Car Tire Swap Conundrum

[Gilberto de Piento]

I bought a newer car recently that is a big improvement on my old car except the tires are worn out and need to be replaced soon. It so happens that the old car has the same size tires which were installed recently, maybe 5000 miles ago.

I want to get the good tires from the old car onto the new car and the bad tires from the new car onto the old car. Unfortunately the cost to do the switch is $200. I called three places and all three said the same price. They said it was no cheaper whether I brought both cars or just the wheels in.

The price of the old car is so low it won't be affected by having good or bad tires. New tires for the new car will be about $400 to 500. I looked on craigslist for some sort of deal on wheels/tires that would help me out in some way but didn't find anything. There's some time pressure because I don't have a great parking situation for two cars and I don't want to start paying insurance on two cars either.

Any ideas?

[Dragline]

Can't you just jack up the wheels one at a time and just switch them. Or do the wheels look radically different or have different hub configurations?

To remove/mount tires does require special tools, although any gas station mechanic could probably do it. $200 is probably a good deal if the newer tires have a lot of tread left.

[Ego]

Used tire sellers would be cheaper than a garage. Is there a junk-yard area in your town? There are usually a few shops that buy the tires from the yards and specialize in selling ones and twos. They may be idle this time of the month and willing to do it cheap.

[Gilberto de Piento]

The bolt patterns of the wheels are not the same across cars.

The junk yard idea is a good one. I'll look into it.

[OTCW]

I second the used tire store idea. I've bought singles and doubles including mounting for $30 each in the past. I think they have gone up a little since then, but you could probably get a complete used set in great condition for $ 150 - 200. Especially if they are smaller/common sized. Then just leave the good tires you already have on the car you are selling, and maybe get a little more money for it. You could probably net out as a wash if you get lucky.

[Ego]

Or if you really want to go extreme you can do it yourself.

Breaking the bead and removal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32X7DZXMOrU

Mounting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro14HjAR6vA

Reseating the tire is a bit dangerous.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M0GNLvPmAg

[enigmaT120]

I didn't watch Ego's links, but I bet you need an air compressor. I have all the stuff for changing tires because I do my own motorcycle tires. Not my favorite job.

[jacob]

@enigmaT120 - Nope, a compressor is just lazy. A bicycle pump with an autovalve (same as on a mountain bike) will do. Car tires are only 30-35 PSI and pump strokes will be easier than a mountainbike (55-65PSI) and much easier than a road bike (110-120 PSI). However, because of the greater volume, you'll be pumping for a long time. Five-ten minutes per tire; not impossible if you take your time. I did 6 RV tires once.

[enigmaT120]

@enigmaT120 - Nope, a compressor is just lazy. A bicycle pump with an autovalve (same as on a mountain bike) will do. Car tires are only 30-35 PSI and pump strokes will be easier than a mountainbike (55-65PSI) and much easier than a road bike (110-120 PSI). However, because of the greater volume, you'll be pumping for a long time. Five-ten minutes per tire; not impossible if you take your time. I did 6 RV tires once.

You're going to seat the beads on tubeless tires with a bicycle pump? Do you use straps or something to force the beads to contact the rims?

[jacob]

Never done it. I presumed you guys were talking about inflating it after the fire trick.

[George the original one]

Dismount 8 tires = 40 minutes
Mount 8 tires = 40 minutes
Balance 8 tires = 25 minutes

So nearly 2 hours and the shop doesn't get a commission on selling any tires. Do any of the wheels have tire pressure monitors? If so, that's another cost. $200 sounds about right if it includes the tire pressure monitors.

DIY will take you nearly a day and you still won't have balanced tires.

[Ego]

BTW, I agree with Dragline, Enigma and George. I would never do the transfer on my own to save $200. Though I might try to seat a tire with the starter fluid explosion method just for fun.

[Gilberto de Piento]

Thanks for all the thinking on this. My longwinded response:

Or if you really want to go extreme you can do it yourself.

Funny you mention it. I've changed car tires by hand but I no longer have the equipment. They were always for doing burnouts so I never balanced them. A good "just good enough to get by" combo is the harbor freight tire changer and tire balancer. The changer is about $75 on sale but if you like to burn off cheap tires on junky wheels (the changer scratches them up even if you are careful) it works just fine. A bubble balancer works too though I never used one.

Seating the bead with starter fluid or something else explosive like in the video is more of an emergency, broke down on the trail thing for jeepers with huge tires. You don't need to do that with a car tire. An air compressor with a decent sized tank will seat the bead as long as the tire is close enough to the rim to make a seal or you can use a ratchet strap to get it there.

