Tools, Tips and Tricks

BrianAltEnergy · December 2, 2023, 3:15pm

I wondered about that. On a generator like I have, it looks like the engine has the tapered shaft so that adapter would fit on the engine. Maybe this is what Tom wants (to reuse the engine from a generator with an older straight shaft generator head). I’d rather be able to power the generator with a different engine but I don’t think that is easy to do because of the bearing (or maybe lack of a bearing). Doesn’t matter because my generator and engine still works but probably junk generators around that the engine doesn’t run anymore.

Skip to around the 19 minute mark to see the tapered shaft.

SteveUnruh · December 2, 2023, 6:28pm

True. Almost all small engine generators will have the engine as the one side support bearing.
Hugely reduces manufacturing costs. Way ups the running no-need-maintence then without a wearing-stretching belt.

Do I Iike this made “unitized” system. NO. NO. NO.
I have seen fellows with the access to the equipment; power hacksaw off the copper stripped out generator armature. Press off the laminations plates. And then lathe down their own taper-to-straight shaft adapter.
A lot of work if as TomH. put up you can just buy an already made adapter.

Now . . . convert a straight shaft engine to use onto a single bearing generator head?
Possible too. I once saw pictures of a lathe-man who did this. Uggg.
Better to boner out the crankshaft from a blown/worn engine: and hack and machine the crankshaft to convert to a straight pulley. Even using the engines crankcase side as the generator bearing end support.
Still a ton of work.
Plane crashed; desert island; Dooms-day-came work. Or bored-with-winter make-a-ship-in-a-bottle work.
Regards
Steve unruh

SteveUnruh · December 5, 2023, 6:11am

Hi All,
Been Grid power off and on here all day. Spotty even for our telephone line Internet. Winds. Heavy raining. Low spots puddle flooding.
So I’ve got to make this quick.
The last few years I’ve been having more and more trouble with tire shops getting the work done that was easy-ask in the past.
Insisting that they know the make and year of what the wheel is going onto so they can up-sale me a Tire Pressure Monitoring sensors. Refusing to sell me new bare steel wheels.
Not willing to touch a tire over 10 years old. It was an off-road 1980’s tractor.
And basically 3X and 4X jacking up all of the services costs.

So I am going 40 years back to just manually doing it all myself. (near 20 of those 40 years I had works accesses to the best of pneumatic changers - I got spoiled)
Lots of videos up now on improving manual tire changer “post” setups like a Harbor Freight to a rotating head improved duck-bill type for no-touch aluminum wheel servicing.
Improving the cheap new static bubble balancers; upgrading the old ones too. Was good-enough for 70mph. Still good enough for 70mph.

So what I’ve been setting up and doing now the past few Pineapple Express raining days.
My new-bought manual-post set up is carriage bolted to a square of 1 1/2 inch plywood. That deck-screwed down to a shipping pallet for use. Broken down for set-aside, get-space-back. Takes a lot of body grunt space to use a manual system. And working down on the ground and your knees is for the young guys. Up on a post, at waist level; is the way to go guys.

DIY is for capability. The DOW core is DIY.
DIY; you accepting responsibility for your own mistakes.
And learning techniques and tricks as you go.
Credit cards waving for services teaches little.

Ha! My Doctor was asking how I was going to body condition now that moving is done; and couch-potato winter is here. Tires and wheels grunt sweating is doing it.
Regards
Steve unruh

JohanM · December 5, 2023, 12:50pm

What a coincidence, I bought a duckhead a couple of weeks ago plus one of those plastic clamps to save you a hand clamping on to the rim while starting, no idea what they are called. I was also going to build the tire changing structure myself too, I have the materials lying around and it’s such a simple thing.
35$ is what I spent on those things and I will have my money back in just two tires changed.
There are already tires for a haywagon waiting in line plus good second hand winter tires for the gasification project, the Volvo 850.
Definately getting the money back on that investment.
But you are right, those need a sturdy fastening in something and needs to be able to store away neatly to save valuable floor space.

mggibb · December 5, 2023, 12:58pm

Hat off to you Steve! I truly enjoy tales of us Experianced folks who gitter done.

