help! can't get tire off of hub

[Nazeer Khanani]

stuck on there. i could cut it but is there a trick or tool to get these off without herculean strength?

[Brad Johnson]

It can be done by hand. Explaining it in writing would be hard to do. If you squish the tire together so that the beads are close together you can angle the wheel so it starts to pull through. I've found it easier to pull the tire off the inside of the wheel first. It would easiest to have a fellow racer show you if someone lives close to you.

[Nazeer Khanani]

thanks , ive seen some videos about pinching it one end. i can do that but getting it to slip out completely is tough.
gonna try some soapy water when i get home. i did do the inside side first with the tire pryer. they are two years old though feel like rocks.

[Jean Michel Gaston]

Tire changing without the proper tools is not much fun. here are a few tips:

1) let the tire sit out in the hot sun for a while. They are much easier to manipulate when they are warm. Cold rubber is a pain in the a$$ to work with.
2) get some tire lube (you can get this at any auto parts store) to lubricate the inside edge of the tire. that should help it slide off the rim. If you can find a way to hold the rim in place it is a much easier job to pull the tire off. Use a tire iron to help the bead off the rim.

If neither one of those work, ask someone at the track o help you, a lot of us have tire tools with us, or go into Joe Bauhs or Mike Rhodes' trailers and borrow their tire changers.