I don't want to change tires, I don't have the tools, and I don't have a place to do it. If I had a garage with the tools I would do it. Sometimes, when the tire isn't too tight on the rim, it's an easy job, and when it's tight it results in a lot of work and cursing. No one makes a youtube video of the time they tried to change the tires, gave up, and took them to a shop.

$200 sounds about right if it includes the tire pressure monitors.

I don't disagree that $200 is a fair price, I just don't want to pay it! I've learned much from ERE.

Used tire sellers would be cheaper than a garage.

I looked into used tires and it turns out this is a good option that I hadn't explored before. Thanks! On craigslist there are a couple of companies nearby offering used tires with free installation and disposal of the old ones. Some of the tires they are selling are half used but many are near new and some are even new take offs and all are less than new.

I looked at my records and found that the tires I was trying to save have 15,000 miles on them. They were $400 new with installation. They are 50,000 mile tires so they have about 2/3 of their value left. $400 x 2/3 = $266. It doesn't seem like investing $200 plus a lot of hassle is worth possibly saving $66 (not sure this math makes a lot of sense though ). Plus I never liked the idea of putting nearly shot tires on a car and then selling it. Even though the car has issues and is old it's not a junker.

My plan is to sell the old car as is and try to get a little more out of it than I planned. Then I'm going to watch craigslist for either a set of wheels and tires for a good price or get used but near new tires from one of the resellers put on the existing wheels.

[Sclass]

@enigmaT120 - Nope, a compressor is just lazy. A bicycle pump with an autovalve (same as on a mountain bike) will do. Car tires are only 30-35 PSI and pump strokes will be easier than a mountainbike (55-65PSI) and much easier than a road bike (110-120 PSI). However, because of the greater volume, you'll be pumping for a long time. Five-ten minutes per tire; not impossible if you take your time. I did 6 RV tires once.

You're going to seat the beads on tubeless tires with a bicycle pump? Do you use straps or something to force the beads to contact the rims?

Hats off for doing tubeless motorcycle tires at home. I do my dirtbikes but radials go to the shop. I have watched the kids at Cycle Gear struggle with a stubborn bead even with a ratcheting tie down (my tire they ended up telling me they couldn't do it).

I don't recommend this but if you're really cheap, Harbor Freight has these. Use the 20% off coupon they email you and you can have it for less than $40. Then sell it when you're done for $10. There's a static wheel balancer as well for cheap. I have never done this. Oh yeah, you'll need a compressor and a ratcheting tie down as suggested.

http://t.harborfreight.com/media/catalo ... _25745.jpg

Good luck with this. I'd buy new tires but I can understand the urge to salvage your investment in the other tires.

[Gilberto de Piento]

I don't recommend this but if you're really cheap, Harbor Freight has these.

That's the tire changer I was talking about. They also have a motorcycle tire attachment and if you'd like to scratch the heck out of bike wheels this is the tool for you. It also doesn't hold them tightly and the lever they provide with it doesn't fit moto tires very well. But if you want to do some stunting and don't care about your wheels and are willing to buy a better lever tool it works well enough (though can still be frustrating depending on the tightness of the tire).

if you're really cheap

Isn't everyone here really cheap? I thought I'd 10 responses asking why I needed a car in the first place.

[Sclass]

That's the tire changer I was talking about. They also have a motorcycle tire attachment and if you'd like to scratch the heck out of bike wheels this is the tool for you. It also doesn't hold them tightly and the lever they provide with it doesn't fit moto tires very well.

Good to know. I've been tempted to try it for junkyard tires. It makes sense, this kind of tool worked on steelies a long time ago. Coated alloy rims will get trashed by that lever.

For reference.

http://youtu.be/_J_2SD-snd0

http://youtu.be/KB1Xu6Zr_KE

[enigmaT120]

BTW, I agree with Dragline, Enigma and George. I would never do the transfer on my own to save $200. Though I might try to seat a tire with the starter fluid explosion method just for fun.

I would do it myself, but I actually have an air compressor. It's one of my most important shop tools. And if I had bought the set of tires I was keeping new, the seller will usually rotate and balance them for life. I'm not sure they would notice if the tires were on a different vehicle.

[El Duderino]

I've changed car tires by hand but I no longer have the equipment. They were always for doing burnouts so I never balanced them.

Kudos! I knew you were cool, Gilberto.

BTW, I agree with Dragline, Enigma and George. I would never do the transfer on my own to save $200. Though I might try to seat a tire with the starter fluid explosion method just for fun.

+1. I changed a set of motorcycle tires before and never felt really comfortable riding it after that despite being careful about balancing and seating the bead. Should've taken it in. There's too much at stake to play around with something that important. Not to mention it can be backbreaking work with modern tires that have stiff sidewalls and cars are a lot harder than bikes.