How to Change a Golf Cart Tire
Posted by Alex Sturwold on Sep 12, 2024
Changing a Golf Cart Tire 101: A Step-by-Step Guide in 2024
Editor's note:
- You can change a golf cart tire yourself with tools you have at home, but we recommend trusting professionals with a golf cart tire changer to ensure it’s done perfectly (it's only about $15 per tire at any local shop).
- To get longer tire life (and avoid needing to change often), we recommend regularly checking tire pressures before using your cart.
If you're the DIY type, and want to change your golf cart tires yourself - then this quick article is for you. Changing a golf cart tire really isn't so bad, after all! And as the #1 retailer of golf cart tires in the world for 10+ years, no one knows more than the expert staff here at Golf Cart Tire Supply does. We literally mount HUNDREDS of golf cart tires per day.
So whether you're dealing with old bald (or flat) tires, or you just find yourself desiring a new tread pattern or tire size for your cart; knowing how to change a golf cart tire is a solid skill to have. Let's walk through the quick steps of changing a golf cart tire below.
Tools You'll Need
- Floor Jack: A standard car jack works just fine.
- Lug Wrench or Socket Wrench: To loosen and tighten the lug nuts of your wheels.
- Valve Stem Removal Tool: To remove the your valve stems / air from your existing tires.
- Tire Iron: To help get leverage when breaking the bead / removing the old tire.
- Tire Lube (Optional): Makes getting the new tire on much easier.
- Blocks or Chocks: To prevent your cart from rolling during the tire change.
Step 1: Setup Safely
While you might want to ignore this part and just get to Step 2, we highly recommend making your work environment safe before you start this. Golf carts are small and so they aren't that intimidating to work on, but they can still seriously hurt (or kill) you if they fall on you.
- Park on Flat Ground: We want a flat and even place to park our golf cart when removing a wheel. You can't risk any wobbling when jacking up your cart.
- Be Safe: Turn off the ignition, engage the parking brake, and switch the cart to “Tow” mode.
- Chock a Wheel: Place wheel chocks or wood blocks behind a tire you aren't working on (to prevent the cart from rolling).
Step 2: Loosen the Lug Nuts
- Grab Socket Wrench: Use a socket or lug wrench that matches your lug nut size.
- EZGO, Club Car, ICON EV: use a 3/4-inch socket.
- Yamaha and Star EV: use a 19mm socket.
- Break Lug Nut Tension: Before jacking up the cart, break the lug nuts loose from their initial tension with the tires on the ground (so they don't spin). Don't remove the lugs completely yet at this stage. We need the wheel and tire to stay loosely secure on the hub until the cart is jacked up.
Step 3: Jack up the Cart & Remove the Wheel and Tire
- Position Jack Under Frame: Place the jack under the cart's frame, near the tire you're working on. DO NOT jack under your cart's plastic pieces or on any metal brackets, as this will cause damage to your cart.
- Lift with Care: Raise the cart slowly until the tire is about 2-3 inches off the ground. This gives you enough clearance to easily remove the wheel and tire, while keeping the cart stable.
- Finish Removing the Lug Nuts: With the cart lifted, remove the lug nuts the rest of the way. Keep them in a safe spot for reinstallation later.
- Remove the Wheel and Tire Assembly: Carefully slide the wheel and tire off the hub, pulling it straight off to avoid damaging the studs or nicking your wheels.
Step 4: Let Out the Air
We need to get ALL of the air out of the tire. Our automatic machines here at GCTS do this part for us. But for DIY, we will want to use a valve stem removal tool (from any auto parts store) and unscrew the valve stem from the center of your tire's valve. You will hear an immediate "whoosh", and the tire will lose 100% of its air in under 1-minute.
Step 5: Break the Bead (The Tricky Part)
- Lay assembly Flat: Lay the tire and wheel flat on the ground (use a towel to protect your rim from the ground).
- Apply Pressure to Tire: Press down hard on the tire to separate it from the wheel. Use the heels of your hands, working your way around the assembly until the tire is free from the wheel bead.
- Use a Tire Iron: If you are finding hand-only bead separation difficult (it definitely is), then use a tire iron to pry around the edge of wheel to remove the tire from the bead instead.
Step 6: Take Tire Off the Rim
- Pry with Tire Iron: To get the tire the rest of the way off your wheel, push the tire iron between the tire and rim and pry the tire over edge of the wheel.
- Work around the edge: Continue to work your way around the wheel, prying the tire over the face of rim as you go.
This step might take some effort as well, but keep working at it until the tire is fully removed from the rim.
Step 7: Prep and Mount the New Tire
With the old tire off, get the new one ready and get it mounted on your rim:
- Lube the tire: Use tire lube on the inside edge of the new tire (for easier mounting).
- Mount the Tire: Align the tire with the rim and use your hands (and the tire iron, if needed) to work both sides of the tire onto the rim.
Step 8: Reseat the Bead and Inflate
We are just going back in reverse now from the prior steps. So now it's time to marry your new tire to your rim:
- Inflate the Tire: Inflate until you hear the tire's bead "pop" into place against the rim (it will be loud). Once the bead is seated, make sure that the tire is even all the way around the wheel. If it is not, then you need to stop here, remove the air, and re-seat the bead.
- Check PSI: Inflate the tire to the PSI listed on the sidewall. If there is no PSI listed, give us a call.
Step 9: Reinstall Wheel, Lower the Cart, Torque Down
With the tire now mounted, we can reinstall our wheel on the cart:
- Mount Wheel, Hand-Tighten Lugs: Place the wheel on the hub and hand-tighten the lugs (don't torque them down yet).
- Lower the Cart: Lower the cart to the ground and remove the jack.
- Torque Down Lugs: Now that the cart is back on the ground, we can fully torque our golf cart wheels back down. Tighten your lug nuts using an "X" pattern to make sure we get a 100% snug and flat mount.
Now that our assembly is re-mounted on the cart, it's time to go for a test drive to make sure there are no wobbles, and that the tire truly holds air properly. And that's it! You're all set. You've changed a tire on your cart. We can almost guarantee you'll want to pay someone to do it for you next time, but at least you acquired a new skill today!
Have questions about golf cart wheels and tires or other golf cart accessories for your cart? Give our experts a call toll free at 1-844-422-7884 today!
