Harbor Freight tire changer advice?

BFBOB · Aug 18, 2014

I've got some junk tires I need to dismount for recycling, so I bought an HF tire changer. It was too cheap to resist, on sale for $39.99 and then a 25% off coupon. :rocker:

I haven't assembled it yet, but I did look over the display unit in the store. It seems a little, shall we say, light?

I wonder if any of you have experience with this animal and can point to weak spots that should be reinforce. I expect it would be easier/better to do this before they break!

I have the usual array of metal flogging tools, a welder and a good supply of scrap steel.

Thanks in advance, and please don't beat me up too badly for being a cheap@ss.

davesnothere · Aug 18, 2014

For 30something bucks you'll he lucky if it works once. Wear gloves and glasses, that's my advice.

Askme42 · Aug 18, 2014

You bought a tire changer to take off junk tires? Are the rims junk too?

sc3013 · Aug 18, 2014

Use LOTS of soapy water.

Brians VWss · Aug 18, 2014

I've had mine for over 10 years not single problem. Best thing to do is Bolt it down somewhere out of the way. You will frustrate Yourself if it's not secure. I have two extra tire irons I use to get the job done.

Mk3Mike · Aug 18, 2014

I've got one. It works OK for what it is.

The weak points are the pin that passes through the lug hole (mine broke at the weld and in half), and the part that wedges against that pin tends to get bent out of shape after use. On wheels that I care about, I wrap a t-shirt around the post before putting that fingered part down.

I also bought a No-Mar brand tire bar for using on aluminum wheels. The bead breaker that is attached to the machine will scratch the hell out of the paint on the barrels unless you add some sort of plastic pads. I bought the other bead breaker they sell and it can be used a bit more carefully by design.

If I could redesign anything I would make the top pieces more like a manual Coats tire changer I used at a junkyard once. There was a conical piece that screwed down and used the hub bore to center and clamp down the wheel. Then there was a spring loaded finger that you would push into a lug opening from the bottom.

The bead breaker also dropped on from the top and had a better leveraging design on the Coates. One day when I have a lathe and some time I'll try to make new parts for mine that work the same way. For now it works good for me.

To answer your original question though, it's definitely worth it for junk tire removal. I'd advise using some sort of spray, like what's available from No-Mar, to help with the dismounting process. All in all it takes me about 5 minutes per tire for something from like a small-mid size passenger car.

Troutsqueezer · Aug 19, 2014

As stated, bolt it down. It is not a bad device, despite previous comments. Mine works like a champ and saved me some bucks. There are many YouTube videos you can watch and see for yourself.

I use WD40 for lubricant only because it's handy.

I use it to change tires on my UTV and ATV, trailers too.

BFBOB · Aug 19, 2014

Thanks, guys.
Yes, the wheels are junk too, and all steel. No aluminum to worry about.
The pin you mention, I guess it's to prevent the wheel from rotating as you pry the tire off? I'll inspect mine for weld quality before using.
At a glance, the weakest part looked to me where the arms that press down on the bead breaker were pinned to the handle. I'm tempted to add a sleeve to the handle, inside or out depending on clearance to the rest of the machine. OTOH, if it breaks there, it'll be easy to get to.
I'll bolt it down to a concrete floor. Got some 1/2" wedge loks, should do the trick.
Tire lube for sure. 1/3 - 2/3 dish soap in water works for me.

...and best of all, when this project is done, a few dozen tires, I can sell it on CraigsList for $100!

Crow Horse · Aug 19, 2014

This might be helpful.....

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=255604

IOWNJUNK · Aug 19, 2014

The two bars on the bead breaker will bend if you use too much force, just work your way around if the bead doesn't break right away. Paid $60 for mine and it paid for itself the first day.

