two]

I have an F150 with upgraded wheels.  Seems ford used a real odd tire size on my truck, that required either I pay $110 for really crappy tires that wore out after 15-20k of driving and provide 0 off road traction, or I spend $250+ on really good off road tires.
Ended up changing the tire size to get some about $160 a tire.

Had the same problem with my former Nissan Frontier....it had 215/65's from the factory which cost a small fortune. When I went up to 215/70's (more common size), I saved about $50 a tire. It did throw off the spedometer/odometer, but I could live with that....

[Doggy Daddy]

Oh, for the days of split rims when I could change my own tires with a few hand tools ...   

Well, as long as you not going over 16":

http://www.harborfreight.com/portable-tire-changer-34542.html

DD

[Tallpine]

I buy E's specifically because they are load range E with 10 ply sidewalls.  The roads we drive on and the loads we carry or haul need the extra oomph of good tires.  Over time the rubber will stiffen and the truck will ride a little harder, but I expect that in a truck.

I keep thinking about trying to get some 16" 6-hole wheels from a salvage yard for our 1/2 ton Suburban so I can put 10 ply E tires on it.  Otherwise we are always ruining tires on rocks.  Did I ever show you the tire with the 3" rock sticking into it?  

OTOH, I almost never have flats on my pickup, and when I do it is just a nail or screw that I happened to pick up.

Trouble is that I just keep putting off making the wheel investment.

[Tallpine]

Well, as long as you not going over 16":

http://www.harborfreight.com/portable-tire-changer-34542.html

DD

I used to spend a lot of time working one of those manual changers, only it was a heavy duty commercial model that dated back before everything became air powered.  There was a little remote mountain store/gas station/cabins that had one and we were good friends with the owners, so I would just drive down there (we lived yet higher in the mts!) when I needed to change drop center wheels.

Only problem was the damn tourists standing around watching 

Before I got an air compressor set up at camp, I would have to take the truck wheels down there too.  That really got to be a circus with all these city yahoos watching me hammer on those old two piece firestone wheels. 

I'd have to build a platform to bolt down the HF tire changer 

[Doggy Daddy]

I used to spend a lot of time working one of those manual changers, only it was a heavy duty commercial model that dated back before everything became air powered....

Only problem was the damn tourists standing around watching 

One of my oldest memories is of my grandfather changing tires.  He was a retired blacksmith... he could do just about anything with minimal tools.

His tool kit for tire changing was a bumper jack, a 2X4, a couple crowbars, and a small sledge hammer.  He would lay the tire flat on the garage floor and put the foot of the bumper jack against the sidewall.  Then he'd put one end of the 2X4 on the jack's hook and the other end against the ceiling.  Jacking the jack would seperate the tire from the wheel, and judicious applications of the sledge to the crowbars would allow him to lever the tire over the edge of the wheel and remove it.   Similar process to put the new tire on.  He had no compressor, so the last step was to take the tire down to the corner store to air it up.

He had no tourists standing around watching.  Just me.

Oh, I don't believe OSHA even existed back then.     They only go back to what...'70?

DD

[zxcvbob]

If you have 16.5" wheels (or 17.5's) if I recall correctly you don't need tools to break the bead to tear down the tire.  The seal is just a taper with no lock.  Let all the air out and they almost fall off the wheel (you still have to pry the bead up over the rim and monkey it off with a tire iron or two)  But good luck finding 16.5" tires anymore.

[Tallpine]

good luck finding 16.5" tires anymore

You need even better luck finding the money to pay for them.

When I bought my pickup used about 15 yrs ago, the first thing I did was take it down to the salvage yard and exchange the 16.5" wheels/tires for 16" wheels/tires.

Jacking the jack would seperate the tire from the wheel

I still have a bar about 2' long with a wedge shaped "hook" on one end.  You use a sledge to drive the wedge between the rim and the tire to "break the bead" - well, there's really not a true bead to break on a multi-piece rim but you still need to get some clearance in order to remove the ring(s).

It's just too much dang work anymore to change drop-centers by hand unless you have no other choice.

[Boomhauer]

If you have 16.5" wheels (or 17.5's) if I recall correctly you don't need tools to break the bead to tear down the tire.  The seal is just a taper with no lock.  Let all the air out and they almost fall off the wheel (you still have to pry the bead up over the rim and monkey it off with a tire iron or two)  But good luck finding 16.5" tires anymore.

16.5" tires are a stone-cold bitch to get and even worse to pay for. Got a 1 ton Chevy van that uses them...

[Grandpa Shooter]

16.5" tires are a stone-cold bitch to get and even worse to pay for. Got a 1 ton Chevy van that uses them...

I bought two in Billings Mt just before we headed back.  Paid less than $300 for two installed.  They are out there but you do have to hunt.

[txgho1911]

Seems GM Ford and Dodge all decided to start mixin up tire sizes in the last 10 years with 17, 18, and 19 tires. No more basic 16.

I have started shopping used tires with 50% + tread life. Very steep discount to new. Just gotta keep an eye on them.

[sanglant]

maybe i'm just lazy. no that's not the word. oh redneck.

[geronimotwo]

Seems GM Ford and Dodge all decided to start mixin up tire sizes in the last 10 years with 17, 18, and 19 tires. No more basic 16.

I have started shopping used tires with 50% + tread life. Very steep discount to new. Just gotta keep an eye on them.

sometimes it doesn't work out to a good deal.  when you consider that 1/2 tread is really 1/3 or less of the usable tread on the tire.  and then you are paying for mounting and balancing 2-3 times more often.  plus the "iffiness" of a used tire.  it needs to be a really steep discount!

i have used a board, and a car to break the tires bead.  lay the board on the tire, just short of the rim, and drive up on it.  then flip the wheel to get the other bead.   you do need to remove the valve stem innards first.

[Tallpine]

I have started shopping used tires with 50% + tread life. Very steep discount to new. Just gotta keep an eye on them.

I used to buy used school bus tires for my log truck.

50% tread and I paid $25 for them (the retread core value) instead of $150 new.

Two-piece rims so I mounted them myself out in the dirt.