Here's a couple of pictures of a bead breaker I cobbled up today. I didnt want to buy one (partly no room for more tools, partly lack of funds!) so I looked around the internet for pictures of home made ones.

A lot of motor-cycle guys make them out of 2x4's attached to a stud in there garages. I almost did this, until I had the thought of anchoring the thing to the reciever hitch on my truck. A couple of pieces of steel, one lttle weld, and 30 minutes later I had both rear tires from the lawn rangerbroken free of the rims. (I just want to pop the beads to paint the wheels - with the shape these 45 year old tires are in, Im sure I'll destroy them if I try to dismount them completely).







The "lever" is a piece of 1 1/2 x 3/8 thick steel flat bar, the "ram" is a piece of 3/4" square steel tube, with a 1/4" thick foot welded to it. The ram pivots on the lever on a 5/16 bolt, the lever pivots on the tow ball reciever on a 1/2" bolt

It works great, much easier than wrestling with squeezing a tire in a vice!

sIMPLE BUT FUNCTIONL. tHATS WHAT I LIKE.

Now thats a great idea. Nice job .
Mike.........

Sweet!

it also beats putting them under the foot of a bumper jack and jacking away,letting it down,turning the tire and jacking again. i like it,very good idea.

Great Idea! Ill be building one!

Duke

Very cool idea..

2 bits of angle and a hammer work for me. Anything from tiny to farm tractor size.

Mine is just an over sized slide hammer with a 3" wide curved blade at the end.

Yeah, but when you're trying to save a 48 year old Slilverton, on which the bead is rusted into the rim, and its pouring calcium filled water out everywhere, and trying to tear itself to pieces, I kinda like the control of my bead breaker!

But when all else fails, I have at it with the BFH.