MDGearhead · Aug 19, 2014

Like everyone says work smarter not harder, if you try to go ******* on it it will bend. That being said after you get the hang of it, it's not a bad little machine.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

crewchief888 · Aug 19, 2014

IOWNJUNK said:
The two bars on the bead breaker will bend if you use too much force, just work your way around if the bead doesn't break right away. Paid $60 for mine and it paid for itself the first day.

thats probably the weakest point

be patient when breaking the beads, a BFH sometimes helps

if the tires & wheels are junk, use some penetrating oil instead of soap/water

:beer:

Crow Horse · Aug 19, 2014

Box or gusset the bead breaker arms.........

IOWNJUNK · Aug 19, 2014

Very nice ^^^^

I will be stealing that soon. Thanks for posting those pics.

Crow Horse · Aug 19, 2014

Other enhancements I made.......

An aluminum sleeve that goes over the center post to act as a bearing....

Rubber matting to help keep the rim from spinning....

A piece of plastic over the steel angle to protect the rim when breaking the beads.....

The entire "station" folded up which allows it to either be bolted to a wall in my garage or a trailer hitch. I also incorporated the mini tire changer into it....

alxdgr8 · Aug 19, 2014

I welded the center post to the feet after it started to bend breaking my first bead. That flange on the bottom of the post bent before the bead breaker arms did, even with the bolts properly torqued.

I've been debating getting a NO-MAR tool for it as the HF one scratched the **** out of the wheels I was taking tires off of (didn't care about them anyways). Not sure if I can justify it though since I don't use this often.

Crow Horse · Aug 19, 2014

You can massage over the HF bar by grinding those offending surfaces down mirror smooth. They are quite rough out of the box. It won't totally eliminate scratching but will help considerably.
I pulled the trigger on the No Mar bar and am waiting for it to arrive......

DekeT · Aug 19, 2014

Mine works great, no luck needed. Lube up your tires with plenty of soapy water or other slippery substance or your choice and the tires will come right off. I bolt mine down on a trailer or sometimes a pallet.

MG44 · Aug 19, 2014

I have an old one with a nomar bar. The nomar bar makes it almost effortless

Farmall 1066 · Aug 20, 2014

All good advice so far. I'd strongly recommend reinforcing the bead breaker as Crow Horse has done, before you bend it all to hell!

nicksnothereman · Aug 20, 2014

BFBOB said:
I've got some junk tires I need to dismount for recycling, so I bought an HF tire changer. It was too cheap to resist, on sale for $39.99 and then a 25% off coupon. I haven't assembled it yet, but I did look over the display unit in the store. It seems a little, shall we say, light?

I wonder if any of you have experience with this animal and can point to weak spots that should be reinforce. I expect it would be easier/better to do this before they break!

I have the usual array of metal flogging tools, a welder and a good supply of scrap steel.

Thanks in advance, and please don't beat me up too badly for being a cheap@ss.

I got the bead breaker, it ain't that bad. :lol:

Attach it to something heavy and go at it. Wear safety goggles and a mouth guard though.

Vegaman_Dan · Aug 20, 2014

Mounting it solid is the best advice based on experience. Sink some threaed inserts into your floor to mount it to when needed. Someplace with lots of space around to move that arm. Driveway is a good place.

Or weld it onto a 2" tube and slip that into the trailer hitch of your vehicle. Then it's portable and have a solid mount.

saturninin · Aug 21, 2014

If rims & tires are junk.... why not use a sawzall to cut the tire.... I know a guy that did that with all of his alloy rims so he could scrap the rims (sad thing... he's in CA so the finish was near amazing compared to the pitting that we get here in the midwest)

85Ram · Aug 31, 2015

Hoping it's ok to bring up an old post. Over the weekend I picked up the harbor freight changer and bolted it to a wood platform. I am practicing on a 185-65-14” tire on a steel wheel. I have no problem breaking the bead, dismounting, and getting the lower bead back on. I run into trouble when getting the last 25% of the upper bead on. I’ve read that the opposite side of the bead has to be in the shallower center of the wheel. Should the lower bead also be in the center when trying to get the top bead on?
The videos on YouTube show people “spinning” the top bead on with the supplied bar. That doesn’t seem possible when I try it. Is it normal to have to use a tire iron to get the last 25% on?

dcgun · May 16, 2022

BFBOB said:
I've got some junk tires I need to dismount for recycling, so I bought an HF tire changer. It was too cheap to resist, on sale for $39.99 and then a 25% off coupon. I haven't assembled it yet, but I did look over the display unit in the store. It seems a little, shall we say, light?