Last tire change I did was at 20 YO on a 16” for a 1955 dodge 1 ton.

The last time I tried was a Honda foretrax rear.
No way to even break the bead.
Finally took them to my son at the Ford shop who struggled with the shop equipment to change them.

Even so was unable to seat the bead on the new tires. They hold air so been riding around for 6 mo now with 1/4” gap from bead to rim.

SteveUnruh · December 5, 2023, 3:18pm

Here’s is my good-points selected out videos:

As seen he is a beefy guy; using his whole body - and not yet broken anything. In-line techniques.
This guy shows how to actually use the installer end (lifting to re-center) of the stock installer bar end. He, like me does not like the dish soap spray mix!! I use a soft wax paste. Won’t hot weather evaporate on you. Will not freezing weather freeze. Will not wheels later corrode.

And this guy doing 40 series low profile tires shows no-fear needed:

His Duckbill arm is no-big deal.
Another fellow doing low profile street race wheels made his arm adapt very loose and sloppy. No big deal. Another guy made his no-weld using U-clamps.

For my five set od steel wheels the hard touch H.F. tools will be O.K. fine.
The wife’s vehicles two sets of factory aluminums . . . yeah . . . I’ll at least have to make up a less-touch adapter set up too. Later.

JohanM at 8:18 minutes this fellow shows using your plastic “Third-hand” helper tool:

Very important. The missing step in most of the “this is too hard!”, “it broke/bent!” videos.
I am using strong plastic spring assembly clamps for off-side pushing down.
Others show using C-clamps. Vise grips with rubber strips.
S.U.

SteveUnruh · December 5, 2023, 6:22pm

Hi All,
I just found another way to do light-touch on alloy wheels:

Be patience with this guy until he gets along to showing installing. He’s showing a bunch of good tricks.

Sometimes the best solution is not to overthink, over-insist-I-made-it-myself (an all too common gasifiers disease). But just to opened up the wallet for the credit card.
Ha! But only to buy a good durable tool that helps you DIY safer, easier, better!
My No-Mar bar is on the way now. Links in his video. No-Mar has their own series of videos. Their own holders base system. Their own balancers.
Just the bar; paste lube and a 3rd-Hand, tool, please.
Regards
Steve unruh

Dualfuel · December 5, 2023, 8:30pm

Don’t forget one of these! The base goes on the bead and is usually curved to fit the edge between rim and tire bead. Stubborn old beads get jacked on with something heavy like a tractor, and let set over night with gasoline or Biodiesel on the bead.
Don’t use the tire iron for a spoon unless you grind off the sharp edge.

Always mark the rim to put the tire back on the same way to save the balance.
They want $25 per tire here to balance…
If you have some really stubborn tires stuck to the beads, don’t hesitate to set them on fire with gasoline or alcohol.
Use a mattock with the corners ground round for a tire hammer.

I buy tubes online now because the tire shops won’t sell them to me…what part of “for-off-road-use” didn’t you understand?

BrianAltEnergy · December 5, 2023, 8:55pm

I spent some time trying to break the bead on tires before.

I ended up getting it off and reused it but the Harbor Freight bead breaker wasn’t going to work on that one. Whoever decided putting spare tires under the truck bed must not have known about salt on the roads in the winter.

Woodrunner · December 5, 2023, 9:31pm

Well, a not-so-good tip from me, i once found two wheels dumped in an abandoned tungsten-mine, they had probably been floating in that water filled mine shaft for many years.
I managed to salvage one of them by fishing with a rope and a rebar hook.
What for, you wonder? Well it was very wide steel rims, and i wanted to use one rim for a gasifier project.
I haven’t experienced a bead more stuck than that, i tried jack’s, irons angle grinder, it nearly drove me insane-until: no more mr nice guy, i cut one side open, put in wood scraps, used motor oil and some gasoline-and burned all of the rubber away.
My father grunted, and told me i had to explain it to the fire brigade if they showed up.
Well, a “desperate” way to salvage a rim, but the bonus was i didn’t had to grind away any remaining paint from the rim before welding.

