Mounting Performance Tires can be quite a challenge. Performance tire mounting tips to help you out, including on what equipment you may need. Step-by-step mounting instructions to give you an idea on how careful you have to be.

Mounting and balancing should be done by a professional, using equipment designed for the job.
Both tire beads are securely mounted.
The wheel is not bent or damaged.
There is no build up of dirt between the hub and the wheel.
All of the lugs have been properly torqued.
The wheel is securely seated on the hub.

THE EQUIPMENT

Try pushing an unforgiving rock of a tire onto a large, delicate and expensive alloy wheel, and you'll begin to appreciate the difficulties involved in mounting today's 45-, 40-, 35- and 30-series performance tires. The short and stiff sidewalls featured on these lowest of low-profile rubbers require specific techniques and equipment for successful mounting.

Due to the minimal compliance of many of these tires, "slipping" the beads over the rim of a mammoth-diameter, finely finished alloy wheel is anything but simple and straightforward. One "oops" with the tire iron, or one hiccup of an outdated changer machine can turn the expensive aluminum wheel into a poster child for the scrap metal industry.

To get a first-hand look at mounting one of these rubber band-like low-profile tires, we visited Mueller Tire & Brake's Hudson, Ohio, store location and mounted a 275/35ZR18 tire onto an 18x8.5-inch alloy rim.

In terms of selecting a changer for this type of job, bear in mind that we're dealing with potentially high forces in terms of forcing the bead over the rim.

In order to complete the task successfully and to avoid rim damage, the changer must provide a positive anchoring system that reduces the risk of rim damage. Some older style rim-clamp machines with overhead swing arms may not be up to the job, since the vertical drop-arm may deflect and jam its bead guide into the rim as the machine attempts to force the stiff bead over the rim.

This can result in scraping -- or breaking -- the wheel rim, and can add a good deal of frustration to the process.... Read More (This link is now dead) - But you should be able to find other information on mounting and balancing here.