Hey guys. 03:00 Dark here; and I wakened to shake my hospice/home-health nurse wife out of a bad dream. Ha! She has done the same for me. We are a good fit. Now the brain is alive.
I pursue a home stand-up machine solution simply because of old age joints.
I actually like the older; on the ground; on-your knees tires spooning approach better. Less tools. Much more about learned skilled techniques:
Watch. But, especially listen to his teaching words. Great editing on this Educational. Better imho than any sports entertainment program.
Then this guys 1st of four wheels and tires videos:
One he covers home bubble balancing. After covering post stand work.
The best thing converting myself from a power equipment fully set up Shop-guy was buying two of the Harbor Freight tire spoon tools. I should have bought three:
These are very affordable and made well-enough. Next time in their store I will buy that third tool. Plus two more sets of three. One each set-of three to go into the back of our primary driven vehicles. Ha! Make good tent stakes. And other ‘needs-must’ usages.
S.U.
The Pharaohs in Egypt had people to wipe their asses when they crapped. Normal folks in the world haven’t quite reached that point yet but they are not that far from it. The idea of changing or balancing your own tires would only bring you ridicule if you mentioned it. I am often accused of fanaticism when it comes to self reliance. I find it comforting to be associated with other weirdos cut from the same cloth.
Hey Steve that was no bad dream the wife was having that was a nightmare , i bet she was imaging herself being told by you to change the old tyres / tires over on all 4 rims lol
Dave
When I was a youngsters, a few years back now. I only remember the tire bubble balancing method. Every gas station had one to use if you knew the gas station people. A lot of tires were change out at home and then balancing them at the gas station. The weights were free also if you needed some different sizes. Just leave your old one there for some one else. Wow has times changed from when I was 10 years old some 61 years ago in 1962.
Hi All
I finished up my re-wheel mounting of the two bad wheels for my new winter tires.
Very happy with the 70mph results.
The bubble balancing technique I used, works.
The 50 years old bubble balancer is a quality unit.
It did help to bubble balancer check the replacement bare wheels and mark for heavy side. Then with the new yellow dot light spot marked tires “match mount” the sets:
I consider that H.F. supplied mounting end bar a fail.
I know other videos are up forcing it to work. Horseing poor tires like I’ve seen videod tears cords. Chunks out beads.
Extensively ground modified I can make it work on soft single ply sidewalls on 70 and 65 series tires.
No way it would completely install my Bridgestone Blizzaks. Not without excessive forcing. I could hear cords breaking.
This straight bar held along side the large diameter center post then cock angles the straight on head claw and bump ramps. Head forging needs to be angled formed biased.
Ot the bar tip torch heated and then angled. And a flat plate welded to the round bar to prevent it from twisting.
I had to finish installing each time by spoon-barring the final seating.
So do the duckbill, rotating arm conversion improvement and save a lot of grief.
I’ll keep grinding away at the head with every try-install. Can’t hurt NFG.
Wait. And I’ll see how the No-Mar installer bar works out.
Oh yeah! Above when I said I’ll be keeping a set of three on-off tire spoons in each primary vehicle . . . any asking how I was going to beads break loose . . .
every vehicle has a jack, can be used as BruceJ. pointed out.
S.U.
Ive had an hf tire changer for some years now.
First off, i have never in those years balanced a tire. Never noticed a problem. Modern tires are pretty good.
One modification i made to the bead breaker. I had trouble with it sliding back away from the rim. My solution is to weld another pivot to the main post, then add a second parallel arm to the bead breaker. It can now only move straight up and down, and not kick back. Works great!
Hi AndyH.
I did see in one video a de-mounter modified with an added pivoting link as you describe. Yours? I could not find that video again. But frustrating for me; I found this one:
This fellow has used his so much he’s worn off the thick powder-coat paint! I sure did stop view; and enlarge, to see if he’s modified his installer end. ??? Or, if H.F. had changed Chinese manufacturers; and once had a different end forging!
Of course four hands had to help some too.
S.U.
My No-Mar bar came UPS early this morning. This cold, cold constant raining 36F/2C morning.
Had to try. And try (unlike most of the sandals and Tee-shirts and cargo-shorts wearing in the videos) with stiff cold tires. My typical conditions.
First bead breaking with the cars own sissor jack to put in-action my-body where my mouth had traveled:
Actually went very easy with the jacks foot corners clearing able to span the valve core even.
I lucked out that the cars jack position seam weld had been previously munched some so was even able to lock hang the jack up in place while tire re-positioning and turning. Ha! Ha! Only had cold raining car running off fill the tire with water getting it done.
For the safety Hawks:
Right-hand spoon bar to set the beginning from slipping back under.
Left-hand spoon bar because I needed for this particular wheel a 2nd XtraHand clamp tool to keep this tires bead down in the drop center channel.
