Harbor Freight Semi-automatic tire changer

[garyhgaryh]

I'm thinking about buying one of these HF tire changers.

http://www.harborfreight.com/semiautomatic-tire-changer-with-air-operated-tilting-arm-90589.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/semiautomatic-tire-changer-67517.html

I'm thinking about buying the latter since it works on 110volts and does basically the same thing as the more expensive one except it doesn't have a tilt arm.

Does anyone have a HF semi-automatic tire changer?
On some of my cars, I have low profile tires and a bmw that has runflats. I know these changers are not meant to specifically change runflats, but it can be done.

Any comments or suggestions?

Thanks,
Gary

 

[theoldwizard1]

If you are willing to spend that much, look for a good used PROFESSIONAL machine like a Coats. Those thing last forever and can be rebuilt. Parts are still available for really old ones. Where would you get parts for a HF unit ?

 

[garyhgaryh]

If you are willing to spend that much, look for a good used PROFESSIONAL machine like a Coats. Those thing last forever and can be rebuilt. Parts are still available for really old ones. Where would you get parts for a HF unit ?

I would get it from Harbor Freight, but I know they are not obligated to carry them. I did think about what would happen if I need part for this HF machine. There is a 25% coupon I can use that will effectively make the tire changer $599. How can you beat that price?

I know it's not made for runflats or lo-pro tires, but I can jury rig a 2nd arm that can help me hold or assist me with the tire.

Only thing is with shipping and tax, that $599 deal is now $750. Even at that price, nothing comes close brand new.

But I know no one that owns this model so i may end up being the guinea pig for that product!

 

[Modifieddriver]

I read the reviews on the tilt arm. Guy says he used it for 5 years and liked it but had to replace air lines. I didn't even know HF sold this equipment.

On a standard rim clamp machine, if the rim width get to 10" you are going to struggle some. I would think that tilt tower would cause some unwanted motion.

For the price difference, I'd probably go with the fixed tower and the price looks real affordable.

Also, check Craigslist. There's always used machine for sale. But some are just not used, but used up.

At work, we devised a bottle jack pump and did some fab work to make the tower telescope for real wide stuff.

And, check out Performance Equipment. We had them custom build machines for us.

Meanwhile, at my shop I use tire irons and a lever hand bead breaker.

 

[garyhgaryh]

I will probably get the fixed arm version. I noticed the item may be available at local stores so I'll be calling around to see if I can get it locally and save myself about $100 in shipping ($96).

I think I can make this machine work for run-flats and low-profile tires.

I've been checking on craigslist, but the ones I've seen are either priced high or the machines that are at an attractive price seem to be at the end of it's useful life (I can see myself putting money into parts that will cost more than the machine itself in the long run).

Gary

I read the reviews on the tilt arm. Guy says he used it for 5 years and liked it but had to replace air lines. I didn't even know HF sold this equipment.

On a standard rim clamp machine, if the rim width get to 10" you are going to struggle some. I would think that tilt tower would cause some unwanted motion.

For the price difference, I'd probably go with the fixed tower and the price looks real affordable.

Also, check Craigslist. There's always used machine for sale. But some are just not used, but used up.

At work, we devised a bottle jack pump and did some fab work to make the tower telescope for real wide stuff.

And, check out Performance Equipment. We had them custom build machines for us.

Meanwhile, at my shop I use tire irons and a lever hand bead breaker.

 

[garyhgaryh]

Hey guys, I picked this up about five weeks ago:

Enjoy. I'll have a video of it in action soon. We just had a kid so I've been
out of commission lately.

Gary

 

[garyhgaryh]

Here's a video of me verifying basic operations of the tire changer:

 

[alberto]

It's gone from their web site.

 

[garyhgaryh]

It's gone from their web site.

I noticed this last week. They pulled both their tire changers off their site.
I was going to rate it on their site but couldn't find product to rate.

I didn't realize this until later, but the one I bought was in the clearance page so they may not restock.

Gary

 

[SpiderGearsMan]

geez the hunter tire machine we bought in 2010 was 15,000 dollars
I am sure the HF is almost as good

 

[garyhgaryh]

geez the hunter tire machine we bought in 2010 was 15,000 dollars
I am sure the HF is almost as good

speechless

 

[garyhgaryh]

I finally made a video of me changing a lo-pro tire on this harbor freight tire changer.

I'll be trying runflats next. Where can I get the so called "magic bead blocks"? It's basically a bunch of plastic blocks that push the tires into the drop center. They are all
tied together.

To the guy who made a comment about a hunger machine that cost $15k: for that price, it better be good .

Gary

 

[garyhgaryh]

I was able to change a low profile run-flat tire with this changer. Too bad this product is no longer available at harbor freight.

 

[randyny]

Thanks for your videos, I watched them while considering whether to buy a changer or not. Ended up going halvsies with a buddy on the Triumph changer & balancer for abouit 2200 total. We race our cars so have already mounted/dismounted 4 tires six times. And patched 3 flats from the inside. I have a Corvette with low profile tires. I removed/reinstalled the runflats which was not bad although I'm sure a new runflat would be more difficult.

Every time I use the machine it gets easier. And doing my F150 tires is actually fun. This machine should pay itself off with 2-3 years between the mounting/rotating/flat fixes, and the lower prices for tires. For instance, I got a set of Nitto NT05s for the vette locally for a similar price to tirerack. But after mounting and tax, it was ~180 bucks more. Plus the convenience of doing it ourselves is super cool.

Anyway, thanks for the vids. They were quite helpful.

-rp

 

[garyhgaryh]

Thanks for your videos, I watched them while considering whether to buy a changer or not. Ended up going halvsies with a buddy on the Triumph changer & balancer for abouit 2200 total. We race our cars so have already mounted/dismounted 4 tires six times. And patched 3 flats from the inside. I have a Corvette with low profile tires. I removed/reinstalled the runflats which was not bad although I'm sure a new runflat would be more difficult.

Every time I use the machine it gets easier. And doing my F150 tires is actually fun. This machine should pay itself off with 2-3 years between the mounting/rotating/flat fixes, and the lower prices for tires. For instance, I got a set of Nitto NT05s for the vette locally for a similar price to tirerack. But after mounting and tax, it was ~180 bucks more. Plus the convenience of doing it ourselves is super cool.

Anyway, thanks for the vids. They were quite helpful.

-rp

Thank you! I was googling my machine and found this old thread. I changed another set of tires this past weekend and the machine has paid for itself (finally). It's a two year return on investment since I change so many tires. It will now be all savings.

My regulator/oiler started hissing this past weekend. That's the only thing that has gone wrong. About $50 to replace if I go with HF replacement.

Gary

 

[pamelascot]

We have a hydraulic shop and a customer brought one of these tire changers to us to have the hoses replaced. Just a word to the wise: all the parts have been discontinued (including the hoses.) That's no big deal to us, as we can make the hoses with fittings attached, but it might be a consideration to some of y'all who don't have a hose crimper handy.

 

[Richard Cranium]

thanks for the update.