How to Break the Bead of a Tire Using No Special Tools (6 Methods)

If you have ever tried to break the bead of a tire, you know that it is much more challenging than it sounds.

Safety

I just want to mention that all these methods deal with pinch points, pressure and weight. This can be extremely dangerous. As long as you take your time and are careful, you’ll be able to successfully break the bead off of any tire you’re working on.

Prep Work

Alright, so now that the safety talk is out of the way. The first thing we need to do is remove the tire. All the methods we’ll be using today will be used with the tire off the vehicle. With the tire off, we can now remove all the air from it. I like to use a valve core removal. This removes the valve core and lets air escape from the tire extremely quickly. I have linked the tool above but, if you don’t have one, you can press down on the valve and let the air out that way.

That’s all it takes to prep the tire, so we’ll get into the six methods on how we can break that tire off the bead.

Method 1: Hi-Lift Jack

This method is by far my favorite. I think it works the best, is the easiest to set-up and can break the bead the quickest. The only downside is that it requires a Hi-Lift Jack (or any farm jack) and a place to jack off of. Now, if you’re into off-roading or are constantly working on vehicles and equipment these jacks are insanely useful so, I would highly recommend getting one. Skip that 5th light bar you plan on putting on your jeep and just get the jack instead. 

I am fortunate and my Jeep has a bumper with a cut out made specifically for this jack. You can place the jack under anything heavy enough such as a hitch receiver of a truck, rock guards or bumpers. I’ll be placing the tire under the base of the jack and the claw of the jack under my bumper. Keep the base of the jack as close to the wheel as possible but be sure it is not sitting on top of your rim. As I jack up the jeep, more and more pressure will be placed onto the tire. The tire will pop off the rim and you can start lowering the jack back down.

Method 2: Scissor Jack

A lot of cars come with a scissor jack in them in case you get a flat. This can be a pretty useful tool to help you break the bead of a tire. Using this method is pretty simple but, it does help if you have a truck or a vehicle that sits higher off the ground. Place the tire under the frame of the vehicle. Then the scissor jack can be placed in-between the tire and the frame of the vehicle. Keep the base of the jack as close to the wheel as possible without sitting on top of it. You can now start raising the jack. This will apply down pressure on the tire popping it off the bead.

Method 3: Dropping the Car

The third way we can break the bead of that tire is to drop a car onto the tire. Now, we’re not actually going to drop the car, that’s just what I’m calling this method so no need to worry. First, we’ll need to jack up the vehicle high enough to place both the tire and a board under it. A 2×4 should work just fine. This board may need to be cut down to a good length. Place the board on top of the tire as close to the wheel as possible. the other end of the board should be sitting under the frame of the vehicle. Lower the jack slowly until the bead brakes or the weight of the car is sitting on the tire. My Jeep wasn’t heavy enough so I just had to sit on the bumper to add a little additional weight. I did get the bead to break though.

Method 4: Lever

In my experience creating a lever to unseat the tire can be a little tricky. It took me a few iterations of the lever to finally find one that worked. With this being said, Once all this was in place it became extremely easy to unseat the tires. I would recommend using this method if you were breaking the beads on a lot of tires that are the same size. I’m not going to include any measurements of the tool I created since most likely the tires you will be using and the vehicle you will be prying against will be completely different.
I started off by making this tool out of 2x4s but this was not strong enough and ended up breaking under load. I then beefed it up and used a 2×6 on the end I planned on putting under the jeep frame. I attached a 2×4 to the bottom of this. This will be the block that will be pressing down on the tire. I also had to extend the 2×6 with some additional 2x4s to get a little more leverage on the contraption.
Just like in all the methods, Place the pushing block as close to the wheel as possible and start pressing down on the board. Be sure the board under the frame does not slip out as you are doing this. If you’re going to be jumping on the contraption like I was, know that there is a possibility for the board to slip out so watch your ankles. You should be able to create enough pressure to break the bead of the tire.

Method 5: Ramp

This setup is pretty simple. Actually breaking the bead of the tire this way is not as simple. The goal is to create a “ramp” from the ground to the bead of the tire. As you drive up the ramp, more and more pressure will be placed onto the bead breaking it. Now, my jeep wasn’t heavy enough to break the bead every single time. So if you have a heavier vehicle this will probably work better for you. It also helps if you have a 4 wheel drive vehicle. Putting the vehicle in 4×4 will allow the front tires to climb up the board rather than pushing it. Slowly drive up your ramp and break that bead!

Method 6: Driving On the Tire

So this method takes no tools but I have only had luck using it on tires with a larger side wall. Driving onto a low profile tire is difficult and the vehicle usually slips off it rather than breaking the bead. So the concept is simple. Remove the air out of the tire, drive onto it staying as close to the rim as possible. It helps if you have a 4 wheel drive vehicle so you climb the tire rather than pushing it. Hopefully this will apply enough pressure to the tire to pop it off the rim.

In my case this method was not that simple. I had to leave the valve stem in the tire. This way as I drove up it. It would build up enough pressure to keep the tire from deforming too much and causing the jeep to slip off. One the Jeep was parched high on it’s tire, I released the pressure. The Jeep still wasn’t heavy enough so I had to jump up and down on the front bumper. Only then did the tire break from the rim.

Conclusion

Don’t forget to keep safety in mind and keep yourself out of the way and keep your body out of any pinch points.  There’s a lot of different ways to accomplish this task. Some of these methods are a little easier than others but with some time and patience you’ll be able to unseat any tire.