What new tools have you got lately?

[Mr Clean]

Always wear a full face shield with one of those. I had a disc blow up on one of those and hit me in the leg.Im sure it was a fluke accident,but it went through my jeans and fairly deep on my leg. I still have it,not afraid of it never happened again but it would have been a different deal in the face. Also a buddy of mine was using a 4 inch grinder with a cutting wheel,it kicked back and did hit him in the face,lots if damage fast. Use a full face shield.

I agree 1000%. I have a full face grinding hood I got from Bench Mark Abrasive. I had a 4.5 in cut off wheel blow apart on me once after I just got the grinding hood. I had a good size piece (about a inch) stick in the clear part of it. Told Bench Mark about what happened. They sent me 5 cut off wheels and 2 replacement clear parts. If you have never dealt with Bench Mark I highly suggest them.

 

[Mr Clean]

SO I have been beating the living hell out of my Harbor Freight tire changer over the last several years. I have to be close to 100 tire changes on it by now. The bead breaking leg on it is pretty bent up. I brought it into work to let the welding department to straighten it up and do some reinforcing.

BUT, I am sick of leaning over and braking my back to use it. So I got this bad boy coming this weekend to try out. I am hoping I can use this on the work bench and make it more comfortable to do.

Amazon.com

I also picked up this duck head accessory for the tire changer but have not had a chance to use it yet:

Amazon.com

The duck head attachment makes life much easier.

 

[Ricko1966]

SO I have been beating the living hell out of my Harbor Freight tire changer over the last several years. I have to be close to 100 tire changes on it by now. The bead breaking leg on it is pretty bent up. I brought it into work to let the welding department to straighten it up and do some reinforcing.

BUT, I am sick of leaning over and braking my back to use it. So I got this bad boy coming this weekend to try out. I am hoping I can use this on the work bench and make it more comfortable to do.

Amazon.com

I also picked up this duck head accessory for the tire changer but have not had a chance to use it yet:

Amazon.com

I have a buddy that has that breaker,once he used mine he said where did you get it I have to have one. Might think about it save 100.00 bucks and have a faster easier to use tool.

 

[89Suburban]

...

 

[89Suburban]

I use this,but modified it is slicker than snot and breaks down stuff I struggled with before. I'll find my pics again and put them back up basically I just removed the back bar and replaced it with a loop of chain, throw the chain over the tire changer center post position the breaker and pull down on the lever,if it didn't break completely spin it 30 degrees and pull again. I'll look for a pic. the harbor freight breaker is a joke,this thing is fast and actually works,Bought mine at speedway and highly recommend the tool and speedway. Real US based customer service..

You must be registered for see images attach

Amazon.com

Dang fk me.

 

[Ricko1966]

Dang fk me.

No way! Sorry man,wrong equipment!!!!
. I bought my Harbor Freight manual changer in 2001, had used Coates Tireman manual machines a lot,and thought how bad can you screw up a manual tire machine. Well,A lot.So I've had to do lots of mods to make my HF machine acceptable.I made a duck head attachment before they were so cheap,it works good,1000 times better than the HF bar. I use a Coates tireman bar most of the time though. Have used a Coates 40 40 bar it works okay also. I drilled holes in my tire mount plate to bolt the wheels down on center instead of using the spider on rims I don't want scratched. Writing this for others that may have one of these and wants to know what works. Coates tireman bar( my favorite) duck head made from hitch mount bike carrier. Guess I should clarify the machine in the picture,somebody threw out,I saw it loaded it up and brought it home for when I want to mount tires.outside. I use the same breaker and bars etc. On the machine in the shop.

 

[89Suburban]

No way! Sorry man,wrong equipment!!!!
. I bought my Harbor Freight manual changer in 2001, had used Coates Tireman manual machines a lot,and thought how bad can you screw up a manual tire machine. Well,A lot.So I've had to do lots of mods to make my HF machine acceptable.I made a duck head attachment before they were so cheap,it works good,1000 times better than the HF bar. I use a Coates tireman bar most of the time though. Have used a Coates 40 40 bar it works okay also. I drilled holes in my tire mount plate to bolt the wheels down on center instead of using the spider on rims I don't want scratched. Writing this for others that may have one of these and wants to know what works.

Hey I appreciate all the info man!

Do you balance your own wheels?

 

[Ricko1966]

Coates power bar mounted on uni strut works pretty good, when I'm bored some day I'm going to copy the wheelmate/MOJOlever design I think it will work as well as the coates tireman bar. The duck head works very well,just a little more time consuming,take it off put the wheel and tire down,put it back on use it take it off,put another wheel up,repeat. The tireman bar, put your wheel up place your bar,pull,done. Throw on your next wheel. Also had to weld and modify the mounting base,because used the heck out of this 100s if not thousands of tires. I wouldn't buy it again. I'd build it,it would be better and cheaper. Too simple to build just the base and that's the only part of mine that is original,and I had to strengthen it.

 

[Ricko1966]

Hey I appreciate all the info man!

Do you balance your own wheels?

Yes. I spin balance them motorcycle style or bubble balance. Mostly bubble balance, find a good used old bubble balancer,and learn the Y method of balancing. I'll describe it and see if I can find info for you that might be more understandable. You find your light spot and your heavy spot,I use tape weights, for a reason. Some will use 4 clip on weights,divide total weight by 4 use 2 backside 2 front side.Find how much weight will level the bubble,now divide your tape weights in 1/2 move 1/2 of them left of the light spot 1/2 right of the light spot spread them as far as you can and maintain level. Then stick them to the wheel as centered over the drum/rotor as you can. I'll look and see if there is a write up anywhere biab

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[89Suburban]

Coates power bar mounted on uni strut works pretty good, when I'm board some day I'm going to copy the wheelmate/MOJOlever design I think it will work as well as the coates tireman bar. The duck head works very well,just a little more time consuming,take it off put the wheel abdvtire diwn,put it back on use it take it off,put another wheel up,repeat. The tireman bar put your wheel up place your bar,pull,done. Throw on your next wheel. Also had to weld and modify the mounting base because used the heck out of this 100s if not thousands of tires. I wouldn't buy it again. I'd build it,it would be better and cheaper. Too simple to build just the base and that's the only part of mine that is original,and I had to strengthen it.

Yeah I welded my base up too. I bolt it to the floor using 1/2 x 5 Titen anchors. Then unbolt it and store it under the bench when not needed.

 

[Ricko1966]

Yeah I welded my base up too. I bolt it to the floor using 1/2 x 5 Titen anchors. Then unbolt it and store it under the bench when not needed.

I welded the base and secured it to 2x3/4 plywood for 1.5 inch thick,bolted with carriage bolts up from the bottom,makes the base very stable. The plywood bolts to the floor with concrete anchors. I started mounting wheels at 14 including split rims. Bubble balancers and coates manual machines were what every body used including the shops. Last time I worked at a shop with a manual machine and bubble balancer was mid?/late? 80s. Using them now just seems natural,and convienent. It is disappointing that the Chinese came up with their weirdo design that doesn't work for $hit instead of copying old coates stuff. I've got a complete old coates tireman now,but I've got the HF machine modded enough it's not worth it to swap them out,right now( eventually though) I do use the coates bar though.