Changing your own tires

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by Gumper, Feb 23, 2018.

  1. REO6205

    REO6205 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    If you have the ambition, the time, and the tools you can save a lot of money doing your own tires.
    Any money you can save is pure profit.
    The guys who advise against it probably haven't done enough tires to really get good at it.
     
    TallJoe, PE_T, stayinback and 5 others Thank this.
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  3. Ruthless

    Ruthless Road Train Member

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    If you show up at a tire shop with your own tire- it's $25 for a outside and $35 for a inside.

    I can't do it that cheap myself.
    Being in business means knowing what it costs vs what you can do it for.
    Tire shops do it cheaper than I can.

    I think it was Bob Villa that said "if it costs you the same to do it yourself as it does to hire a professional - let the professional do it".
     
  4. SL3406

    SL3406 Medium Load Member

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    I agree with this. I have done my own tires for 20 years. If you're going to do it you need to buy the correct tire irons, bead breaker hammer, a good 1" impact, and a compressor big enough to run it. Buy or build a tire cannon too. If it's not worth it to you to buy the right equipment just take it to the tire shop. Can you do it the poor boy way with generic tire spoons and using air off the truck? Sure, but it's going to be a lot harder, take 3 times longer, and you probably won't want to do it again.
     
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  5. rollin coal

    rollin coal Road Train Member

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    I do tire work at home if I see an issue. It saves down time on the road and burning up a 14 hour clock on EOBR :mad: Whenever I buy 8 or 10 new tires they will deliver them to my shop for no charge and I mount those. When I'm already on the road and pick up something in a tire it's faster, cheaper, and easier to just get a shop to fix it.
     
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  6. REO6205

    REO6205 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    I agree, for one tire it's easier to have a shop do it. But if you're changing a bunch of tires you can save a lot of money doing it yourself.
     
  7. REO6205

    REO6205 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    LOL...Years ago when we switched from steel wheels to aluminum we got a whole lot better at changing tires than I ever really wanted to be. ;)
    We were a new company just starting out and couldn't afford a full time tire man or having a shop do it.
    Now we have a tire man! Life is good.
     
    HopeOverMope, Grubby and SL3406 Thank this.
  8. Final Drive

    Final Drive Road Train Member

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    While your at it might as well get some safety glasses, gloves and a tire cage.
     
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  9. rollin coal

    rollin coal Road Train Member

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    @REO6205 Yeah but with EOBR and that ticking 14 hour clock if you see a nail in one tire at your house you're better off to deal with it at home. On paper logs I would just leave the house a couple of hours early and swing by a Love's to get it fixed then adjust logs as I saw fit. No harm, no foul although I'm sure some Nancy's in here will take issue with that.
     
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  10. Gumper

    Gumper Road Train Member

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    If I have some spare time I don’t mind doing the tires myself at home. I used to be a maintenance guy at a very large gold mine, so I already have big tools that just sit around. Doing them myself on the side of the road, or in a rest area is the big deal to me. The last time my company had a call out to fix a blown tire it was close to $900, and took two hours.
     
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  11. Pup97

    Pup97 Light Load Member

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    I do just about all my work. Clutches, engines, tires. But my schedule gets full sometimes. When it's full I take my tire work to a little shop they will put 2 guys on my truck. There cheap and quicker than if be.
     
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