Bought a new H.F. tire changer

[chip]

So I bought a new HF tire changer, get it home and put together. Except that the tube that slides through the wheel and into the mach center is way to large in diam. to pass through the wheel bearings also tried an HD wheel ,wont pass through those either. anyone else have this problem?

[The emperor has no clothes]

Don't have one, but others have said you also need the motorcycle adapter.

[Jess Tolbirt]

yep you need the motor cycle adaptor,,

[ugelstad]

Yeah, I had the same problem.  I don't get how they wanted that to work.  I took a piece of 1/2 inch pipe and welded a cut off bolt in the end.  It fits where the red pipe was, and goes thru the wheel and fits in the motorcycle adapter.  It will not go into the hole in the mounter as the wheel is never perfectly centered. 

[chip]

I should have made my previous post clearer. I bought a tire changer and motorcycle tire changer adapter, got a good price. 73.00 and some change for both pieces. Read a few other's posts about the setup and made myself a set of blocks fron delron simular to what somone else sells to protect the rims. Went by NO-Mar tire changers show room eyeballed up their tire tools to get some ideas on my next lunch hour project at work. So now I got it all together threw my spair rim on the machine and the tube that slides through the overhead support and the through the wheel then threads into the top center of the machine is to large in diam. So I think Ill do as ugelstad responded earlier. Just wanted to verify that my machine was not an odd ball.

[Jess Tolbirt]

i havent used mine for m/c tires in years but as i remember i dont think anything went through where the axle goes,, the adapter squeezes the rim,,i really cant remember but i liked doing it the old way better,, all i use my tire changer for now is to break the beads,,

[wiggydotcom]

So I bought a new HF tire changer, get it home and put together. Except that the tube that slides through the wheel and into the mach center is way to large in diam. to pass through the wheel bearings also tried an HD wheel ,wont pass through those either. anyone else have this problem?

I think I know what you're talking about. The large diameter red tube that's too big for the wheel doesn't get used. You just stick one of the long bars...something like an inch or less in diameter down though the wheel and through the motorcycle adapter arm....That is the bar that you will leverage against with your "bar".

[ugelstad]

It seems strange that you wouldn't use the pipe they have threaded in, if you weren't supposed to use it.  I keep thinking there is something I don't understand.

[wiggydotcom]

It seems strange that you wouldn't use the pipe they have threaded in, if you weren't supposed to use it.  I keep thinking there is something I don't understand.

If you do a youtube search, you'll find a video or two that shows that piece used with the lift while dealing with a car rim..
Here is a video that backs up what I said. His technique isn't the best...but I only posted this video so you can see the long bar being used.

Skip to the 6:18 mark and you can see the bar being used as I do it.

Motorcycle Tire Change & Balance - DIY

[ugelstad]

It's the pipe that goes up from the center in the motorcycle adapter that we can't figure out.  It is about 2 feet long and threads in the center and goes up to the arm that goes up from one side, then takes a 90 degree turn into the center to hold the pipe.

[Jess Tolbirt]

he left out one point. line the dot on the tire up with the valve stem then air it up. or skip the weight thing and put 1 1/2 oz of air soft bb's in the tire and never worry about the tire being out of balance

[Gary]

Except that the tube that slides through the wheel and into the mach center is way to large in diam. to pass through the wheel bearings also tried an HD wheel ,wont pass through those either. anyone else have this problem?

The large diameter red tube that's too big for the wheel doesn't get used. You just stick one of the long bars...something like an inch or less in diameter down though the wheel and through the motorcycle adapter arm....That is the bar that you will leverage against with your "bar".

Yup, I just recently assembled my set up only to find that the provided red bar stock with one threaded end (mine is a not true, or otherwise not straight) would probably not fit the axle i.d.

I was scrounging around the garage for a length of old rebar which should do fine. It looks like at the hardware store you can get some smooth round bar stock, maybe about 3/4 inch o.d. for about $7-$8. I just haven't confirmed the actual axle i.d.'s yet. Note: 3/4" not verified. It won't matter about a threaded end since you have the upper support arm that uses a threaded knob to secure the bar stock.

I'm still looking at the best way to mount the stand for a more portable, stowaway option since I don't really have  space for a floor mount. 

[ugelstad]

I mounted mine on a solid pallet.  It seems pretty good.

