hotdogstand
Well-known member
I needed to change the tires on my truck and I hate going to a shop for anything I'm reasonably certain that I can learn to do myself. To add fuel to the fire I had recently heard from a friend that tire shops around here were charging extra to do LT tires "because they had to use the bigger machine."
Years ago I tried my hand at changing a tire manually and ended up with a bent rim and a holey tire after probably 45 minutes worth of work. Hoping that this time would be different I went down to my local purveyor of imported trial tools to pick up their manual tire changer apparatus. I had a coupon for some percent off, but they normally run $45 compared to 100 for a similar unit from northern tool.
My thoughts:
Goes together like the picture on the box
The "spoon" or iron is just awful. The casting is rough, the sides of the mold are offset and jagged, and the finish might be powdercoat, but it's more likely just 12 layers of paint to hide the imperfections. I immediately blasted both ends clean and used a flap wheel to polish the casting marks out. The smoother the better, and though I failed to do this I recommend waxing the bare metal.
I used 3 50# bags of quick set concrete to pour a mini slab outside the shop. I had to drill the base of the mounter from 7/16 to 1/2 for the j-bolt anchors I picked up for this project. If you go this route, pour a larger slab. While adequate for the most part, the slab tried to lift when removing tires with a lot of leverage.
The bead breaker is flimsy. It needs a strong boot to stay in the bead and not go skating across your rim. I'll probably shore it up with some 1x1 angle at a later date. It survived this round.
The packaging and description both state that this unit is for "up to 16 inch rims." I dont know how they came to that conclusion and I couldn't determine any physical limitations so I went ahead and used it for some 285/70R17s from my 2500HD. Maybe halfway through removing the first tire the post broke along the "weld." It looked as if the post, which is just 1.5 inch thin wall tubing, was only brazed into the stand. I broke the Hobart out and laid some thick beads down and got back to work.
I foolishly installed the clamp (the ring with 4 tabs that holds the rim steady) upside down for one of the wheels and the thin tubing warped into a square. It no longer works correctly so I'll be fabbing a replacement soon.
Reinstalling tires:
The iron is very likely to scratch your rims. Clean the lip thoroughly and use tire lube. I used Windex. It works well and comes in a spray bottle. Dish soap is a cheap option as well. Spend the money on a bead clamp. I didn't and it makes this part much more challenging than it needs to be. My wheels are chrome so I wrapped the outer beads in vinyl tape to protect them from the iron.
The tabs on the collar/clamp with seriously mar the hub area on the rims, so I put some shop rags on the stand before mounting the wheel, and some over the wheel before securing the clamps. I was worried about this part but it worked well. I also wrapped the little "leg" that you insert through a lug stud hole with vinyl tape to prevent damage to the wheel.
Results: I have four new tires installed and I'm reasonably certain my rims are still round! The rims are survived free of any nicks in the beads.
The tires I was dealing with are E range (10 ply equivalent) and seriously pushed the limits of this simple tool. I expect that it would perform more reasonably for lighter duty passenger car tires. Bottom line is that I'll spend more time and making the necessary upgrades than if I had just purchased the more expensive model from a more reputable dealer. If you are on the fence with this one, consider your budget vs your skills. If you can cut and weld and perform the necessary modifications, that's great. If not, consider spending at least double.
Years ago I tried my hand at changing a tire manually and ended up with a bent rim and a holey tire after probably 45 minutes worth of work. Hoping that this time would be different I went down to my local purveyor of imported trial tools to pick up their manual tire changer apparatus. I had a coupon for some percent off, but they normally run $45 compared to 100 for a similar unit from northern tool.
My thoughts:
Goes together like the picture on the box
The "spoon" or iron is just awful. The casting is rough, the sides of the mold are offset and jagged, and the finish might be powdercoat, but it's more likely just 12 layers of paint to hide the imperfections. I immediately blasted both ends clean and used a flap wheel to polish the casting marks out. The smoother the better, and though I failed to do this I recommend waxing the bare metal.
I used 3 50# bags of quick set concrete to pour a mini slab outside the shop. I had to drill the base of the mounter from 7/16 to 1/2 for the j-bolt anchors I picked up for this project. If you go this route, pour a larger slab. While adequate for the most part, the slab tried to lift when removing tires with a lot of leverage.
The bead breaker is flimsy. It needs a strong boot to stay in the bead and not go skating across your rim. I'll probably shore it up with some 1x1 angle at a later date. It survived this round.
The packaging and description both state that this unit is for "up to 16 inch rims." I dont know how they came to that conclusion and I couldn't determine any physical limitations so I went ahead and used it for some 285/70R17s from my 2500HD. Maybe halfway through removing the first tire the post broke along the "weld." It looked as if the post, which is just 1.5 inch thin wall tubing, was only brazed into the stand. I broke the Hobart out and laid some thick beads down and got back to work.
I foolishly installed the clamp (the ring with 4 tabs that holds the rim steady) upside down for one of the wheels and the thin tubing warped into a square. It no longer works correctly so I'll be fabbing a replacement soon.
Reinstalling tires:
The iron is very likely to scratch your rims. Clean the lip thoroughly and use tire lube. I used Windex. It works well and comes in a spray bottle. Dish soap is a cheap option as well. Spend the money on a bead clamp. I didn't and it makes this part much more challenging than it needs to be. My wheels are chrome so I wrapped the outer beads in vinyl tape to protect them from the iron.
The tabs on the collar/clamp with seriously mar the hub area on the rims, so I put some shop rags on the stand before mounting the wheel, and some over the wheel before securing the clamps. I was worried about this part but it worked well. I also wrapped the little "leg" that you insert through a lug stud hole with vinyl tape to prevent damage to the wheel.
Results: I have four new tires installed and I'm reasonably certain my rims are still round! The rims are survived free of any nicks in the beads.
The tires I was dealing with are E range (10 ply equivalent) and seriously pushed the limits of this simple tool. I expect that it would perform more reasonably for lighter duty passenger car tires. Bottom line is that I'll spend more time and making the necessary upgrades than if I had just purchased the more expensive model from a more reputable dealer. If you are on the fence with this one, consider your budget vs your skills. If you can cut and weld and perform the necessary modifications, that's great. If not, consider spending at least double.
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