tire changer/balancer?

$1899 tire machine combo on ebay

those any good? for home shop, i have 10+ vehicles and a giant stack of junk tires on good rims that need sold that are hard to sell with the junk tires on them. i spend anywhere from $300-600 a year for tire mounting and balancing fees as with as many vehicles as we have something always needs tires, or i always want to change the look with different wheels. i wouldn't be using them every day like a shop, but i would extend the offer to friends and family to do their tires cheap as a means of helping them out and to help pay for the equipment. looking at 4-5 years for them to pay for themselves without doing tires for anyone else, sooner if i do.

is there anything else that needs purchased to mount and balance tires besides an assortment of weights? already have valve stem installer tool, which cost me a whopping $5.

looking to pull the trigger today to get them ASAP if you guys think that looks like a decent idea.

here's one that looks similar for less

$1699 combo on ebay

if i had to guess they probably all come out of the same place in china with different names on them.

already have a big compressor

Check your local craigslist. Seems like there are always a bunch of them around here, I'm sure you could find a deal if you're a bit patient. And have the advantage of being able to see it in use before you buy.

I absolutely love my tire machines. Older Coats mounter and an old Snap-on balancer, both well used. I have $1300 into them (bought in 2012) and they have easily paid for themselves, twice, three times maybe.

I use a hard, lube in a tub, from an online vendor. I found the liquid lube from NAPA pretty messy and easy to overuse. Weights (there are various types of clamp weights, depending on the wheels) and stick on weights. Balancer should come with assorted cones. Mounter should have at least one tire iron.

Easily, one of the best tool buys I have ever made.

cmcgregor wrote: Check your local craigslist. Seems like there are always a bunch of them around here, I'm sure you could find a deal if you're a bit patient. And have the advantage of being able to see it in use before you buy.

tried that, around here people want big $ for ancient stuff, and most of the old stuff can't do bigger rims. plus, paypal credit 0% for 12 months buying on ebay gives me all year to pay it off versus cash up front.

patgizz wrote:

cmcgregor wrote: Check your local craigslist. Seems like there are always a bunch of them around here, I'm sure you could find a deal if you're a bit patient. And have the advantage of being able to see it in use before you buy.

tried that, around here people want big $ for ancient stuff, and most of the old stuff can't do bigger rims. plus, paypal credit 0% for 12 months buying on ebay gives me all year to pay it off versus cash up front.

Gotcha. If you do buy those, let us know how it goes. I can definitely see the appeal of having them around.

In reply to patgizz:

I'd say do it. It sounds like it would pay for itself in a couple years for you.

I've been wanting a set up like this for a while. I enjoy swapping an balancing tires.

I would love to have one. If you pull the trigger, be sure to update this.

A buddy of mine did this for years with motorcycle tires, paid for his gear several times over while charging a nominal fee. I'd definitely send some business your way if you do pull the trigger on these things!

So what we've learned here is that a guy who lives very close to me has his own tire machine...

Hmmmm.......

looks like all my crap is going to show up too soon to make use of one on this job, so i think i'll sit on the idea for a while and see how things stack up. i may go for a slightly more expensive one where the seller has great feedback across the board. sometimes engrish ads scare me too.

The first one looks like it comes with more accessories.

Or at least the have more pictures.

How sensitive are your cars to tire balance? My RX-8 with 245/35 19 tires NEED to be road force balanced for things to not vibrate at highway speeds. Just something to think about.

Woody wrote: So what we've learned here is that a guy who lives very close to me has his own tire machine... Hmmmm.......

I have mentioned it to you in the past Woody, usually after I have emailed you about some local Porsche on craigslist. Right up in Washington, probably 20min from you if that. I have done motorcycle tires, car, truck tires, e-load rated truck tires, rally gravel tyres, Hoosiers and other R-comps. I think I can do up to a 22" wheel, in case your next project goes the DUB direction...

To OP - I would highly, highly recommend getting your own equipment if you have the means. Also, I missed this from my initial list of supplies, you need an air compressor with sufficient CFM to run the mounting machine. With my setup, I am always on the hunt for used tires as my cost for mounting is so low and I often share a set of tires between cars (rallyx studded tires have been on Miata up until this week, now back on Neon wheels for tomorrow's rallyx). Thinking about drifting? I get free 15" all seasons, burn them up in about 20 minutes of sideways fun (actually, thanks to Woody on the tip on that E36 craigslist ad last June...), and just have to cover the disposal costs of the shredded tires.

Also very easy to sell a set of wheels/tires, when you can offer to mount/balance them for an additional $40.

Other reasons I don't know how I lived without the setup before 2012:

• have a solo car with limited camber and constantly eat the outside shoulder of the tire? Flip the tires on the wheel and get the fresh shoulder without shelling out another $80-100 each time.

• rallyx constantly gets gravel, dirt, smutz between wheel and tire bead...easy to pop the bead and give it a good cleaning. Also have lost a few tire valves, again easy to pop the tire off and pull a new valve stem (which OP should get, valve stem install tool and extra valve stems). Have also need to hammer out dents and JBweld gouged lips...good luck doing these repairs at your local tire shop.

