HOW TO CHANGE GO KART TYRES THE EASY WAY
Struggling to change your go kart tyres?
Power Republic has got you covered with this easy to follow tutorial. This is a continuation on our increasingly popular Youtube video on the same subject HOW TO: Change Your Go Kart Tyres The Easy Way
You will have either a 8mm Inhex or 10mm nut as a wheel nut.
With either an Allen key or socket, remove your wheel nuts. Ensure you remove the wheel from the hub as it will make the tyre changing process easier & faster.
Now that you have removed the wheels from the go kart, undo the 3 bead-lock screws on each rim & completely remove these from the rim. Check for any damaged bead-lock screws & replace if necessary.
BREAKING THE BEADS
Once all bead-lock screws are removed, it is time to break the beads, for this you will need the bead breaker tool. The bead breaker has multiple settings depending on the size of your rim, this setting can be changed quite easily and is just a matter of removing the bolt & wing nut. The front wheels will use one of the holes at the bottom of the bead breaker & the rear wheels using the top holes.
Find a suitable setting for your wheels and place the wheel in the bead breaker, ensuring that the U-bend is pushing down on the tyre and not the rim. Simply push down on the lever this should push the tyre off the bead, repeat on both sides of the tyre.
Pro tip; When it comes to breaking the beads it is easiest to operate with the inside of the rim also known as the opposite side to the bead-lock screws.
TYRE REMOVAL
Once tyres are broken off the bead, it is time to use the tyre tongs to get the tyres off the rims. The best tool you could ever buy for go karting! Again always operate on the inside of the rim! Tyre tongs have two functions helping you mount and remove tyres in a simple way. To remove the tyres from the rim we will be using the front tips of the tyre tongs, to mount tyres we will use the nylon blocks.
Firstly, insert the ‘SMALL’ disc to the centre of the wheel. It is best to operate with the tyre under the recess of the rim, this will make removing the tyre off the rim much easier, to help get the tyre under the recess squash the wheel in the centre so the beads can get further away from each other. Insert your tyre tongs under the bead of the tyre and stretch the tyre up and over the rim. Put the centring pin through the tongs and the small disc, simply open the tongs & the tyre will pop off the bead of the rim. Remove the pin, tongs & disc then repeat on all tyres.
Now it’s time to remove the tyre off the rim by using your hands. Put the rim on an angle and simply twist & pull.
With all tyres off rims, now is the time to grab your tyre wax and lube both rims & your new set of tyres. This should help the tyre naturally pop onto the bead when putting air into the tyres.
TYRE FITTING
The tyres and rims should now be ready for fitment, again operate from the inside of the rim as we are going to push that side of the rim into the tyre first. Simply put the rim on an angle, twist & push down into the tyre and the rim should slide in. Flip the tyre and grab your tyre tongs, this time we are going to use the opposite side as previous, place the small disc back into the rim and place the nylon blocks from tyre tongs under the bead of the rim, ensure you put the pin through both tongs and the disc before opening the tongs.
Now that you have all tyres on the rims, we are now going to insert our bead-lock screws. When screwing in, push the tyre down to check that the screw isn't coming out the rim and that they are down inside the holes to avoid damaging both the tyre and the screws.
Last but not least, pump your tyres up with compressed air. Once the tyres are pumped up, screw in your bead-lock screws all the way until tight. Double check your pressures with your tyre pressure gauge & ensure there are no leaks. Hit the track and dominate!
If you’re still learning how to change your go kart tyres the easy way, or would like a full breakdown - you can check out our YouTube video for free
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Buy your Tyre Wax: https://dk17.com.au/products/
Buy your Bead Breaker Tool & Tyre Tong Kit: https://www.righettiridolfi.
References:
- Righetti Ridolfi . Available at: https://www.righettiridolfi.
com/en/8276-bead-breaker
Tom
This walk through is so helpful – thank you!
The combination of a better understanding of how to pop the tyre off the rim and the tyre tong kit saves me hours.