/“Pyromaniac” Göran

Woodrunner · December 5, 2023, 10:10pm

And here comes a real tip about catalytic converters, probably most of you know this already, but it’s good to share.
Are you living in a place where low-lifes believe catalytic converters are public property?
This is what we use to do at work when some poor customer bring in their car, that suddenly sounds like a drag-racer because of theft of the catalytic converter:

A piece of flat iron tack welded along the lenght of the converter makes it impossible to use one of them turn-type pipe cutters, and the thiefs are too scared to use a noisy sawz-all or hacksaw.

tcholton717 · December 6, 2023, 12:52am

There are thief’s in Sweden? I’m shocked. Must be those immigrants I think Brian’s front loader is a good bead breaker. I have always just put a plank up to the rim and drove up on it.

SteveUnruh · December 6, 2023, 4:41am

Here one from No-Mar themselves doing a B.F.Goodrich A.T. KO off of a Hummer. These BFG’s have triple ply sidewalls with a moulded on raise-rib rim protector. A bit challenging to do.
Watch specifically this guys very selected use of mounting paste-wax. Once I used paste; so much easier; needing so much less force; I never went back to a spray for mounting:

Pretty good for a mere “motorcycle” bar tool, eh?
S.U.

racecarrandy · December 6, 2023, 2:11pm

On the thought of taking up valuable floor space, I’m in process of putting a piece of square tube in floor of my shop as a reciever of sorts. Then putting various tools on square tube posts. Then switch out as needed. Not my idea saw it on a YouTube video

SteveUnruh · December 6, 2023, 7:15pm

GorenK.; BruceJ.; BrianM., we all who have done, have a Jonah’s White Whale in out past.
Here was mine:

A completely corroded thru from liquid calcium balast wheel off of the 1980’s J.D. tractor.
I had to replace out the other side front wheel ~five years previous and it costs a new OEM wheel, tire and inner tube having the tire shop do it. Over $250.+ USD.
This time I said I’d driveway do it myself. THREE hot summer afternoons getting that very rusted on tire intact off of that wheel. The prize was the 15 years old excellent tire still with mold ridges on it.
$121. for the new wheel. ~$15. for the skinny inner tube special ordered thru Tractor Supply company.
I’d done hundreds of car and light truck wheels and tires. Yep salty water coastal vehicles I’d thought were the worst. And then this ass-kicker. Sharpened spoon tips hammered in . . . cans and cans of everything possible sprayed in along sides. Then Time waiting. No commercial shop can take the time for difficulties like this.

The experience and self-esteem gained . . . priceless. All done old-school, on the ground with spoon-bars.

Some videos up about using a floor jack and a ratchet strap as beads separator. Sissor jacks. Easy-Lift jacks. And here a soapy spray hosing/soaking will help.
You might rethink the bucket edge squashing and drive on techniques on steel belted tires.
Later belt separation at speed is no-joke frigging scary and dangerous.

From a video of a guy taking a 4X8 3/4" sheet of plywood cut and doubled for his post stand base I am going to convert over from the pallet. Tired of edges foots stumbling. Plus it will then against wall stack taking up less space. I have three left-here end cut offs of 1 1/4" of flooring OSB decking I can use instead:

I pre-set up a lot in this last picture.
The Kiwi can of mink and silicone boot weather proofing paste wax. The brush for that.
They diid not pack and ship the fourth short channel iron leg with this Harbor Freight unit.
50 miles to return. I made up a sawn narrowed down full under accross tight grain fir 2x4 replacement. Now seeing much less flexing than in most videos.

