HF portable tire changer

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pishta

pishta

I know I'm right....
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Ill call it "the bead-eater"....peeled 4 old tires off my ralleys to put on my pickup (my tires were bald and a belt broke) Ralley Tires didnt have more than 1000 miles on them but they were >15 years old in a garage and 2 were flat for almost as long with a car sitting on them. So I mount this on the bed of my truck, bolt it down as required and go to work. truck tires come off as designed. Breaker shoe on lever works fine, could be at higher angle so the bar doesnt hit the rim and still not undeat the bead. It was hard as hell keeping the bead in the small of the rim as I pried up the opposite side and pulled the breaker bar around. LUBE LUBE LUBE! whatever you got, Go-Jo, WD40, Dawn, motor oil! peeled them off with huge amounts of sweat from me as I dont do this..ever. So now I start breaking the Ralley tires, first one has nice crack in sidewall but comes off pretty clean, one small chunk of inner bead comes off, doesnt affect seal. Next one comes off harder, I get a few chunks of bead shaved off by the bar, looks sketchy but still holds air. I grind the sides of the bar down so they are not at a 90 angle, more of a 45. 3rd and 4th are ugly, I get huge tears in the bead, so much as to ruin the last one as it wont seal now. OK, 2 new tires are being bought, mounted and balanced.
Putting on the tires is a mystery. I cant get the bar to pry the lip over the rim no matter how many times I watch the youtube @ minute 12:30)-- [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUas5LIY_ok"]HF Tire Changer - YouTube[/ame]
--of the same tool (mines cheaper model with no tool storage) being used by a pro. His tires look so soft compared to mine my sidewalls would not flex that much no matter how hard I tried. I resort to the old tire irons, prying the tire over the rim small bites at a time. Works but is kinda scary as you think your going to snap something, the bead cord or the tool! you know, for $12 to mount and balance a tire at the corner garage, Ill pay that all day instead of using this tool again, and my back still hurts! Ironic that the old truck tires never shed any bead material, I think the old Ralley tires were rotted. Bonus is it looks like a red machine gun mount in the back of my pickup as I drive to work with it still mounted.
 
LOL...went I was a young man...which was about a week ago...I worked in a gas station that had a manual tire machine...back in the day before these air powered ones...

so yes..they are a PIA....
 
When I was a teen (back in the dark ages when radials first came out) I used to go to the local tire shop and dig through there junk tire pile, find tires the right size that still had tread in the middle, and mount them up on my rims. Never had any sort of changer machine, just two tire irons and a lot of sweat. Never bought a tire for three years and two vehicles. Those were the days! (to avoid!)
 
yeah, the tire irons work better than this on old tires, but the HF dedicated bead breaker was more than this contraption! New flabby rubber tires look easy in the video....
 
pishta said:
It was hard as hell keeping the bead in the small of the rim as I pried up the opposite side and pulled the breaker bar around. LUBE LUBE LUBE!


Putting on the tires is a mystery. I cant get the bar to pry the lip over the rim no matter how many times I watch the youtube @ minute 12:30)-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUas5LIY_ok
--of the same tool (mines cheaper model with no tool storage) being used by a pro. ....................... I resort to the old tire irons, prying the tire over the rim .
Click to expand...

I have one of these I bought "as new" on CL for 20 bucks!!! I bought it only for the tire tool, as I already had an "old school" manual machine but no tool. I had made a tool that 'kinda worked.' I've found that when removing, pry into with the main tool, work a small tool in (leaf spring, etc) behind it, and cross the main tool over the top to hold the second one down. Comes right off. LUBE LUBE LUBE !!!!

My machine is like this one:

It came with everything except the tire on / off install tool. Even has a giant slide hammer breaker for the "really tough" ones. I need to rework it tho. The stem is not tall enough for things like the 'Bullitt' wheels

file.php


What is the trouble installing? You can't get the very last of the tire bead, or can't get it started?

