1995 Isuzu Rodeo tire change using HF manual changer and balancer -

[goodfellow]

The cheap Harbor Freight style manual tire changer and bubble balancer does work. I bought mine at Tractor Supply, but the design is identical.

I needed new tires for the old Rodeo, when I saw a closeout sale from Pep-Boys that discounted these P225/75R15 M&S radials for $45 each. --- sold!!! So today it was time to mount and balance these new shoes, and while the wheels were off I decided to paint the rims with a new coat of gloss black. -- Not bad for a morning's work.



Since I really don't trust the local gas monkey's to mount and balance my tires, a few years ago I bought a manual tire changer and bubble balancer. Cheap tools --yes, but they get the job done.

The changer is anchored into some railroad ties on my garden walkway with some 3" lag bolts -- it doesn't move.





The balancer is set up and centered on the garage floor



To use the tool it's pretty simple -- there are tons of vids on YouTube explaining how.





With all the tires dismounted, it was time to spray some Gloss Black Valspar Implement enamel. The wheels are a bit beat up, but at least this new paint will clean them up a bit and keep the rust away for a few more years.





Two hours drying time in the hot sun was sufficient to get them cured and then it was just a matter of mounting the new tires. I installed new valve stems and used lots of dish soap and water to lube the beads. After that, the tires installed on the rim without effort.



Here's a hint about blasting the bead: when seating the bead on a new tire, I remove the valve stem core and then take my air hose quick connect coupling and push it over the open valve stem. With this method you get mountains of air since the valve core in not in the way, and the quick connect delivers full line pressure and air volume to the tire. The bead will quickly inflate and seat with a loud "pop". After that I remove the quick connect, install the valve stem, and use an air chuck to inflate to the required pressure.

Balancing is pretty straight forward -- center the bubble, cradle the tire on the cone, and then look at the direction the bubble is leaning; it's that direction that new weight must be added to re-center the bubble. In my case, I always try to split the weight between the front and rear of the rim -- so if 1.5 oz. will center the bubble, I put .75 oz. on each side of the rim.





First one done -



The others were just as easy. Total time to mount, balance, prep, paint, and reinstall all four tires -- five hours, but it took two hours to wait for the paint to dry. So this is basically a 2-1/2 -3 hour job.



Done -- the Rodeo has new shoes, and the wheels look cleaned up for summer.

[skfarmer]

i have been fixing quite a few tires lately, tube type implement and tractor. do those changers really break the bead that easy. i have one of those slide hammer type bead breakers  about 4 feet long and sometimes i still struggle to break the bead. then it ia off to work with the "irons". it usually isn't long before a sweat is broken.......

[goodfellow]

i have been fixing quite a few tires lately, tube type implement and tractor. do those changers really break the bead that easy. i have one of those slide hammer type bead breakers  about 4 feet long and sometimes i still struggle to break the bead. then it ia off to work with the "irons". it usually isn't long before a sweat is broken.......

For car tire sizes that do not have a low aspect ratio (stiff low sidewalls) these things work very well. I've mounted/dismounted 80, 75, 70, and 65 series aspect ratio tires on both steel and aluminum rims and have had very few problems.

The regular HF style changers have a weak bead breaker arm and they will bend on tires with stiff sidewalls. In fact I reinforced mine with some steel strips welded to the bead breaker arm for extra reinforcement.

For larger truck and farm equipment tires, the HF and similar versions are probably too flimsy for breaking a bead. That said, Northern Tool has a more heavy duty version of this design specifically made for larger sizes, but that may not be beefy enough for tractor sized equipment.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200673912_200673912

As in most cases when dealing with these cheap Chinese tools, you will probably have to change/modify the basic design to suit a specific need. I'm happy with mine, but I only use it for street tire mounting purposes.

[skfarmer]

i try to stick to repairing tires in that 15 inch range.   

once in a geat while a 20 or 22.5 but those larger tires are a whole nother breed of hard work. when i need them fixed it is usually yesterday so the pros with hydraulic bead breakers and cranes get brought in. if you recall i was caught  with my pants down a couple years ago when i had flat steer tire on my semi. broke all of my 3/4 drive stuff and had to call a truck to get my spare put on. a short time later a 1 inch impact showed up in the shop. it has only been used a few time but when needed it is invaluable.

anyway, i have something just under 100 15 inch tires around here so  i know how to fix a tube and plug a tire! 

[Matt_T]

I've found the bead breaker and dismount to work very well. On stubborn beads I just squirt some Armorall down in the bead while working it with the breaker. I can see where the breaker might not be strong enough if you tried to brute force a tough bead.

Mounting can be a bit of a workout and does seem to be worse on lower aspect ratios. /60s are the lowest I've done.