Harbor Freight Tire Changer

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Blainethemono

Blainethemono

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Well, for Beers I have been changing all my motorcycle tires myself, saved a TON of money over the years. HF has this Chinese made Tire Changer for $40!!! I couldnt pass it up...

HF tire changer.jpg
 
motorcycle tires i can do with some glass cleaner and a few tire irons
but it helps I run 18-21 inchers
 
I have mine for 20 years now. Bolted to the floor. Changed 100's of tires along with friends that come over and use it.For aluminum wheels I place towels down while breaking them down.Also for the cross to secure it on top. Next is duct tape on the rim so the bar won't scratch the lip.Silicone spray the heck out of the tire and tool so it slides on the duct tape.Guys with lite weigh race wheels love it.Less chance for bending the rim that a pneumatic may do.
 
My buddies and I would use a couple of crow bars and a heavy mallet back in the day. We would apply a soapy solution of diluted dishwashing liquid to the beads.
 
Darter6 said:
I have mine for 20 years now. Bolted to the floor. Changed 100's of tires along with friends that come over and use it.For aluminum wheels I place towels down while breaking them down.Also for the cross to secure it on top. Next is duct tape on the rim so the bar won't scratch the lip.Silicone spray the heck out of the tire and tool so it slides on the duct tape.Guys with lite weigh race wheels love it.Less chance for bending the rim that a pneumatic may do.
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I often wondered about those. It would go good with my hand crank Snap On wheel balancer. Years ago I changed hundreds of tires on a old manual Coats machine.
 
I bought that tool to change tires on my MG's center-lock wire wheels, since they wouldn't fit the machines at the tire stores. Bit of a struggle for a lightweight guy like me, but it works. I also bought the bubble balancer, because the stores had no idea how to balance the wires — they'd come back with 10 weights on each side and still be out of balance. I haven't had a chance to try it on my Mopar's wheels. Don't see why it wouldn't work fine.
 
Changed a few truck tires and bent the hell out of it. Soap was used. The bead was the worst part so off to the scrap yard it went. Never got to try smaller sizes. That's my luck! For 40$ I guess It paid for itself.
 
I used a similar one for small trailer tires and atv tires. Built a bead breaker for the hydraulic press. Atv tire beads break best when there is a couple psi of air in the tire.
 
I had several tires mounted to wheels local recycle place has a tire disposal deal for $1 each a few times a year so I bought this just to dismount tires used my large demolition bar never did any mounting
 
MerlinsMopar said:
Changed a few truck tires and bent the hell out of it. Soap was used. The bead was the worst part so off to the scrap yard it went. Never got to try smaller sizes. That's my luck! For 40$ I guess It paid for itself.
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:usflag:That's how China recycles, they'll get it back, refurbish it and export it to back to us.
 
I have other tools from there and most hold up well. Some need assembled with a cresent wrench and pliars as the bolts are not metric or standard wtf?. Really can't go wrong with their prices. But then, I have some high end tools that are antique and will be handed down to use for many years to come.
 
A56 said:
:usflag:That's how China recycles, they'll get it back, refurbish it and export it to back to us.
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Yep, haul our trash offshore, melt it down, and sell it back to us. :BangHead::BangHead:
 
Iv been wanting one of these for years just dont have anywhere to put it lol. It would have to be bolted into concrete or if you had a really strong wood floor in a building go underneath and reinforced the area with 2x6s then lag bolt the tire changer to the 2x6 reinforced area that may work?
 
dartfreak75 said:
Iv been wanting one of these for years just dont have anywhere to put it lol. It would have to be bolted into concrete or if you had a really strong wood floor in a building go underneath and reinforced the area with 2x6s then lag bolt the tire changer to the 2x6 reinforced area that may work?
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Yep. Anchor it to the crete or reinforce the floor joists
 
my neighbor got one and no place to put it so he bolted it to the floor of his trailer and hooks his trailer to his truck. unbolts when done and puts it away til next time.
 
Back in '69, I bought my first set of new mag wheels. Back then they didn't have the tire changing machines that could mount tires on mag wheels without scoring the hell out of the rims. So my 66yo Dad, showed me how to mount radials with only some tire irons, soap and a big rubber mallet. It was a lot of work, but they came out great.
 
I just bought one of these and I have no place to permanently mount it. I think I'm going to build something to mount it to the receiver hitch in my truck.

Cley
 
I use mine a lot. Its flimsy and basic. I put thread inserts into the concrete of my shop floor to bolt it down. Then I can just unbolt it and move it out of the way.
Works great for all the junker cars I have just to keep some tires on that hold air.
Not ideal for nice wheels since it will scratch the heck out of them.
There are videos on youtube how to modify them. Lots of great ideas or just build your own out of better metal.
 
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