I find the "last bit" to be a bit of trouble, but no big deal. Often, you get all but say, 8" of the last of the bead in, then simply take the tool and stand it up away from you, and it will pop past

sometimes a BFH (rubber) is handy
 
THE HF ones do not work ......I have tried everything to manually mount and dismount tires in my backyard and nothing works. I have tried jumping on the lever to break the bead and I usually end up on the ground with the tire laughing at me.

I keep looking on CL for a coats pneumatic machine but so far all the ones priced nice have to be a 1000 miles away.
 
RaniDart70 said:
THE HF ones do not work ......I have tried everything to manually mount and dismount tires in my backyard and nothing works. I have tried jumping on the lever to break the bead and I usually end up on the ground with the tire laughing at me.

I keep looking on CL for a coats pneumatic machine but so far all the ones priced nice have to be a 1000 miles away.
Click to expand...

you probably need to eat a couple more cheeseburgers to get the manual tire changer to work...LOL
 
RaniDart70 said:
THE HF ones do not work ......I have tried everything to manually mount and dismount tires in my backyard and nothing works. I have tried jumping on the lever to break the bead and I usually end up on the ground with the tire laughing at me.

I keep looking on CL for a coats pneumatic machine but so far all the ones priced nice have to be a 1000 miles away.
Click to expand...

Us "old guys" have a distinct advantage, Rani. "When I was a kid" My dad used to change TUBE tires with old fashioned pry type tools. He had a little bead breaker that fit in the trunk. In those days, he didn't even have a compressor. He inflated the tire manually with a MANUAL TIRE PUMP

The bead breaker was a simple lever deal that hooked on the wheel rim somehow.

The first time I ever used a machine, it was a good deal like the one I've bought now, in a service station. And, we had an "air" one at Miramar. It worked the same way, 'cept air powered.

The 'point' is, I guess, that when you have had to do things this way, you learn little things that stick in your mind.

It REALLY wears me down to change a tire, any more. I'm forced to stop, think, and use my head and leverage instead of what used to pass for strength, LOL

Doesn't this look easy? LOL

http://www.gemplers.com/tech/tchange.htm
 
I used to use a bumper jack to break the bead on tires...using the weight of the car...
 
I just use a bead hammer and two tire irons. I am a lot slower than I used to be, but it works.
 
A sliding bead hammer works well in lieu of a bonafide tire machine for breaking down tires. On occasion when my tire machine doesn't suffice, the bead hammer usually will humble you and the tire you are trying to break down..
 
No sweating involved....place a ramp from the car trailer on the tire, just shy of the bead....of couse make sure it is airless...drive a vehicle up ramp....
 
HF one works ok on radial car tires as long as they are not low profile. My buddy used it to mount 16" E rated trailer tire with high pressure stems. He is in much better physical shape than me as I have had several back surgery's. He worked his *** off with with the stiff sidewall. He did a couple and said he was going to the tire store up the street and have them do the other four. This thing will give you a real workout thats for damn sure lol!
 
67cudafb said:
HF one works ok on radial car tires as long as they are not low profile. My buddy used it to mount 16" E rated trailer tire with high pressure stems. He is in much better physical shape than me as I have had several back surgery's. He worked his *** off with with the stiff sidewall. He did a couple and said he was going to the tire store up the street and have them do the other four. This thing will give you a real workout thats for damn sure lol!
Click to expand...

Dismounting/mounting a bicycle tire would kick my *** now-a-days....
 
Before I bought myself an actuall tirechanger I used to change them by hand aswell. Well, hands and feet that is...

As for breaking the tire off the rim, I usedf my 4-post carlift with a car on it for that.
Just position the wheel right under thelift and let it drop just shy of the rim.
Usually with 2 or 3 lift&drops the tire is worked loose.
 
The local "bike shop" here tried to kick my a$$ on tires for my Honda 90. They want 18 freeking bucks to change a little bitty 17" Hondoid tire. I can still do that, and it didn't take all that long, either.

I've got about 80 miles!!!!! Between here and Hayden!!!! ( I was out there either 4 or 5 times) and NO!!!!! I did not buy the replacement tire from them!!!! in the end. Ordered one on Egag
 
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