I have aquired a very nice set of alloys.
The down side, is that they have Goodrich all terrain tyres on (were off a 4X4)
Question; what is the best way to get these off without damaging the rims?
Obviously a tyre dealer, but the local tyre monkeies want a rather large amount for a couple of minutes work (for them).
So I am after the DIY locost option.
I have a variety of cutting/grinding tools.
The gas axe would of course be OTT.
Any help greatly appreciated guys, as I need to get the tyres off ASAP due to space constraints.
Thanking you all in advance, for those wonderful suggestions that I know will just pour in .

[Edited on 20/7/09 by Confused but excited.]

More hasle than its worth, Your better of trying a few more places.

One firm quoted me £60 plus vat to stick my new tyres on four recon rims.
After a ride around I got it down to £20 cash in hand.

IMHO you would be best offering the local tyre guys a drink or some other form of bribery to do it professionally. Surely at some stage you are going to want tyres fitted anyway unless you've bought them to re-sell?
Steel rims are bad enough but ali ones are very hard to diy unscathed.
If you must diy a cutting disc on the angry grinder but watch out in case the rubber clogs the disc and makes it explode! Probably best if you can break the bead away from the rim before cutting but again almost impossible without some form of powered leverage.

Cheers, Pewe

[Edited on 20/7/09 by pewe]

all depends where you go. my guys here are part of a chain/franchise, but only charged me like £5 for change my own tyre. keep trying different places

Our techniqiue is to use local scrappy, we tell them we are getting new tyres and need to polish / refurb/ paint/ lacquer wheels before hand- as long as you take away any tyres [which cost them to dispose of properly] a couple of tyres can be skilfully removed for a fiver. The guys there are pretty skilful as long as it is the old boy inthe wife beater vest rathe r than the young dude renovating his mk2 golf on the side
atb
Mike
Option# 2 would be to find some equally tight off roader who could have the tyres for the cost of removing them from rims

[Edited on 20/7/09 by trextr7monkey]

Thanks guys, but cost makes the local (only) tyre fitter prohibitive. One man band, doesn't do 'for a couple of pints'. He wants 'several' pints per tyre. I could get smashed for what he wants to remove three tyres.
The joy of a rural location...no competition.

So..... the plan (when I work up the bottle, they are Compomotives as fitted to some Ferraris , but I got them for a stupid price) is to cut out a large section of tread and sidewall, with my sawsall so that I can get at the tyre rim from the inside (bit gynae I know), then CAREFULLY cut through the reinforcing band with the small angry grinder and lastly cut the last of the rubber with a utility knife. Hopefully.
Watch this space...............

ive tried a simular method and supprising hard work and makes offering a few pints worth while dont know if 4x4 tyres gor more or less reinforcements, are the tyres any good or scrap, just wonding if taken off any resale value to them to off set removal?

will121, the tyres are goosed mate.

The story so far...........
Doddle, if you start the sawsall or a jigsaw on the corner of the tread and work down the sidewall towards the wheel rim, around as far as you want to go and back up to the tread.
Then the fun starts.
The sawsall will not cut through the steel wires in the tread, it just shakes the tyre like hell. The little angry grinder will not cut it eithet, it just spits hot droplets of molten rubber all over your arms. A manual hacksaw with fine teeth though, rips through it like billy-o.
Then I thought, why am I cutting across the tread at all? So I am just going to cut all around the sidewall with the sawsall and the jobs a good 'n. Well, up to getting up the bottle to cut near my precious rims.....

[Edited on 20/7/09 by Confused but excited.]

Brilliant. Tha sawsall is the best £22 that I ever spent in Halfrauds.
Took <3 minutes to saw all the way around both sidewalls.
Job done, well one wheel anyway.
I am going to leave the bit of tyre rim on for now to protect the wheel rims until I come to refurbish the wheels.
Don't know why I was panicking..... yes I do, I have never done anything like this before.
Thanks for all the input guys.
As usual it is greatly appreciated.
Off to do the other two now.

The old way was to put the wheel flat on the floor (or on some old ply to protect it), have an assistant stand on one edge of the tyre leaning onto the bonnet of a vehicle being slowly driven back and forth across the other edge and bouncing it up and down until the bead broke free, turn the wheel 180°, do it again, flip the wheel over and repeat on the other side. Once the beads were free, tyre levers to get the tyre right off. It's a pig to do with modern tyres and many years since I did it - at least fifteen.

Personally, I'd keep asking around 'til someone offers to do it for a good price.

i need to do this with one tyre and thought ,uch along the same lines as you.

now thjinking on from wha you have posted, I reckon cutting a triangle or two (no wires?) in the side wall big enough to get some sort of grinder to cut the bead should loosen it enough to be prised off.

maybe.

Don't bother cutting a triangle. Just start the saw (a jig saw will do but don't use a coarse blade) at the corner of tread and sidewall, then put the blade into the slot in the sidewall and saw all the way around close to the rim. Flip the wheel over and do the other side, then just lift the wheel out. Takes a couple of minutes and that's on a 4X4 tyre. I recon that I can now flip the bead and get at it really easily without risk of damaging the rim.
I could not believe how easy it was once I started.
Don't forget kiddies, safety is paramount.
Goggles, gloves and DO make sure that you have let all the air out of the tyre before you start cutting, otherwise we will all be laughing at you on YouTube.

[Edited on 21/7/09 by Confused but excited.]

Finally, when it comes to cutting the beads off, DO NOT use a 4" grinder. They snag when the disc contacts the wire and could gouge your wheel.
I cut the rubber away (with serrated edge pocket knife) to expose the wire and prised up one strand at a time and cut it with wire cutters. Then cut through remaining rubber with the knife.
Using the Dremel with a diddy cutting disc probably easier.