Harbor Freight tire changer

I saw that the tire changer is on sale for $34 in the new catalog. Anybody ever use one of them? How are they? Waste of time? Holler if you got one.

Briggs

 

I've got one. It works OK. It is a pain to store though (odd shape that does not stack well).

I usually take my stuff to a small service station anyways to get it balanced.

 

I've got one and it's not bad, I use it when I have to get an old tire off a rim that I want to clean up and paint then take it to a tire shop to mount the new tire. It works a lot better than using tire irons and beating on it!

 

I have one. I used it to pull the old crusty tires off my '37, put new white walls on it, pull tires off of the A, and pull tires off of some 40 ford rims.

It works really well, but bolt it to the floor if you want to use it by yourself. Otherwise find a few friends to help you hold it still while you dismount a tire.

Hey, it's already paid for it's self for me, and it comes with this cool huge breaker bar that's worth the dough in my opinion!

 

I ordered one a few days ago, thanks for the info

They also have free shipping over $50 so I got a 25lb bag of aluminum oxide for the blaster. They ususally charge you a mint to ship that stuff. With the humidity down here, the sand from the home centers is usually wet.

 

I saw that I knew some of you were that nuts and change your own tires at home.. I guess it would be nice if I had the room..

 

don't take that much room, you could easily store the changer outside, so what if it rusts? i just bought one today.broke the bead on some old cheater slicks outside in the cold without lube, bent the rim before the tire iron showed any damage, trying to dismount it. it seems like a beefy nuff unit.


how about those aluminum floor jacks they have?

 

my buddy bought that tire changer and their bubble balancer. he uses them to mount and balance the slicks for his dragster. he loves that thing.

diego

 

[quote)


how about those aluminum floor jacks they have?

[/ QUOTE ]


A buddy of mine bought the US General $149 alum jack for stock racing. 6 pumps, seems to be pretty good quality. I think I should have one. Mike

 

I've used one for about six tears. Works good. Only problem I ever had was the tube that you stick the bar in for the bead breaker is thin wall tubing, it got bent prett qiuck. I replaced that with a piece of thicker wall tubing, now it busts about any old stuck on tire loose. Definately want to bolt that ****er down, too.

 

i got 1 too. it works great.but like elrod said bolt it to the floor or find some strong frinds to help.and as for the alumin floor jack they **** .they cant lift anything heavy and i busted the single rear wheel off mine in about.i guess it would work good for a forin car such a vw bug.

 

i haven't decided where i want to bolt mine down yet. you know, ever changing shop. so i've got mine bolted to a pallet. lets you stand on the pallet while you're working so the forces which otherwise would be working against you (trying to spin the changer, etc.) are cancelled out.

some day i'll bolt it down.

 

I have one. Best money I have ever spent there. I didn't want to mount it to the floor, because I knew it would always be in the way so I took a 4' x 8' sheet of 3/4" plywood and mounted it in the middle of that. That way, you stand on the plywood while you use it and it doesn't move around. When your finished you can move it out of your way.

 

I've got one also. Works great!! Better than paying some jack*** $100.00 to strip the reverse lugs off my Desoto!

 

Have you guys just been doing steel rims? How does this tire changer treat alloy wheels?

 

Same. You just need to use caution and some soapy water. If it starts to dig in STOP!! These are better than the power ones for this, because you can vary the force your using.

 

Well, you convinced me. I just sent away for the tire changer. I bought the aluminum floor jack a year ago and I love it. 6 pumps and it's fully extended. It has a weight limit of 3000 lbs and I imagine that is were folks get into trouble. Use it for your rod but not your crewcab duallie!

 

Saw the tire changer in my latest HF ad for $50 and also had a 20% off coupon. Searched HAMB and found this old thread and based on it decided to give it a try. I've dismounted 5 tires this weekend and am happy with it. I used it without bolting it down or to anything by myself. I'll definitely be setting up a removable anchor system because it can only make it easier. So add another positive review but be warned it will give you a new appreciation for the old guys that worked in the tire shops before power changers were invented.