tire changer clamping question

[PoorOwner]

OK so let's say the machine has these specs

Outside clamping 10" - 19"
Inside clamping 12" - 22"

What's the difference between outside and inside clamping?

Can a tire always be clamped inside and outside? Or it depends if you are placing the tire face down?

Is this even going to grip a 19" wheel facing up?

 

[joetech]

Inside clamping is what you normally do... outside clamping is to prevent rim scratches on the inside. We don't generally clamp outside at work unless we're flipping the rim to wire brush it or it's a special rim. Look at the detailed specs and see what the actual opening capacity of the machine is. 19" rim would mean approx. 20" opening to clear.

 

[PoorOwner]

By the way guys, is a bead blaster necessary feature? I thought you just fill valve with air and it should sit the bead, is bead blaster mostly used for big off road type tires?

 

[PartsGuy]

Bead blaster is definitely a must-have. especially with today's wide rims and tires. Stiff sidewall tires are another reason to have one. A portable tank-style bead blaster (Bead Cheetah, etc...) is damn nice to have on hand, too. We've done a bunch of Yokohama Ice-Guard snows this season, and they all seemed to be a real fight to mount up.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Bead blaster is definitely a must-have. especially with today's wide rims and tires. Stiff sidewall tires are another reason to have one.

I will disagree on the "must have", especially for a home shop that will use it only ocassionally. Certainly, it is a very nice to have and probably the fastest method (short of an "ether bomb"). There are several other methods of getting a bead to seat. Check Google/YouTube.

 

[PoorOwner]

So I would think for bead blasting (if equipped) to work you have to use inside clamping, right?

 

[txvwnut]

No the bead blaster will work with either clamp method, and yes they are a must have on the machine, mine doesn’t so I have a cheatah type that I use. If the tire(s) have been stored lying on their side with more stacked on top you’ll need a blast to help get the bead spread and sometimes a belt around the tread. Like stated above their are several ways to seat a bead and some don’t envolve an explosion but in the end nothing beats a good solid blast of air. Then sometimes you get a set of tires that are just soft enough on the sidewall where all you have to do is step on the pedal lift and wait for the two pops and fill to pressure.

 

[IndyGarage]

By the way guys, is a bead blaster necessary feature? I thought you just fill valve with air and it should sit the bead, is bead blaster mostly used for big off road type tires?

No, bead blaster is not a necessary option. I've been using an Atlas tire changer for about 5 years without one. I've changed everything from small car tires to motorcycle tires and 35 series tires for my Porsche to pretty large E series tires for my truck.

I've only had about 1 set of tires that was difficult to set the bead without one. As I recall they were just standard passenger car tires. I don't know why they were difficult. I finally got them by putting a ratchet strap around the tread in order to force the bead to the outside.

After that set I bought a Cheetah, which I use very infrequently. Almost every time the bead sets without it.


BTW - the inside vs outside. I've only used inside clamping when I've done 20 inch truck wheels.

 

[Brand X]

This.. below is good advice...

Like stated above their are several ways to seat a bead and some don’t envolve an explosion but in the end nothing beats a good solid blast of air.

IMO...
I found having both a air tank, and bead blast jets is the best of both worlds..You will kick yourself in the A** for saving a bit a money there..One trick on those tires that are real stubborn is to take the tire off the machine, lean it up on the side of the tire machine, and use the Cheetah in the Vertical position. Motorcycles I clamp from a outside, and most others are clamped from the inside... Some machines have different rim clamps, so no hard, and fast on that. Buy a few good tire spoons to help when the machine might have issues on the bead.. Stop, and help it along manually if it looks like you might be about to rip the bead .. I built my manual machine first, and used spoons/no mar bars to mount many tires.. Doing tires manual give you a really good understanding of how to do things correctly. My bead breaker worked excellent on that unit too.. Still rather use a machine though..

 

[PoorOwner]

so you don't have to unclamp it to use the bead blaster? But then I guess you want the tire lifting off either.
Wouldn't the bead wedge against the clamp when the bead seals on the bottom? or inside clamping only?

 

[plinker]

so you don't have to unclamp it to use the bead blaster? But then I guess you want the tire lifting off either.
Wouldn't the bead wedge against the clamp when the bead seals on the bottom? or inside clamping only?

With inside clamping, I have always un-clamped a tire/wheel when using either the Cheetah or the built in bead cheater.

Reason being, the tire expands and will try to un-clamp itself by force which can be dangerous as the tire can launch straight up. The machine is a Hoffman FWIW.

On this particular machine, outside clamping moves the whole wheel unit up higher so it's less of a concern seating with it outside clamped. I still prefer to avoid seating a clamped tire/wheel though. 95% of the time inside clamping is done FWIW.

That said, I prefer to use the Cheetah to seat beads with when necessary as it tends to work faster and give my back less grief.

 

[Naltastrife]

Don't know how well other machines work, but inner clamping is only something to do at work to steel wheels. The 3 Coates machines we have will absolutely toss an aluminum wheel with low profile tires if you don't use finesse when clamping from the inside.

 

[PoorOwner]

So if I get a machine without the bead blast, I can just get a cheetah style portable blaster and that will do the job also?

 

[txvwnut]

Yes a cheatah style blaster will work you just need to have a air chuck that clamps on and will fill without having a core in the stem. You need fast air fill as well as the quick high volume blast of air.

 

[IndyGarage]

So if I get a machine without the bead blast, I can just get a cheetah style portable blaster and that will do the job also?

Yes,


Although I've used my cheetah about 3 times in 5 years. I put an air hose on it and use it for a portable air tank 90% of the time.