Harbor Freight Tire Changer on Sale Half Price

[89Suburban]

I wanted to figure out where to get some weights at myself if I went to get the balancer.

I don't think the stick ones would stay but then again I've flung off the hammer on ones off my 88, every single one of them came loose and several flew off before we knew it.

They get placed on the inside face of the rim so centrifugal force should keep them in place. Wherever I put them I'm going to hit the surface with a flap wheel and make a nice clean spot for them to stick to. We'll see what happens. I'm putting them on tonight.

 

[89Suburban]

I read the reviews above on the tire changer and decided to check it out. I went up there to the store today to look at it. They had it marked down to $21. It also had a discontinued sign on it. I would have bought one but they were out. They told me to come back next week. OK, so I guess I wait.....

Damn that would have been a hell of a deal. What are your plans to mount it to?

 

[Don5]

Damn that would have been a hell of a deal. What are your plans to mount it to?

Yeah I was going to jump on that deal! I am hoping they get some more in.

For now I am going to drill some holes in the concrete driveway behind my house. This driveway goes right next to the end of my unfinished, stick frame, 30x64 with 10ft ceiling garage.

BTW- the garage has a huge steel H beam running left to right and a welded up metal pit ready to be installed.

Whenever I get the money to pour the floor, I will mount it inside.

 

[skysurfer]

I'm curious to see how the bubble balanced tires work out. I've always thought wheels should be spin balanced because just a tiny bit of tire imbalace that wouldn't show up on a bubble will be obvious at high speeds with the magnification of centrifugal force. Also, the computer spin balancers tell the tech whether the weight should be added near the inside or outside of the rim.

I think the do-it-yourself method is fine for trailers or low speeds, but having driven thousands of interstate miles on steering tires that aren't quite right I have to say there's a point where saving money isn't the most important thing.

 

[89Suburban]

Wow sounds like some nice plans.

I used the bubble balancer last night to do all my tires on the Burb. I really like that tool. It did a pretty good job and can handle the larger heavier tires. My retreaded NFG AT's on the aluminum wheel weight about 50 l s a piece so itself handling a bag of concrete for every tire. It is a work out but I love using it to do my own balancing. Most important thing is for the base to be on a smooth floor and will not wobble. I had a hard time finding a spot at out beat up workshop floor. I put a dab of grease on the pintle and put the top on nice and easy. Don't want to damage that pintle. Very easy to do a static adjustment to the bubble piece using a small Phillips screwdriver. Before balancing pick out any dirt, stones or sticks etc out of the tread and clean the center hole nice and clean. That is because the center will will be sliding and centering against the balancer cone. The device does a great job of self centering the wheel with its spring loaded support ring.

Now I used the stick on weights. I placed them in the needed position to balance the tire and installed them on the inner surface of the rim close to center line as possible. One thing I learned the hard way was you go to remember to watch for clearance on the front calipers. One tire I did took a few ounces to balance out and I put it on and when I spun the tire the weights jammed against the caliper and jammed the wheel up. So I took that one off and used it on the back drum and paid attention to weight placement for the fronts.

All in all the bubble balancer does its job and tires feel fine on the highway now.

 

[Old77]

Nice

 

[89Suburban]

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[Don5]

Update on the tire changer. I called back when they told me to and they didn't get one in. The next week the new ad comes out with them advertising it for $39.99. I go in today and sure enough that is the price. Here is how they were able to get out of charging $21 for it. They had put a new and improved tag on it. Yeah right. It looked the same as the old one. As a matter of fact it looked identical to it. In any event I did not buy it. I did however pick up a DA sander for $29 so I will let you guys know how that works in the future.