Manual tyre changers -

[joda]

Been looking at one of these on and off for a month or so, at about £50 they seem like a bargain, but are they that or more hassle than they are worth, My mate has one and he swears by it, says its saved him loads over the years



Thanks

[Deleted]

looking at the feedback from people who bought it they found it a bit flimsy and the bead braker bent, also the tyre lever damaged alloy wheel paint.

[waveman1500]

Just make friends with your local tyre shop. Unless you're buying used tyres elsewhere and swapping them all the time, I would have thought that the shop should fit and balance your tyres for free when you buy them.

I don't know about you, but personally I change tyres maybe once every three years or even less. It's not worth having a big piece of gear like that taking up space in the shed. I guess if you drive massive mileage (or have a drift car) then it might be worth it. Having said that though, if you buy a set of tyres every few months then the local tyre shop should be happy to help you out!

[whitbytom]

I've got one of these, they're only suitable for steelies and/or wheels that you don't mind getting scratched. I've used it a few times for taking tyres off wheels I'm weighing in or swapping tyres around on my winter steelies. The bead breaker does have a tendency to bend, but only if you're particularly ham fisted with it.

[stretch]

i got one great for steelies but as they all say not much good on alloys very curse word beed breaker i bent mine but made a new bit out of thicker box and its beeen great very since

[composimmonite]

I've got one. As others say not really suitable for alloys. I tend to use it for removing tyres on wheels that are either being weighed in or repainted. Works fine. Mate borrows it to change over Land Rover wheels without a problem. Needs to be firmly mounted to the ground. I originally attached it to a paving slab but when removing a stubborn tyre found it wasn't secure enough as it was moving the slab around as well !

Paul h

[rob0r]

I don't bother with an actual changer, I just use a hammer and two tyre levers and use a sheet of wood on the floor. I think it's easier to move the wheel around and use my body weight to manipulate the tyre. I change both steels and alloys, if you are careful it should be fine. I wouldn't like to do anything below a 50 profile tyre though.

See the following video, it was a huge help and basically what taught me to do it.


More info
trampdrift.co.uk/Forum/TD/showthread.php?t=6968

[ianboyd]

I have one of these that I will probably be selling some time, as I have access to a powered one!

www.ebay.com/itm/Apaseal-Tyre-Changer-/120963396683?nma=true&si=i7CEi%2BsFPjdCmwmmvtEfaGKvCRk%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

probably sell for £150

[optima21]

I've used them for both alloy and steel wheels and have changed 50% profile tyres on them, but its not easy. I use some 2" thick wood boards arround the leg on the botttom so that the the wheels sit in a flat surface and don't mark the rims when using the bead breaker. I've also found that the part that breaks the bead slips on the tyres, so I've welded up the lip and ground it , so that it curves down rather than up as standard.

if you're using alloys, you're also better off getting one of thes types of tyre bars as the nylon doesnt mark the alloys. if you have access to a lathe they are cheap enough to make yourself though

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/manual-tyre-machine-changer-bar-alloy-wheels-car-bike-/170947845167?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item27cd491c2f

one thing that gets me is though is that its hard work to do with just normal tyres (ok, call me a lightweght), but all the videos on youtube that you see all seem to be for balloon profile tyres so make it look really easy.