Tire changer
 

Need to bolt it to the floor then i can play with it. I modeled it up in SolidWorks based on some existing designs. The only tools i bought were from No-Mar tire changer. They make a really nice Delrin tipped bead tool to prevent scratching to wheels and the yellow "thingy" to assist.

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Here is my helper:
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Proper supervision is essential.

Looks nice!

Dope

Looks useful!

I used to break the bead on tires all the time by using a truck and a 4x4 piece of lumber placed in the same place.

Good old yankee ingenuity!

The blizzard prevented me from getting the concrete anchors today, but i went ahead and dismounted two of the stock wheels to get the TPMS units out.

The No-Mar bead tool works great. And my Delrin (acetal) faced bead breaker was gentle on the aluminum.

Man, I used to use something similar when I worked at the gas station in the early 70's. Think it was made by one of the companies that still make them today. Would love to have that thing as it was 95% manual operated and did no damage to mag wheels, especially old school Cragars. The newer machines used to crack the edge where the center caps attached. We used to have an on-the-car spin balancer too that balanced the whole assembly, tire, wheel, drum or disc all at once. Wish I had that too..........Sometimes old school is still better.

The thing that got me going on this project was an ad on Craigslist for a really old ratty looking (but functional) bead breaker lever contraption. I almost bought it, then I thought, can make make something like that. Do a Google search of images for "bead breaker" and "manual tire changer".

Then I looked at the harbor frieght unit, which admittedly gets the job done but is kinda cheesy. Spent a bunch of time looking at the No-Mar videos.

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I'd love to see a video of how well it works. I'm tempted to make something similar but I'm not sure it could handle a lot of the tires I end up working with.

One set of tires that I tried to dismount just wasn't happening. When I put about 4,500lbs of truck on a 4x4 ontop the tire and the sidewall didn't even flex, I decided a tire shop could have fun with them.

The process is basically shown in this video:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX9EgCq8d84"]No-Mar Tire Changer - How to change the tire on a Hummer - YouTube[/ame]

I bolted it to the floor and mounted the new Pilot SS tires on the Volk Wheels. There is some technique; the most important thing is cover all the rim surfaces with the "goop".
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The Volk wheel is a reverse type; has to be mounted inner edge up on the changer.
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Getting the first bead over is easy; you just push it on. Next you can install the TPMS unit. Here is the set up for the second bead:
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The key is getting the tire bead in the dropped center. I also found it helpful to use some quick grip woodworking clamps the squeeze the tire to get the bead in the dropped section.

Once the 2nd bead is on, inflate to seal. Again, the goop is important to keep air from escaping when seating the beads.

I have to get them balanced but threw them on the car to see how they look.
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