Here are the tricks I have learned doing this job many times: Place the tire in a vice with the jaws only on the tire, but pushed as close as possible to the rim. As you clamp down the vice, push down on the tire from above, keeping the edge of the vice as close as possible to the rim. Use a propane torch or other medium heat to warm the wheel halves. If you keep your torch moving, there will be no damage to the paint. As soon as you smell burning rubber, stop and spray a lubricant in the crevice between the rim and tire.Starting as close as you can to the clamped portion of the tire, use a tire spoon and separate the halves using the curved tip of the spoon pointed to the tire side. This last detail is the most important part of the process, as the tip pointed toward the wheel side seems like the natural way to do it, and the way most everyone tries. The reason it works so much better with the tip down is that it allows you to push as close to the rim as possible, right on top of the bead (doing it the other way, you are pushing it a way back from the rim,) and you are trying only to push down a small segment of flexible tire opposed to trying to force up the entire rim. The other benefit is that the inside of the wheel rim does not get as gouged up. Works every time. I have tried the other ways mentioned, but prefer this one as the fastest and least messy.