I had one of those HF "machines", and it worked reasonably well for changing
the tires on my wire and regular Spitfire wheels. Given how frequently I got
flats from defective inner tubes, it was a good investment.
But once I tried
using it on a modern 16-inch alloy wheel, and it was totally unsuitable for
that.
Later I switched to stock steel wheels, and I haven't had to change a
tire in 5 years or so. So during a de-cluttering, I reluctantly decided to
get rid of it.
BTW, you really need to have it bolted to the floor. I
embedded threaded inserts in my garage floor, so I could bolt it in place and
remove it when not in use.
Doug
--- On Tue, 8/18/09, v6spitfireguy@cox.net
<v6spitfireguy@cox.net> wrote:
> From: v6spitfireguy@cox.net
<v6spitfireguy@cox.net>
> Subject: [Spits] Small tire changer -
> To:
spitfires@autox.team.net
> Cc: triumphs@autox.team.net
> Date: Tuesday, August
18, 2009, 3:05 PM
> Its getting harder and harder to find
> a shop that will
change tires on
> wire wheels, especially since I have to have tubes
>
installed. they are all
> afraid of pinching the tube, or damaging the wire
rim from
> the force of the
> machine, or they just don't want to deal with
anything
> smaller than 24
> inches...so, I was considering using one of
Harbor Freights
> small tire
> changers. The tire in question is a 165/70 13 -
Has anyone
> used one of
> these manual tire changing tools and if so, how
well did it
> work? I am not
> too concerned with balancing the tire in
question because I
> will be using
> it for the spare anyway. I was also
thinking that
> possibly a motorcycle
> shop may be able to do the work since
they regularly handle
> wire wheels
> with tubes. Anybody try that as well?
I would
> think that they might also
> be able to balance it, although most of
their wheels have a
> different hub,
> probably without a hole in it, so I'm
not sure how they
> balance motorcycle
> wheels.
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