I wonder if any of you have experience with this animal and can point to weak spots that should be reinforce. I expect it would be easier/better to do this before they break!

I have the usual array of metal flogging tools, a welder and a good supply of scrap steel.

Thanks in advance, and please don't beat me up too badly for being a cheap@ss.

I bought mine figuring it would need help to be of service and knew I was getting under kill for my needs. I like most people want to be capable of handling modern day tire sizes and my first job was about as big as I want to try with it. I am putting 305/40/22's on and it's no simple task even with equipment costing 50 times as much or more, and it isn't for the squeamish! Yhe bead breaker is far too soft but I happened to have 2 matching flat pry bar/nail removal tools that with the hooked feet welded together the nail puller eyes line up for a bolt to attach it where the soft one went. I used engine fasteners to attach everything. The bead breaker I fabricated to work on the top instead of underneath. If you like that method try using a porto power in place of the bead breaker for far easier results. I used two pieces of aluminum 4" each and drilled 3/8 holes at the ends one end goes on the end of the bead breaker main pipe. I added two more sets of holes to attach to giving it more acces in tire and wheel size. putting the pieces on the pipe at the longest set of holes with a bolt then a bolt with nuts for spacers thru the tab on top of the wheel lock down piece which needs a 1/2 of a 3/8 chain link replacing it, gives you a dual cam feature. It has to have a flat iron piece and the HF tire iron 24" works perfect slid between the tie down piece and the end of the bead breaker and down into the area of the wheel lug location to stop it from caming to the inside. Now the soft metal bead breaker piece slid thru the new nail puller bead breaker and bolted to the bead breaker main pipe will keep the foot from sliding out when your breaking a tire down or pushing the opposite side down when mounting a tire. Removing big tall low profile tires if your not reusing I recommend cutting the bead with a 4" angle grinder with a metal cut off blade on the second bead or it will wear you out and take up your valuable time. And you will need it putting the last 8" of the second bead when finishing up. The angle lines inside the tire I find are showing the direction to travel when installing. It's like working with the bias on material and goes much easier. The tire irons that HF sells need taken too someone that knows how to heat treat them preferably a tool and die maker and have them treated where they heat them and control the cool down in an oven. Actually HF needs to take a pile of them and have them done IMHO. This is a great deal and works fine on what it is designed for 16" and smaller I suspect. And if you are cautious I know up to a big 22 but it wasn't without a tire tool flying through the air on occasion.

BFBOB · May 16, 2022

Thanks for all the great suggestions! Years later, my HF changer remains bolted down outdoors right where I used it for the original project. I reinforced the bead breaker arms as they started bending almost immediately. Other than that, the only mod I made was turning some flanges to allow securing different size wheels. Now I only use it for changing tires on my garden tractors. Yes, it's a huge improvement over even 18" tire levers with ag-tread 12x24" tires. They are significantly harder to deal with than turf-tread.

Another thing I invested in is an air-tank bead seater. I tried every trick I know short of flaming ether and could not get one tire mounted. Took it to a yard equipment shop where they used the air-tank seater, which I'd never seen or heard of before. Miracle!! I thought, hey, I bet I could build one of those. Sure could, but first I cruised eBay and found I could buy one for $30! Easy choice. Works a treat. :bounce:

theoldwizard1 · May 16, 2022

Troutsqueezer said:
As stated, bolt it down. It is not a bad device, despite previous comments. Mine works like a champ and saved me some bucks.