• Want to paint a set of wheels without using the index card trick? Pop the tires off and get to prepping/priming/painting without worry of overspray

• one other tool that has been invaluable for the stubborn tires (some r comps, e-rated truck tires, trailer tires) is a Cheetah. I have a chinese knockoff, but works the same. Able to release 110 psi within half a second to seat the bead...also able to shoot objects across the yard (kind of like a potato launcher, without the fire worry)

pulled the trigger on the top set, the feedback from the second link scared me off. so you guys around me can get hooked up on mounting/balancing. going to order different kinds of weights next, as i need stick ons for my new wheels, and i'll be doing some steelies shortly too.

now i have 12 months to make up the cost. first thing i'll be doing is dismounting all the junk tires on good rims and hitting the swap meet to sell some wheels.

so where is the best place to buy wheel weights?

looking at things, amazon has some awesome prices on wheel weights and lubes being that i have prime free shipping.

crxmike wrote: Able to release 110 psi within half a second to seat the bead...also able to shoot objects across the yard (kind of like a potato launcher, without the fire worry)

Reason #543 why GRM is my favorite forum...

For old aluminum rims you are going to want a can of bead sealer. Depending upon if your workspace can freeze you can use diluted dish soap for lube or pony up for one of the real lube products that doesn't freeze.

There are four typical valve stem tools, and you will eventually want all four: one is the little jobie mostly used for pulling valve stems that has the thread chasers for internal and external threads, one is like a screwdriver for pulling cores, one that has the cable for pulling inner tube valve stems through the hole, and the last one looks like a breaker bar but is used to pull the valve stem through to seat it. Go ahead and get all four now if they don't come with the machines.

You will also want to get a wheel weight pliers. I don't like using the mallet head on mine so I just keep a small hard rubber mallet by the balancer to install weights.

I also dedicated a couple sets of wire brushes and a cheapo 4" grinder with a wire brush cup on it to the tire machine setup so that I wouldn't have to look for them when I need to clean up a bead.

My tire machine is an old center post one and even it has a bead blaster built in that works pretty well. If it doesn't work I usually inflate an inner tube in the unmounted tire, set it somewhere warm to get used to the shape and spread out, then cool the tire off an pull out the tube right before mounting.

i've yet to come across a bead i couldn't seat by hand or with a ratchet strap. so the cheetah may or may not be a future purchase.

ordered a bunch of clip on weights and gallon of lube from amazon. ordered a big box of stick on weights from ebay because the new wheels for the truck need them i think, got some aluminum deals with no place to clip them. i tend to request sticky weights on all my nice wheels anyway because otherwise the shop usually damages the paint or clear hammering on clip on weights. on the manual HF tire changer my dad has we used the vasoline that looks kinda the consistency of KY(or anal-eze if that's more your speed) and it worked well. i bent the crap out of that little tire changer, added bracing, and pretty much wore out the threads for the lock. only used it on steel or junk wheels, and it's a bear. glad i need it no longer, but it was paid for many times over at $45 and i had to have dismounted hundreds of junk tires.

gone are the days of breaking my back with the manual changer.

i have the 4 way thread chaser/valve core tool and the valve stem installer that looks like a breaker bar. i do not have the cable one for tubes but that could come in handy.

i am looking forward to getting home to new tires waiting from the UPS guy, and just doing them myself instead of trying to make time to drop them off and waiting a day for the local guy to do them.

come april i will have a bunch of wheels at the swap meet that have otherwise been sitting taking up room waiting for me to find someone to dismount them. that is a huge bonus, i've got quite a growing stack behind my garage and next to my dad's barn, as well as in his barn and in his garage.

Dang, I'm too far away to help you pay for your newfound rig

i have a Northern Tool manual tire changer that i bought from a friend for $40. i made a platform to mount it to out of a chunk of plywood that was in the trusses in the garage.. it's actually pretty easy to use: breaking a bead can be a pain sometimes, but i can dismount and mount a tire in a couple of minutes.. haven't really tried any low profile stuff yet- did some 185/60/14 snow tires for my Neon before i even had the changer mounted to anything- but i didn't leave any marks on the aluminum Monte Carlo SS wheels when i mounted snow tires on them for my Camaro... my next tire related purchase will be a bubble balancer since i don't feel like paying the local shop $20 to spend 5 minutes balancing a set of tires for me...

we put anchors in the concrete pad outside the garage door for the manual changer. i bent the main shaft of the thing down by the base trying to break the bead on a rusty wheel. bent it back, added a 90 to the bad area, and kept using it. i never used it for good wheels or aluminum. still have to keep it for small trailer and atv stuff.

really looking forward to these showing up, got confirmation from the seller about everything today.

also, they'll get used more right away, my parents apparently are super cool and bought me a van today to have as a backup work truck since i'm kinda stuck right now with the avalanche rear axle being blown up until the parts get here and i have time to do it. said van needs new tires, and i have a full set of LT tires in the size it needs. so i get to practice. i did not know i needed a 2007 chevy express with 390,000 miles and a brand new transmission, but i won't complain.

dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnnnn...

i have tracking info

I'm in the market also, so please update once you used them a little.