Here is a little pictorial of how easy it is to change a bus tire.

First, find a bus that has some nice tires and rims that you need -OR- look at YOUR tire and see if its flat or needs to come off for some reason , can you say DUH. If you are not sure what this means then go no further.

"Yes kids, that is real dirt. It was dark, cold and windy too"

Place a bottle jack under the axle, Rated around what the bus weighs. This one is a 20 ton jack placed under the front axle and the "bogie" axle of an Eagle Bus. You may need a nice size block of wood to get the jack up high enough to do any good. Do NOT jack the bus all the way up yet. Just give it a few pumps to get most the weight off the tire. If you do jack it too far off the ground , you will soon find out why and..

You are going to need a tire tool and a long steel bar to get a little leverage on it. You need to remember that the lug nuts on the driver side of the bus do not unscrew the way they normally would, they are backwards. They are marked with a L and an R. If you do not know what this means , it means its your other left.

This is where the fun begins, its pretty much self explanatory , If you jacked the bus up to high, this is where you will find out.

When the lug nuts will not move then you go back and get a long solid steel bar and really get after it. Here is where the rubber meets the road so to say. They always move at this point, one way or the other.

When you get the lug nuts loose, you finish jacking up the bus and take the tire off. Looks easy huh ? It is.

Do what ever it was you were going to do when you took the tire off and don't let the bus fall on you. Can we say DUH again. If you are just after the tires and rims, you are finished. RUN

(Tim Thomas and Steve having a little fun with some Shocks.)

Using the two tire irons you used to undo the lug nuts, place them under the tire and use them to lift the tire back on to the lug studs.

"A little trick I learned as a child"

Spin the lug nuts on as far as you can by hand and then take the tire iron and tighten the lugs to where you feel like the tire will not fall off as soon as you take off. This is a different feeling for every one. I have not lost one yet, You might...If you turn them too far, they break off, DUH. I'm a big believer in using a product called NevrSeize on all the parts. It makes it easier when its cold, windy and RAINING.

"Hey, I don't take any responsibility on any of this with your bus."

Well OK, I do have some air tools at home. But I always do the final tighten by hand either way.

When you finish with the lug nuts, pat your self on the back and go have some hot chocolate, you just saved your self about $300.00 or more for a service truck. It may cost you $310.00 for a chiropractor.

"I would quit this job if it wasn't so glamorous"