DIY tire mounting and balancing

[JimLor]

Powerman - went to Harbor Freight this AM and bought the tire changer and MC attachment. Buddy of mine bought a new air compressor and is going to give me his old one - probably in a week or so. I'm more than happy to share!

FYI - $40 for the base and $40 for the MC attachment. I'm going to get the Parnes balancer and will be ready to go - that week I mentioned above might be slightly longer.

 

[HaulinAshe]

Powerman - went to Harbor Freight this AM and bought the tire changer and MC attachment. Buddy of mine bought a new air compressor and is going to give me his old one - probably in a week or so. I'm more than happy to share!FYI - $40 for the base and $40 for the MC attachment. I'm going to get the Parnes balancer and will be ready to go - that week I mentioned above might be slightly longer.

Jim,

Pick up a 1/4" hitch pin that's long enough to pass through the upper arm. Use that instead of the bolts. This allows you to quickly remove the upper arm after you have demounted the old tire. Works sorta like the NoMar with the swinging upper arm.

Also, if you don't want to screwdriver dip the clamps, use three latex/rubber gloves over them. Quick and cheap solution to keep them from slipping and reduce scratches.

I have pretty much every bar made, HF, NoMar, MojoLever etc. I have not found a single one that works well (for me) for doing anything other than removing the old tire. PM me if you want more info because I don't want to turn this into another one of THOSE threads.

Tire snot and good spoons go a long way IMHO.

 

[JimLor]

Thanks Jeff - I appreciate the advice and may get in touch.

Jim

 

[Powerman]

Way to go Jim, you got the last MC adapter they had. LOL

I don't think I've changed my own tires in thirty years.

Pinching the tube a few times is what I remember.

Going to look for some silver paint for the rims.

Color-rite wants $35 for a rattle can?

They sure don't have much paint on them.

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

Jim,

Ran across this thread on PASHNIT and just sharing in case you are lacking for more reading

tire changing thread

 

[madmike2]

I have a NoMar changer and balancer. A bit "pricey" compared to the Harbor Freight set-up, but I like it. Though I only changed 4 sets of tires last year (and uberkul changed one set of his tires during my "recuperation".).

I'll never again suffer imbalanced tires or scratches from overpriced dealer service departments.

 

[Nikk]

Powerman - went to Harbor Freight this AM and bought the tire changer and MC attachment. Buddy of mine bought a new air compressor and is going to give me his old one - probably in a week or so. I'm more than happy to share!FYI - $40 for the base and $40 for the MC attachment. I'm going to get the Parnes balancer and will be ready to go - that week I mentioned above might be slightly longer.

JimLor - I too purchased the Harbor Freight setup this weekend. Let me ask you about putting these two pieces together:

The top circular plate of the base has a pin sticking up; bent into the form of a handle below the plate.

When you add the motorcycle attachment; does it drop a couple inches down onto the pin and end flush on the plate?

Mine does NOT; because the pin is bent slightly off vertical.

I suspect I need to straighten the pin.

Another question for our cement masons out there. While drilling holes for concrete anchors I rounded one whole out a bit and can't get my anchor to set. Any suggestions how to fix this? Epoxy maybe?

-Nik

 

[Silent]

Powerman - went to Harbor Freight this AM and bought the tire changer and MC attachment. Buddy of mine bought a new air compressor and is going to give me his old one - probably in a week or so. I'm more than happy to share!FYI - $40 for the base and $40 for the MC attachment. I'm going to get the Parnes balancer and will be ready to go - that week I mentioned above might be slightly longer.

JimLor - I too purchased the Harbor Freight setup this weekend. Let me ask you about putting these two pieces together:

The top circular plate of the base has a pin sticking up; bent into the form of a handle below the plate.

When you add the motorcycle attachment; does it drop a couple inches down onto the pin and end flush on the plate?

Mine does NOT; because the pin is bent slightly off vertical.