AND . . . no way manually am I forcing my new removed from the bent rim 15" tire onto a 16" rim!!. Sheee . . . I rechecked and it was Me, I; selecting one space too far down on their web-site: wrong.
I did once (only ONCE) power changer a 15" tire onto a 16" wheel. Would not pop seal. Opps. Stupid me. More often it was apprentices under me, going the other way. 16’s on to 15’s. 17’s onto 16"s.

Again; DIY: you eat and own your own mistakes. Learning.

Why do your own wheels and tires???
Save money.
Get to then do things your own way. Your own selections and choices.
Free yourself from the you-must tyrannies, always today social creeping insisting on making you more dependent, and less capable.
Steve Unruh

BrianAltEnergy · December 6, 2023, 7:49pm

I wanted that tire (a never run spare that had been under the truck over 20 years) to put on a Speedex tractor so speed is not going to be an issue. That tire wasn’t the right size for that little tractor (right diameter but wider) but I got it and another one mounted on the original rims. Only cost was a new valve stem and a lot of time plus some paint. I put new front tires on that little tractor and I think they were only $15 each but the back ones were cracked and dry rotted and the right ones were more than I could afford. I did put a new Chinese carburetor on it and cleaned up the points but now have a usable tractor. Definetely not a show piece but I now have a 60+ year old tractor that still runs. I keep wanting to feed it some charcoal gas but haven’t done it yet.

SteveUnruh · December 8, 2023, 1:04am

Hi All,
Once you have DIY’ed mounted your own tires . . .
no matter if you did it with tire spoons, on your knees, on the ground
no matter you did it standing up on an improved post-stand machine
you are going to have to balance these wheels and tires for any high speed roads work.
I’ve watched a lot of videos now. Mostly how to fix/improve new low costs static bubble balancer Chinese machines.
This video shows a technique I’ve never seem. Well worth the time to watch and think about:

As you can see I have been mounting with a SteveU. modified Harbor Freight bar. And did try his method:

Weight triangles out to two places split location. Then transferred onto the wheels inside centerline.
Hey! It reverified with any chasing 1/4 ounce “fixes”.
Did it work out on the road??
I fast tripped 67 miles each way over the Lewis and Clark bridge into Or-eee-gone to a third wrecking yard hunting for an actual factory steel wheel. ~30 mile each way was 70-75 MPH smooth Interstate. My balance job was just as good as the tire shops two undamaged dynamic balanced wheels and new winter tires.
Done on a 50 years old made-in-USA sold by Montgomery Wards bubble balancer. Saved from the family scrapping it out. Ha! Came with a few pounds of taken off rim edge lead weights been tossed inside.
How they avoided getting not melted down for fishing weights was a big overlooked by my deceased B-I-L.

Once I’ve used my modified install bar end a few more times, and max out my grinding re-forming improvements, I’ll show pictures.

The price of Freedom? Personal grunt sweating; and grinder holed pants.
Regards
Steve Unruh

BrianAltEnergy · December 8, 2023, 2:03am

I found this video a while back and thought it was interesting.

r_wesseling · December 8, 2023, 2:13am

Your system works for you. I bought a hf tire change post and bubble balancer. But I felt a lot better about it after using this guy’s idea.

JohanM · December 8, 2023, 8:06am

These are all very good videos to watch if you’re considering balancing your own tires, thank you Steve, Brian and Rindert. When I bought the duckbill for tirechanging which by the way I found three styles of, after watching lots of videos I figured out which seemed to be the one to go for and it is the one that has a slot opening where the rim goes. It is the one they use in the videos that Steve put up.
Anyway, when I bought the duckbill I only thought I’d change tires on farm equipment as there is no need for balancing and if I would change tires for cars I’d hand them in to a shop to get them balanced but after watching these videos I think I’ll balance my own tires too.
Great job finding and sharing them, thanks

Edit: There were no big differences in the duckbills, the essence of it was that they are all fine, if you already have one there is no need to change one out.