Installing after drying the tires interior; and yellow paint-dot heavy & light marking the wheel and tire:
My first successful install. Took two tries. I was installing-end positioning too far down in under the drop center edge on the first attempt.
Took only moderate effort.
Their made-in-Germany lube paste (actually a water soluble gel) is superior. Their ExtraHand depressor tool is superior. Heavy steel; textured rubber coated.
Going now forwards I can work on the Wife’s two sets of factory aluminum wheels as no-, and light-touched. Family. Friends. They all love their pretty aluminum wheels. Stupidly get themselves talked into 50 series tires.
Yes I would recommend these tools. Well worth the money.
Regards
Steve unruh
I am considering buying one of these for use on one of the loader tires. Any one of you buy one recently? If you search this up, the item description shows some really variable pricing. I went through this before with a hydraulic double flare toolkit…Pin the tail on the actual price.
My real concern is actually getting the tool. I will have to break the bead at least 5 times on these 20.5X25 tires. Fix the leaker, and four new tires. So I think the price is fine if it’s in a $500-$136 range. The problem is weeding out the scams.
Thanks SteveU, a good description with pictures.
Myself, i feel pretty spoiled that had access to tire change machines, and balancers most of my life, but i admit to having alot of bent screwdrivers and tire irons in my tool supply.
That seems like an very good price for that item Bruce. Had to wonder how much the shipping is though. For what it’s worth, I have bought a lot of stuff off E bay and haven’t been screwed yet.
Hey TomH.
I too used to buy some on e-bay.
Mine wasn’t the problem so much with the sellers.
It was with the seller shipping.
Of course they would blame the shipper: United Parcel Service; The United States Postal Service; Federal Express.
The problem was they were amateurs at packing to be delivered useable despite handling abuses.
A great used ESAB TIG welder that had five out of eight metals corners multiple times dropped rounded off and some of the internal transformers cores shattered. Lights up. No outputs.
One of six individual Buy-Now permanent magnet motor-generators where the seller did-not follow my instructions and multilayer package in corogated cardboard with precut handholds . . . but a wood-worker so proud he just had to make up a special wooden board box!!
It arrived having been obviously along grainlines broken and filament taped back into one chunk. The motor-generator damaged. The other five who did pack as I instructed did get an outside of the e-bay system $50 bonus bill from me mailed to them once I received usable.
Store sites learn to minimize complaints and returns/refunds how to pack and ship to endure rough shippers handling. Or be forced out of business.
Anymore I will pay more for the heavy stuff to just be able to buy, sight-seen. Driven 400 miles one way once to verify this.
I still have cumulative $1500. unusable I am still having to digest.
That yellow ESAB set just inside the shop door as break-in, first-grab, sucker-bait. Slow a fellow down enough for one of the dogs to, latch onto his ass.
GoranK. I’ve been that spoiled man too.
My point of detailing out this my go-back; change your own tires endeavor, is to give FREEDOM capability over a now necessity in modern life. Keep yourself rolling along.
Modern human world/culture/societies wants us all to become specialists, depending on other specialists. With the Caesars tax collectors in between. The Know-betters setting up the rules and standards.
Just having the tools is not enough.
It takes using practice to learn the Do’s and Do-Nots.
My wife put away my little blue and white can of Hubbords boot grease. My proven go-to tire lube.
So’s I thought a 30 year old seal tin of Kiwi waterproofing wax with silicone would work. It did. But was too tacky stiff and too hard to wipe off, remove. Silicone, eh? O.K. So I thinned mixed it with some silicone spray I use on plastics and rubber seals.
Oh man! Slick as snot ice then. The tire spoons needed for the last spooning/barring over with the Harbor Freight NFG bar would not stay positioned gripping!! Sideways slipping.
I had to then go to the ground on wooden blocks to be able to both knees lock the achieved bead edge roll-in from popping back up and out! Defeated the whole purpose of the post stand system. Those 24 inch spoon bars then too long with me all weight on my knees directly over. Yeah. Than a shorter screwdriver to finish.
ALL because of poor lube choices.
Only actually Doing is learning.
And only actually Doing a lot in a variety of ways is ever Learning well.
Been as painful to me to watch many of these I-just-got-it tires videos as the I-just-made-it “No Tar” wood gasification videos.
I do not do dentistry. Or internal surgery. Everything else . . . give it a go. Get at least adequate for yourself and yours.
S.U.
I’ve never bought anything heavy or very fragile off E bay SteveU. Small engine parts, computer parts, Hexaloy tubes, stuff like that. Too bad about that ESAB. Would have been a nice machine. Not from E bay but I once ordered a 5 cu ft chest freezer off Amazon. Looked like it had been air dropped from a copter without a parachute. UPS. I don’t do that no more.
