Car Parts Faqs

can i replace my car tires by myself. how much would it cost?

Public Comments

1. no. you need a special machine to remove the old ones and install the new ones.
2. you can do it if you work for a tire company!
3. Unless you have the equipment to separate the tires and wheels, you're never gonna get it done. It's usually only something a tire store or garage or service station has around.
4. Depends on the size of tires you have. My daughters Honda has special tires that cost around $150 apiece. If you look the car up in www.walmart.com you should find they will have them pretty cheap if their not something special like hers. Be better to let them change them then you will have them on good an a warrant on them also.
5. You can have the tires mounted on the rims at the tire store, then take the tires home and install them. I don't know if you would save any money/time.
6. Somebody kind of answered this, but not completely. You need a tire removal tool and a balancing tool. Usually, these are two separate machines at an auto or tire shop. The tire removal tool breaks the bead in the tire and separates the tire from the wheel. They make some special hand tools that can do the job, but they require a lot of elbow grease. It operates similarly to your bike tire tool but much bigger and beefier (also a little different in design. I've seen these through harbor freight tool for under 100 bucks. If you bought the actual tire machine, I think those can be had for under $1k nowadays, maybe even $600. Of course, these are not the same industrial quality as those used by professionals. The balancing machine...you can get a hand balancer, but I'm not sure how much these cost. You'll need the appropriate adaptor for the lugs and so forth. I think Harbor Freigh also sold these at like $50-100, but don't quote me. The machines for this run very expensive and I couldn't even tell you the cost as they are completely computerized. Basically, without a couple hundred dollars invested, you could not come close to changing your tires. On top of this, it is a pain to break a tire bead manually. You usually need a big 2x4 and a sturdy mount to leverage the bead off. Now if you are talking about replacing the wheels and tires at the same time, that is different. If you buy one of those wheel/tire packages online, they come mounted and balanced. So all you need to do is jack up the car and change each wheel separately.