[cutter]

1 1/2 oz of air soft BB's hmmmmm......   

[Jess Tolbirt]

1 1/2 oz of air soft BB's hmmmmm......  

you cant put em thru the valve stem cause they is to big,, break down the tire, stick em in air up and ride..i promise you that you will love em..took me years to give it a try and now i have no weights on the outside of my tires..4 ounces in my truck tires..you can even put in 2 oz in the bike cause the bb's always go to the light side of the tire and the extras will settle in and spread out,,

[Ken Tarver]

Have mounted many tires for myself and riding friends with my Tire Stripper (no longer available), it's a manual changer but works very well. The rear Dunny E3 is still a monster to mount though.
Just a note to observe when changing your own next tires.....the valve stem is not necessarily the heavy spot of the wheel. I always check for the heavy location (with static balancer) with the naked wheel....most of the time it isn't at the valve stem, I mark that location with some tape and mount the tire dot in line with the tape. Is it super critical to balance them, I've read here before that some don't even think it needs to be done.....so i may be wasting my time.

[wiggydotcom]

Just a note to observe when changing your own next tires.....the valve stem is not necessarily the heavy spot of the wheel. I always check for the heavy location (with static balancer) with the naked wheel....most of the time it isn't at the valve stem, I mark that location

Bingo..I've done the same thing, Ken, with a homemade static balancer made of 4x4s. The heavy spot on my rear wheel isn't the valve stem area. Is it necessary to check? Probably not, but if the light spot of the tire is put even with the heavy spot of the wheel, it ensures you will need the least amount of weights.
Cept I don't use weights anymore and use DynaBeads instead.

[wiggydotcom]

Except that the tube that slides through the wheel and into the mach center is way to large in diam. to pass through the wheel bearings also tried an HD wheel ,wont pass through those either. anyone else have this problem?

The large diameter red tube that's too big for the wheel doesn't get used. You just stick one of the long bars...something like an inch or less in diameter down though the wheel and through the motorcycle adapter arm....That is the bar that you will leverage against with your "bar".

I'm still looking at the best way to mount the stand for a more portable, stowaway option since I don't really have  space for a floor mount. 

Gary, I drilled holes in my garage floor for threaded inserts. When I need to use the tire changer, I bolt it to the floor. When not in use, I move it to the side and put button head screws into the insert holes to keep them filling up with crud. Button head screws don't hurt car tires that might run over them or pose a trip hazard.

[musclehead]

1 1/2 oz of air soft BB's hmmmmm......   

me too hmmm 

[chip]

I believe that I will also mount mine to the garage floor using threaded inserts. I had thought about making a mount for my 2" reciever hitch, but that would add more height to the machine making it harder to get leverage. And as far as the tube that passes through the wheel, I think I"ll just turn a piece of stock on a lathe to a slip fit in the wheel bearings. Then comes turning the tip for the tire tool simular to the moJo or No-Mar tool to prevent scratching the rims . Thanks for the help and input.

[wiggydotcom]

If your wheel slips  and turns in the nylon supports when you leverage with your Lever, you can do what Saddlesore came up with. I'm going to do this to mine before I change out my front tire.




http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,65406.msg636912.html#msg636912

In order not to break the tip off of your Mojolever, it's important to use lube on your tire..and get the opposite side of where you're inserting the tip to compress and be held into the center of the rim. I use a couple of these style clamps that you can get at the hardware store or Harbor Freight to compress the tire. I put em about 10 inches apart from each other.

[Ken Tarver]

i'm still using weights Wiggy; didn't like how the dyna's beat a bunch of rubber off inside of tires on the wing. I have a friend who uses the Counteract glass beads; have changed his tires a couple of times and his tires didn't have all the rubber residue inside like when I had the dyna's. http://www.counteractbalancing.com/counteract/index.php

Chip, I have a receiver hitch adapter for my changer, tried it 2 times, it is a pain.
You have to use so much pulling force with your mounting bar when mounting the tire it kicks out the bottom of the changer stand to the point you have too much give of the needed leverage to mount the tire. It would take an anchor point on the floor for the stand to overcome the problem. It seemed like a great idea at the time I bought it. So it is just simpler to mount the stand to your floor, even if you have to unbolt it and move out of the way.
Fortunately I squeaked by with having just enough room to leave mine mounted.

Ken