I don't write a lot of reviews but after using this amazing little tool I had to share my experience. I was working on some old ATV's that had very old tires essentially "welded" to the rims. I tried EVERY trick in the book, several from online, a few innovative ideas of my own, many cuss words and bloody knuckles and 4 hours trying to get the beads to break with no luck. Defeated I went to find a better solution. As an old physics teacher and current mechanical engineer I was impressed with the design concept of the Bead Buster. It was one of the only designs that uses the geometry of the wheel and simple mechanical advantage to pry the bead away from the rim and OVER the retaining "rib" found in most ATV wheels. I debated heavily on going with the cheaper China made version of this but decided to support the original creator and USA made version that cost a bit more. My experience: once I got the tool I was so excited to try it out, I went out to "play" with it during my lunch break and after 20 minutes I had both of the tires I was working on broken loose and off the rims. Amazing performance! I have now used this to change 6 different ATV tires and think it is an excellent tool, maybe little overpriced but it WORKS! It is very easy to use, especially if you have a cordless impact/drill to run the bolts in and out. Some tips for REALLY stuck tires: 1) use soapy water around the bead 2) after setting the rim bolt (the one that pinches to the rim) work the bead breaker bolt (the one on the tire) down 3/4 of the way and back it off 3) loosen both bolts and move the bead buster 3-4" around the tire and do it again 4) repeat step #3 until you work your way around the tire to break things loose 5) on the second pass, run the tire bolt all the way down 6) after a few more tries it will almost for sure start to break the bead and you can use a bar or something to hold it if you need. 7) Be PATIENT, it can take 2 full passes to get the tire to finally flex enough to stay off the bead NOTE: if you try to go to fast and drive the bolt down all the way you may puncture the tire and fail to break the bead. Make slow moves and you WILL get them off. I had some extremely stubborn tires and eventually got all them off. Read more
Every now and again you purchase a product and wonder how you did without it. This is one of those. It's money well spent and it's a tool that allows you to work smarter rather than harder. Not to mention it's well thought out and doesn't damage your wheels providing you follow the instructions and apply a little bit of Common Sense. If you're working with automotive tires and aluminum wheels, or steel wheels, this is a tool that you absolutely need to buy! You won't be sorry, and rest assured it as well made and should last you a lifetime! Read more
Great product makes easy work of breaking the bead Read more
I purchased this while in the middle of a project to replace the tires on my 2018 Kawasaki Mule. I was able to break the bead on the first two tires using a lever-type bead breaker, but the last two tires were considerably more difficult, and really caused the lever device to bend out of shape. The BeadBuster arrived the day after I ordered it, and was quite effective in breaking the recalcitrant bead seals. One side of one of the tires took positioning of the BeadBuster in 5 places, but the tire was released in less than 10 min. The leverage this tool exerts is where it needs to be, and it is quite easy to use on even difficult tire/rim combinations. The tool seems very sturdy, and I expect it will last as long as I need it. Read more
I purchased this product to install new TPMS sensors on our 2017 Ford Explorer with 20" alloy wheels. I also purchased the the Extended Clamp Arm (BB1X-CAE) since the alloy wheels have a curved edge. After laying the tire down on the floor, with the wheel face up, I sprayed soapy water around the edge of the rim. I then inserted the Bead Buster under the rim and followed the instructions to the letter. I used a 3/4" socket and ratchet to slowly lower the ram foot against the side of the tire. With a flashlight I checked how the bead was doing and noticed that the lip of the ram foot was too short to rest on the tire bead next to the rim! I only was pressing on the sidewall of the tire, which concerned me. No amount of adjusting the tool would allow it to rest on the tire bead. I then decided to loosen the Bead Buster and insert a flat bar underneath it so that the edge of the flat bar would rest on the tire bead at the rim. It worked! I then placed a 1x2" board between the rim and the compressed tire before removing the BB tool and flat bar. I then repeated this approach in a second location. First, using the BB tool to soften and push down the tire. Then loosening the BB tool and pushing the flat bar underneath the tool to the rim on top of the tire bead. I then would put a 1x2" board in the second spot before moving on to a third and final location. I did this with all 4 tires and the Bead Buster tool worked, but only with the modification of using a flat bar! I have no doubt that using the tool alone would not have broken the bead since the lip of the tool wasn't long enough to rest on top of the tire bead. Furthermore, the fact that the ram foot was pressing solely on the sidewall could have resulted in damaging the tire and causing a major expense, since on our car all 4 tires have to be changed at the same time. Read more
Worked beautifully. A must for changing atv tires. Read more
Works great removing ATV tires Read more
Worked perfectly. Broke the bead and easily even on an old tire that was stuck on really tight. Made to work with impact tool unlike the cheaper bead breakers. Worth the price. Read more
