Diy Tire Changing Gear?

[KanadianKen]

I've got a gallon of this if you need it Ken, for dipping things in

21XCRNF9NFL.jpeg

Loctite - Color Guard

Inhibits rust and corrosion; seals, insulates and identifies almost any material in minutes. Creates a non-slip gripping surface. Rubber coating won't crack or chip. Acid and alkali resistant. Lasts for years. Use to 200°F.

Can i dip ANYTHING in that? :goofy:

[turtlecreek]

I've got a gallon of this if you need it Ken, for dipping things in

21XCRNF9NFL.jpeg

Loctite - Color Guard

Inhibits rust and corrosion; seals, insulates and identifies almost any material in minutes. Creates a non-slip gripping surface. Rubber coating won't crack or chip. Acid and alkali resistant. Lasts for years. Use to 200°F.

Can i dip ANYTHING in that? :unsure:

not those.....that's what gold bond is for!

[dutchinterceptor]

I use the HF changer and the Parnes balancer. I mounted some delrin blocks to the HF mounting hooks which saves the rim from any damage. I also bought the NoMar mount/demount bar which works beautifully but the absolute best product was the tub of greasy snot(Tire Lub) that was free with the purchase of the NoMar bar.

[Guest]

The things that make tire bustin' a lot easier is having the rim in a stable position, at a workable height, a slick lubricant and LEVERAGE.

I've been using a 16 gallon oil drum with a length of 5/8" heater hose safety wired around the rim to provide the height and stability. Most any wheel (RC51 in pic) easily fits the drum with rotors in place, so you don't have to worry about tweaking a rotor (been there, bent that).

A pair of 24" tire irons from NAPA give the needed leverage. You'll want to polish up the business ends a bit as they are a little raw as purchased. I think the rim protectors are K&L pieces IIRC.

I don't remember the name of the goop that is mixed with water for the lube, but I got about 2/3 of a cup from a truck tire shop and mixed it with hot water. Once mixed it remains liquid. I've been working with the original 2 quarts for over 5 years and that includes 3 years of kart racing. Applied liberally to the beads and the rim, it is slippery as snot and washes away with water.

Rex

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[KanadianKen]

THanks for all the input guys - I appreciate it. I haven't decided on what to get just yet. Still have some learning to do!!!

[superfunkomatic]

i'd be curious to see how this kit works too, along with yours ken.

i've gone through a set of tires a year for the past 6 years, so a setup like the harbor freight one would have paid for itself in shop fees already.

post pics or a review when you do change them.

or i'll drop by and we can do mine too. :blink:

Ken, a riding buddy and I just picked up the Harbor Freight unit in the fall, we just got around to putting it together last weekend, looks well enough made, especially considering how inexpensive it is, we just drove down over the border to the nearest store and picked it up, the border guard was in a good mood when we came back, let us off without paying any duty or GST to boot. I'm just about ready to do my first tyre change as rear is very close to the wear marks, VERY close. I'll let you know how it goes.

Which balancer did you get? I ordered the Marc Parnes one, really nice guy to deal with and the unit looks really well made.

[cozye]

ONe thing I have been doing lately that makes it a lot easier is using those blue clamps that you get from lowes that have a handle on them and you squeze to tighten. They have rubber peice on each side and I use them to clamp onto the rim to keep the tire from sliding around as I work it off. You can get a good idea of the concept by taking a look at the video's on http://www.nomartirechanger.com/. They sell some called "extra hands clamps" but you can get some for 1/10th of the price from lowes in a 2 pack for 19$.

[Hobie1dog]

That Nomar site is awesome....watching a guy change a tire in 21 seconds....cool stuff. Thanks for posting up the link. :thumbsup:

[Misspent Youth]

Just used my HF for the first time (changed to Diablos on ZRX). Hooks are plasti-dipped, as are the ends of the stock HF bar. Blue Motion Pro rim protectors are too soft, but with the Ru-Glyde from NAPA (for lube), things went pretty well, especially for this first timer. Hand clamp thing would have prevented having to ask the wife to hold a tire iron in place to keep the the tire from coming up on the remount, so I'll look for those at Lowes. Had to de-plasti-dip the inside of the remount end (that goes to rim) of the stock HF bar because it wouldn't hug the rim enough to work. Bad thing about the the HF unit is that the top unit (the motorcycle tire adapter) has a tendency to spin when you apply lots of pressure, so I'm going to drill and pin it. Also, mine's mounted on an irregular sheet of plywood, roughly 3/4', so floor mounting would really help to stabilize things and allow all of my effort to go to the tire, rather than to compensating for the shortcomings of the lightweight unit. Still, it worked, the only scratches came from my errors, and it was cheap.