I suspect I need to straighten the pin.

Another question for our cement masons out there. While drilling holes for concrete anchors I rounded one whole out a bit and can't get my anchor to set. Any suggestions how to fix this? Epoxy maybe?

-Nik

That pin is to drop into one of the lug nut holes on car style rims. It has no use for the motorcycle attachment.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Another question for our cement masons out there. While drilling holes for concrete anchors I rounded one whole out a bit and can't get my anchor to set. Any suggestions how to fix this? Epoxy maybe?
-Nik

If you can't get the wedge style anchor to set there are a couple choices, you mentioned one. Use a drop in anchor that is screwed to the end of a bolt. These will sometimes bite enough to allow the anchor to tighten. Or...get a Hilti HVA epoxy anchor which I've used many times in construction. Take a look at your local big box home improvement store for alternatives.

--G

 

[Nikk]

That pin is to drop into one of the lug nut holes on car style rims. It has no use for the motorcycle attachment.

I addition to the set screw I thought it might help to keep the motorcycle attachment from rotating on the base. Guess I'll either bent it or just ignore it.

Thanks Silent.

-Nik

 

[JimLor]

Nikk - I was having a hard time figuring out how the heck to attach the 3 x piece base! Went back to the phots that were linked in one of the earlier posts here and saw it in the picture. Working out how stuff fits together isn't my strong suite!

I can tell right away that there is a lot of metal-to-metal contact that needs cushioning. For instance, the three clamps that hold onto the wheel. When I installed my FF50s and gerauld's mount, I got a sheet of rubber "pool liner." Buddy of mine built a pond in his backyrard and used this stuff as the liner. I'm going to cut some and cover the wheel clamps and whatever else I can cover with this stuff. Or as an alternative, the screw-driver dip that Jeff mentioned. Certainly an easier and probably more permanent solution.

For those who haven't lost their patience answering questions, what's a good source for rim protectors and levers? I've seen the mojo lever, but am not real interested in spending $100+ dollars for a lever. Ya know, sometimes good enough is good enough. If I were going to chance tires more than 2 or so times a year maybe, but not really worth it now. Now to drill some holes in the garage floor...

 

[Geezer]

First, I anchored my HF tire changer to a 4 foot by 4 foot sheet of 3/4 inch plywood with carriage bolts and wing nuts. That way I can take it apart easilt for storage and I don't have a permanent obstacle in my garage. Works fine.

Some people have used pieces cut from shampoo bottles as rim protectors. I use bits of rags and and some pieces of tape as rim protectors, though the wheel does sometimes slip in the clamps because the rags do not have enough friction.

 

[JimLor]

Geezer - I like the idea on shampoo bottles! I thought of the 4x4 sheet of plywood too and since you said it works fine, I'll start there. Thanks!

 

[HaulinAshe]

Jim,

I used an old plastic patio table top as a mold, and poured it full of concrete to make a nice round base for the HF changer. If you have a place handy to purchase a round air conditioner/heat pump concrete pad, then that works very well. Round concrete allows you to roll the whole thing in/out of the way, yet it's heavy enough to guarantee no spinning while you use that lever.

If you are only changing two sets of tires per year, my advice is wrap the HF lever (well) in tape. It's not a bad lever, it just scratches everything it comes in contact with.

Don't forget the rubber gloves over the clamps as a quick and easy no-scratch, no-slip solution.

On a side note... You should be proud of me. I rode the entire day yesterday in VA, RD free!!!

 

[gumba]

Find a shop that is going belly-up and pick up their Coats 220. I tried that anchor to ply-wood ****. It doesn't work. Good way to bust your ass.

 

[echo690]

Anyone have experiance with the Nomar unit? A couple of buddies and I are thinking of buying the Jr. Pro model. It seems to be better made than the HF changer. We would be changing 20 to 30 tires a year. I think the Marc balancer is better than the Nomar anyone used both?

Thanks