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Modified my Harbor Freight tire changer...

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dhdrider

dhdrider

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Jason
Well, I finished the modificaiton to my harbor freight tire changer so that it can be used anywhere, home, track, friends house, etc. It's also easily loaned to anyone that has a 2" receiver. I used it last weekend to mount some tires for an upcoming track day and it worked great.

Comments? Criticism?

tirechanger_6.jpg

tirechanger_5.jpg

tirechanger_4.jpg
 
Nice work. It looks like it was made specifically for that by the manufacturer.

Skid
 
dhdrider,

Nice...now I wish I hadn't drilled expansion anchors in my garage floor!?!?

Would you consider fabbing kits for sale to us less talented HF tire changer users?
 
ToroGuy said:
Would you consider fabbing kits for sale to us less talented HF tire changer users?
Click to expand...
Possibly except if I were to do that I would source the hitch pieces (4' long male piece and the short 6" female piece attached to the changer) differently. Since this was just the first one I bought the 4' piece and the 6" female pice from a trailer place and they are not cheap. They charged me $40 for the 4' piece and $29 for the pre-fabbed female piece.:doh: Then I welded the channel on the side. If I were to do more, I would buy raw box steel for the long and short pieces and do it for much less money...
 
Good idea!

Seems like a lot of torque on the two fastening screws and that long bar going into the hitch though. You might consider further stregthening it by mounting a 3x3 piece of plywood to the base of the tire changer so you can stand on it and kind of immobilize it when you are really tugging on a difficult to mount/dismount tire.
 
I like what you have done. Mine is still in the box. I went to the seclusion of the deep east Texas woods for a lesson on using mine. I don't mind drilling into the floor with (Hilti bolts), that way it could be portable as well. Are we good or what? RH:rider:
 
CycleCat said:
...Seems like a lot of torque on the two fastening screws and that long bar going into the hitch though...
Click to expand...

Good point, but w/ the few tire changes I've done w/ it I've learned that if it is tourqing (sp?) the set-up that much, then something isn't right. Most likely you've let the bead of the tire get out too much and not in the center portion of the rim that allows the relief. When the tire edge is lubricated and you keep the bead in the relief portion of the rim, the tire comes off/on rather easily...
 
If you make them for someone else you might want to make a provision for them having a different hitch height.

Skid
 
Skid said:
If you make them for someone else you might want to make a provision for them having a different hitch height.

Skid
Click to expand...
It's hard to tell from the pics, but it doesn't sit on the ground. The base is about 4 inches off the ground. I did this for 2 reasons. First was to make it useable in other vehicles besides mine. Also, it allows the placement of carpet-covered blocks to rest the wheel on for the bead-breaker...
 
Well, if you bolted hydraulic jack to the post near the bottom you could use the jack to push against the ground a little to stabilize it some. That would get some of the vehicle weight involved and make it more of a tripod. Two back tires and the jack. Just an idea. A lot easier to use then bolting some plywood on the bottom.
 
Hmmmm.... I just don't want my vehicle anywhere near my tire changer when it action. Knowing my luck I'd have the mount/dismount bar slip off and stab into my tail gate.

Plus, in the past I really have had to torque the crap out of some wheels to get tires mounted in the past. It all depends on wheel design. My old Warrior for example had no drop center at all on the wheels and it was everything I could do to get them mounted. Now the Strom on the other hand is cake. I can do it almost one handed.

I just feel better about mine being away from expensive vehicles, and mounted solidly on the ground. But it is a pretty neat idea.
 
Thats a very creative design. Mine is bolted to the floor, but when I get time I'm going to try this design. I really like the mobility aspect. Thank you for sharing..

Rick
 
I just drilled holes in the floor of my motorcycle trailer for my tire changer mounting.
Do you guys really use the long pry bar to remove the bike tire from the rim? I use my tire irons to keep the damage low on my bike rims. The Tire changer I use just to hold the tire & rim off the ground while I work on it. Car and trailer tires I use it with the pry bar.

Nice idea thought! Especially for those who don't have a shop or trailer.

I've got friends who use the trailer tounge to mount their tubing benders on.

Seem a reciever hitch makes a handy anchor point. Even seen some toilet seats mounted back there on the trail.

Curtis
 
pretty cool. u make a cheaper version i would be interested also.
I mount mine on a 4 X 4 sheet of plywood with wing nuts and then stand on the plywood when working with tire.
no problems. Also Haven't thought about mounting on my trailer. since it is used mostly for bikes i will look into drilling some mounting holes in it.
thanks
Michael
 
Curtis said:
Do you guys really use the long pry bar to remove the bike tire from the rim? I use my tire irons to keep the damage low on my bike rims.
Click to expand...

Yes, I use it for dismounting, and mounting all the time. And so far it hasn't scratched one single rim. The answer you might ask....... rim clips!!! They are about $6 from Cycle Gear and they save you so much work its not even funny. I can now pull off a wheel, change the tire, and remount in far less than 1 hour. Heck, that's faster than most shops can do it.

Curtis, if you want to know some tricks using the bar feel free to PM me. I've learned the hard way over the course of 40-50 tires.
 
DFW_Warrior said:
Yes, I use it for dismounting, and mounting all the time. And so far it hasn't scratched one single rim. The answer you might ask....... rim clips!!! They are about $6 from Cycle Gear and they save you so much work its not even funny. I can now pull off a wheel, change the tire, and remount in far less than 1 hour. Heck, that's faster than most shops can do it.

Curtis, if you want to know some tricks using the bar feel free to PM me. I've learned the hard way over the course of 40-50 tires.
Click to expand...

I guess I'm old school. I never even considered using the long pry bar on a bike tire. Hmmm even us old guys can learn new triclks. I'd like to watch you do one so I can see your technique. I can change out a bike tire with my 3- 16" tire irons in about 15 minutes. As long as it's not a dirt bike tire. Those take longer because of the rim locks.

As for truck, car and trailer tires I use my HFTC all the time. I'm into extreme off roading as wel, so I swap a lot of big tires. I learned to uise an old manual tire machine when I was 12 at my Uncles Gas Station back in the 60's. So this one I have now, brings back a LOT of memories.

I'll PM you my cell # so we can visit on this more.

In case you don't remember me, We met at Chipolte's in South Forth Worth a couple of months back. I'm the Red KLR guy at the outside table you and your wife sat at before we got our food. Enjoyed our conversations that night very much.

Curtis
 
Gilk51 said:
Pictures of tire changers: Curtis
curtis_2377q.jpg
Click to expand...

Nice red "X" there.
I have one of these too! Mines bolted to the floor between the two big doors. Here's a picture of mine in my shop.
Mvc-007s.jpg

Excuse the mess!

Curtis
 
DFW_Warrior said:
Wow Curtis, that's a pretty nifty shop you seem to have there!
Click to expand...


Aw Shucks, That old barn?:doh:

Thanks, I like it. We've had several KLR Tech Days out here and everyone had a good time.

I built it about 2 years ago before the steel and concrete prices went NUTS!


Nothing replaces genius better than dumb luck.

Curtis
 
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