[evl_twn]

I bought the HF changer several years ago, and gave it away after using it a couple of times. It's a cheap knockoff of the Coats 220, which I had used at 2 shops before. The Coats isn't cheap, but it just plain WORKS. I bought one of those and have had no issues since.

http://www.wikco.com/Coats220.html

I use the Handy Industries balancer.

http://www.handyindustries.com/shop/produc...&D=0&S=

Also, the Ru-Glyde NAPA stuff can be made yourself, just mix liquid soap, water, and coolant. I was told that by the guy at NAPA who sold me the jug of RuGlyde.

[Tyke]

i'd be curious to see how this kit works too, along with yours ken.

i've gone through a set of tires a year for the past 6 years, so a setup like the harbor freight one would have paid for itself in shop fees already.

post pics or a review when you do change them.

or i'll drop by and we can do mine too. :goofy:

Ken, a riding buddy and I just picked up the Harbor Freight unit in the fall, we just got around to putting it together last weekend, looks well enough made, especially considering how inexpensive it is, we just drove down over the border to the nearest store and picked it up, the border guard was in a good mood when we came back, let us off without paying any duty or GST to boot. I'm just about ready to do my first tyre change as rear is very close to the wear marks, VERY close. I'll let you know how it goes.

Which balancer did you get? I ordered the Marc Parnes one, really nice guy to deal with and the unit looks really well made.

We did one tire for a friend of my buddies and it went fine, do need to figure some better rim protectors out though. I seem to be going through a set of tires a year too, so we thought this would pay for itself fairly quickly. You're welcome to come over and we'll do you're tires when needed, might cost you a couple of beers though :goofy: Oh and as long as you promise not to have any irate women chasing you at the time too. :warranty:

[superfunkomatic]

OMG, i'm never going to live this down, am i?

i might take you up on that, maybe in july when my tires are completely shot, right now there about 85% shot.

i'd be curious to see how this kit works too, along with yours ken.

i've gone through a set of tires a year for the past 6 years, so a setup like the harbor freight one would have paid for itself in shop fees already.

post pics or a review when you do change them.

or i'll drop by and we can do mine too. :goofy:

Ken, a riding buddy and I just picked up the Harbor Freight unit in the fall, we just got around to putting it together last weekend, looks well enough made, especially considering how inexpensive it is, we just drove down over the border to the nearest store and picked it up, the border guard was in a good mood when we came back, let us off without paying any duty or GST to boot. I'm just about ready to do my first tyre change as rear is very close to the wear marks, VERY close. I'll let you know how it goes.

Which balancer did you get? I ordered the Marc Parnes one, really nice guy to deal with and the unit looks really well made.

We did one tire for a friend of my buddies and it went fine, do need to figure some better rim protectors out though. I seem to be going through a set of tires a year too, so we thought this would pay for itself fairly quickly. You're welcome to come over and we'll do you're tires when needed, might cost you a couple of beers though :beer: Oh and as long as you promise not to have any irate women chasing you at the time too. :goofy:

[cozye]

Yeah, when I sell my VFR .. I'll probably plunk down the coin for the nomar changer. Been doing it with irons by hand for a year now and nothing beats some nice equipment to make things easier. Nice stuff. Very similar to the wikco but a bit more refined I think. Cost a bit more. I've been changing some tires for friends so I might just start telling them to put 10 bucks in the Jar to help offset the costs :lol: I'd still do them with irons over taking to a dealer to do even if I never get a nomar.

[jeremy556]

Yeah, when I sell my VFR .. I'll probably plunk down the coin for the nomar changer. Been doing it with irons by hand for a year now and nothing beats some nice equipment to make things easier. Nice stuff. Very similar to the wikco but a bit more refined I think. Cost a bit more. I've been changing some tires for friends so I might just start telling them to put 10 bucks in the Jar to help offset the costs :lol: I'd still do them with irons over taking to a dealer to do even if I never get a nomar.

You may want to keep an eye on ebay for a used pneumatic also.