Thanks Oppos, for the Info on Tire Changers

"SBA Thanks You For All The Fish" (santabarbarianlsx)
05/14/2020 at 10:30 • Filed to: None

Based on your input I ended up getting one of these. $100 and change, delivered. I still need to put in the floor anchors.

But, I did change my first trailer tire with it last night. Struggled a bit on the first one, but it will pay for itself in only a couple of tire changes so I’m sold. Thanks for the encouragement. I should have done this years ago.

DISCUSSION (12)

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
05/14/2020 at 10:41

Well which one is “one of these”?

Looks like it might be this one

Future next gen S2000 owner > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
05/14/2020 at 10:53

How much does balancing an individual wheel cost?

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
05/14/2020 at 10:56

Yeah, it looks like it. I bought off Fleabay, but the listing I bought from has since disappeared and they have it now listed for $146, Free Delivery. Mine had a freight charge adder but came in around $120, with tax and delivery.

I assumed they “were all the same” and it was just a re-branded/un-branded Harbor Freight version, but I see the HF version has a different set of hardware in that price point.

The jackscrew hold-down is a little wonky on this one, but those padded grip points do hold the rim firmly. I would NOT recommend this for nice alloy wheels, but for steel trailer and utility wheels? Works fine.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Future next gen S2000 owner
05/14/2020 at 10:58

Good question-- I’m off down the rabbit hole of “balancing at home”.

nermal > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
05/14/2020 at 11:29

I have a No-Mar set up in my basement. Same concept . If you’re having issues with getting the tire on & off, you may want to look into getting just their bar, which works really well.

You can mount it on plywood. For mine, I got a 4x8 sheet, cut it in half, and double stacked the 4x4 sheets & bolted the changer through that. As long as you’re standing on the wood it works fine & doesn’t move.

Make sure you are lubing the right places (the inside of the bead when mounting, not the outside), and have the tire in the indent in the center of the rim to make things much, much easier.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > nermal
05/14/2020 at 11:34

Yeah, thanks for the tips. There’s definitely some art to it.

Oddly the toughest part was re-seating the bead. I did actually try the starter fluid trick, which was great fun to watch, but failed miserably.

OTOH, it was weirdly satisfying to actually do the complete job without the need to schlep into town for a visit to the tire shop.

nermal > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
05/14/2020 at 11:55

What kinda air compressor are you using, and how much pressure are you starting with ? I have a little pancake one and it works great. It’s the ~ $100 special that you can get in various brands. Just get the tank up to ~120 PSI first.

facw > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
05/14/2020 at 11:57

What do the hooks accomplish? Is it just keeping the wheel from rotating/tipping ? I’ve seen cheap models that feed a post through a lug hole and then screw a clamp on top to achieve that. It’s not at all clear to me how you could use the clamps with a tire on?

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > nermal
05/14/2020 at 11:57

That shop has only a $150 HF “tank” model. 140 PSI or so.

I do have a nicer $500 huge tank 150+PSI unit I need to move out sometime.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > facw
05/14/2020 at 12:03

Those padded hooks are to hold the rim in place as you re-mount the new tire... or hold the rim as you de-mount the old tire.

The non-obvious thing is that you use the shoe-tool on the floor to break the bead on the old tire before you move the rim up onto the hooks. That bead breaker works great and is very stable— lots of leverage with the linkage and long handle. It forces the shoe down with great force on the rim/tire laying on the floor on the centering notch. Pops the bead right off.

My biggest challenge was to re-seat the bead on the new tire. That was a struggle, and this tool doesn’t have much to help you there.

facw > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
05/14/2020 at 12:12

So I get that it’s debeaded when you start, so you can get the hooks on, but wouldn’t they get in the way when seating the new tire?

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > facw
05/14/2020 at 12:46

Yeah, therein hangs the rub... It’s slick to be able to hold the rim steady as you get both lips of the tire over the rim. And, when done, the tire’s sitting there in the center of the rim— leaving what I found to be “the hard part” of getting the beads seated. And, I had to pull the assembly off and work on it on the floor (and even tried the starter fluid trick— which like many YouTube tricks— didn’t work but was spectacular fun), eventually seating it.

I’ve got another one to do this week and I think the trick I’ll try will be to “partially seat” the bottom bead while up on the hooks. Then finish on the floor. As you point out, with it hanging on the hooks I wouldn’t want to put too much pressure into it anyway...

Anyway, I’ll do a subsequent post once I get the knack of bead-seating.

BTW, so I’m clear, I’m not mounting 30 profile Pirellis on alloy rims... this is just 15" trailer tires (although this saves enough money I’m buying better tires) in a 205-75-15 on a 5on4.5 rim. The rims (as pictured) are shyte steel, so this is a low stakes Do It By Hand exercise to save some time and money.