Best advice ! Bolting it to a concrete floor works much better than bolting it to a pallet or even a 4x4 piece of plywood. Many people fab up a mount that can plug into a 2" trailer receiver..

Kind of pricey, but it works well on small wheels and tires BeadBuster XB-450

rlitman · May 16, 2022

BFBOB said:
Thanks for all the great suggestions! Years later, my HF changer remains bolted down outdoors right where I used it for the original project. I reinforced the bead breaker arms as they started bending almost immediately. Other than that, the only mod I made was turning some flanges to allow securing different size wheels. Now I only use it for changing tires on my garden tractors. Yes, it's a huge improvement over even 18" tire levers with ag-tread 12x24" tires. They are significantly harder to deal with than turf-tread.

Another thing I invested in is an air-tank bead seater. I tried every trick I know short of flaming ether and could not get one tire mounted. Took it to a yard equipment shop where they used the air-tank seater, which I'd never seen or heard of before. Miracle!! I thought, hey, I bet I could build one of those. Sure could, but first I cruised eBay and found I could buy one for $30! Easy choice. Works a treat.

Mine has been bolted down outdoors for a few years now. It's done 30" LT tires (on 15" rims from my Jeep) as well as relatively low profile tires from my Acura ILX.

I don't have an air tank seater, but I do have some Milton 731 recapper fittings. They adapt an M-style air hose QD fitting right onto the schrader threads.

M-Style® Recapper Plug

M Style Recapper Plug by Milton Industries. Top Quality pneumatics for automotive & professional use. Shop online now.

www.miltonindustries.com

Amazon sells a 10 pack for a reasonable price.

The biggest issue I had was with the Jeep tires, where the two tire beads wanted to return to about 4" apart when the rims were 8-1/2" wide. I ended up buying a tire seating ring to close enough of the gap to get the sidewalls to inflate.

dcgun · May 16, 2022

85Ram said:
Hoping it's ok to bring up an old post. Over the weekend I picked up the harbor freight changer and bolted it to a wood platform. I am practicing on a 185-65-14” tire on a steel wheel. I have no problem breaking the bead, dismounting, and getting the lower bead back on. I run into trouble when getting the last 25% of the upper bead on. I’ve read that the opposite side of the bead has to be in the shallower center of the wheel. Should the lower bead also be in the center when trying to get the top bead on?
The videos on YouTube show people “spinning” the top bead on with the supplied bar. That doesn’t seem possible when I try it. Is it normal to have to use a tire iron to get the last 25% on?

Look inside the tire at the lines and work in the direction they are going seems to help. It also depends on the condition of the tire. Old tires won't stretch like a new one and will probably have some degree of dry rot and that impeads the issue greatly. There will be a difference in brand and what grade of tire as well. If you have the top bead in the right place the bottom one will be good to go.

dcgun · May 16, 2022

One other item that needs attention are the welds at the end of the tire removal and mounting bars spade end needs dressed out. It dosen't slide across the rim easily as it should it can be a uncomfortable to say the least, feeling, when you cam the bar over and it jumps the weld. Last time it did that to me I thought for sure the end had broke off!

fitter30 · May 16, 2022

Have one 10 years bolted to the garage floor. Have had couple of problems not with the changer failing but with me not having enough ****. Both braking the bead and mounting low profile tires. Really could use 5 gallon bead seater since my air compressor isn't big enough. To brake the bead I've used my van driving over the tire next to the rim.

kody1234 · May 16, 2022

Brians VWss said:
I've had mine for over 10 years not single problem. Best thing to do is Bolt it down somewhere out of the way. You will frustrate Yourself if it's not secure. I have two extra tire irons I use to get the job done.

I use mine for lawn mower tires,Make sure to bolt the base down good Watch you tube videos.

Harbor Freight tire changer advice?

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