Manual tire changer with balance machine

[FordBroncoVWJeta]

I've been looking for a decent tire machine in the $1500 range and I stumbled upon this. This is the coolest DIY tire machine I have ever seen. No motors, no air lines, seems nothing can go wrong besides maybe the balancer part. Only thing is I can't find a single review, im guessing because its not "pro" enough for a shop, and a little over the top for a DIYer. They sell these out of Nebraska so not too far. Thoughts?

Heres a promo video of it in action.

 

[atikovi]

Maybe for $500, but for $1500, heck no. Looks like it was made for 3rd world countries with no electricity. I can't imagine doing any tires with lower profile than 70 series. I have a Coats tire machine and Snap on hand crank balancer bought used for under $1000 each that are way better than that thing.

 

[ammolab]

Looks like it removes some/all of the painted finish on the edge of the wheel. No thanks.

 

[Supersonic]

I think they're great except the pricing is probably a just a little bit more than I would wanna pay, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of choice it's either the small portable 50 to 100 dollars or your up around $1000 for something.

 

[TheLawnRanger]

This one was made near Pittsburgh and can be had for only $39.99. Seriously, the one in the picture above looks way better than the one from this post. If it it could be returned and I was going to use one the way your planning, I would try it.

 

[eljefino]

The ratcheting thing you crank to peel the bead off looks cool until the tire jams and you have to back off somehow.

I have a hand-crank snap-on brand tire balancer and it's the cat's meow.

 

[FordBroncoVWJeta]

Originally Posted by TheLawnRanger
This one was made near Pittsburgh and can be had for only $39.99. Seriously, the one in the picture above looks way better than the one from this post. If it it could be returned and I was going to use one the way your planning, I would try it.

I already have one of those. I want a bigger and better one.

 

[TheLawnRanger]

Originally Posted by FordBroncoVWJeta
Originally Posted by TheLawnRanger
This one was made near Pittsburgh and can be had for only $39.99. Seriously, the one in the picture above looks way better than the one from this post. If it it could be returned and I was going to use one the way your planning, I would try it.

I already have one of those. I want a bigger and better one.

I meant I would try the one you posted a picture of. I've bought a lot of good tools from HF but their tire changer looks like something you'd see in rural Russia in Rocky IV.

 

[Black_Thunder]

that video is mis-leading, right at the beginning when the guy is showing how to break the bead the bead was already broke before he started. I've had a hard time with a lot of beads using an actual tire machine and there is no way that manual style would break them down. at that point you are better off using a slide-hammer style bead breaker.


Its nice and simplistic sure but 1500 dollars is pretty steep.

I only paid around 1200 for my Ranger tire machine and found a balancer for 700 (usually around 800).

yeah you have to have an air compressor for the tire machine, but you need that anyways if you are going to air a tire up decently.

if you are serious about actually doing tires on a regular basis, you are going to want an actual tire changer that is either air powered or electric etc.

you would have a hard time changing lower profiled tires as well.

 

[joegreen]

It's cool but over priced based on the used market. I would look for a nice used air powered machine.

 

[FordBroncoVWJeta]

Just looked at ebay. You can buy the Chinese mayflower tire machine and balancer for the same price. i never realized how cheap those things are. I looked up that unit up on one of those Chinese eBay kind of sites and they are selling $300-400 dollars plus shipping from China. I would probably snag it if I could get for $700-800 if shipping isnt ridiculous.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted by TheLawnRanger
This one was made near Pittsburgh and can be had for only $39.99. Seriously, the one in the picture above looks way better than the one from this post. If it it could be returned and I was going to use one the way your planning, I would try it.

I have one of these and works well enough. Better is always nicer but I'd have to really work hard at justifying the cost and space.

Now if I could just get one of those Snap-on balancers like eljefino has. Once I get space to store one I'll go back to looking for one.

 

[Traction]

A manual tire changer would be pure torture to me. After spending thousands upon thousands on good equipment including a road force balance, you are not saving a dime trying to mount, and balance tires properly anymore. They are even torture to me after doing it for 17 years. Try to mount a C7 Corvette 335/25-20 run flat, even a 16 inch tire on a 2010 Camry steel wheel, which are a B.

 

[FordBroncoVWJeta]

^Now that's a [censored] of a setup! Even for a shop.