Wanted: New Tire Changing & Balancing Machines

[63RedBrier]

Hi!  Just retired and in the market!  Between my own fleet and helping out family and club members, I think it would be a good investment, especially since my son is into the hobby too.  Any recommendations of brand or dealer?  Are any still made in the US?  Northern Tool?  Greg Smith?  Thanks!  Greg

[TTR]

While I don’t own any, I’ve worked with various brands and of the readily available ones, Gorghi has been my favorite.

If a U.S. brand is a must, I’ve never tried Rotary, but if their tire equipment are as high quality and well engineered as their two-post lifts, chances of being best on the market is quite high.

[Frank DuVal]

At a friends shop I use Snap On.  Oh, you want affordable for home shop. 😄

 

I would just like to find a cheap Coats 20-20 or such. 
 

I have looked for the tiny Snap On balancer my friend has, but they are either still out of the budget or “for parts only”. 😁 it works great and takes small footprint. 

 

[m-mman]

Got mine from Craigslist. 

Plenty of shops going in and out of business. You will need to decide if you want/need a modern version that doesnt touch the rim or an older style (age of our cars?) that skids over the edge of the rim.

Not sure how well the modern machines would remove a 50-60 year old petrified tire. They can be a fight on my Coates 20-20 

 

I bought my service station quality bubble balancer at a swap meet. There are plenty of computer electronic spin balancers on Craigslist but

1. The seller rarely seems to be able to demonstrate that they work ("Uhhhh . . . . I dont have power to it")

2. They wont always work to spin ancient wheels (wires? VW? Pontiac 8 lug) 

The bubble balancer you can always fudge with. 

[Bloo]

13 hours ago, m-mman said:

2. They wont always work to spin ancient wheels (wires? VW? Pontiac 8 lug) 

The bubble balancer you can always fudge with. 

A shop I worked at in the late 80s had the little Snap-On that I think @Frank DuVal was referring to. It had an adapter with legs that allowed it to do Volkswagen, Ford wide five, etc. I don't recall ever doing Pontiac 8 lug, but I'll bet it could. I think there was even a way to remove the arbor and do wheels with no center hole from Citroen or Renault or whoever made those.

 

13 hours ago, m-mman said:

Not sure how well the modern machines would remove a 50-60 year old petrified tire. They can be a fight on my Coates 20-20 

In practice I don't know. That same shop had a Coats 40-40a, which I think is a more powerful machine(?). It had a lot of power, in fact I often wondered if it was going to bend the wheel in cases like that. It never did, but there has to be a limit to how hard you can push when you are holding on the wheel the way those do, and I feel that machine was REALLY pushing the limit. Sometimes you could see the rims stretching, but they always bounced back. There were still some rusted up old truck tires it wouldn't take apart without help.

 

In theory a rim clamp machine would have a much higher limit to how hard it could push, because it is not even touching the wheel center when it breaks beads down on the floor. Whether they give you more power in practice, I don't know. The rim clamp machines I have used seemed to have a lot of oomph.

 

In the same shop that had the 40-40a, we also had a combination tire iron / slidehammer / battering ram thingie that was about 5 or 6 feet long and made of iron. Supposedly it was for working on locking ring wheels, which we would no longer do when I worked there. That thing could break ANY bead, no matter how old rusty or stiff. I wish I had it today. If you are going to suffer along with a conventional tire machine, one of those would come in real handy.

 

20 hours ago, Frank DuVal said:

I would just like to find a cheap Coats 20-20 or such. 

Rim clamps have been around for 40 years or more, and they are the way to go. There must be some old beaters available by now.

 

Edited January 6, 2023 by Bloo (see edit history)

[edinmass]

Chinesium made rim clamps can be bought new for 1800 bucks. My neighbor has one, and for home/hobby use have worked fine on everything from Stearns Knight to V-8 Fords. 

[Frank DuVal]

1 hour ago, Bloo said:

A shop I worked at in the late 80s had the little Snap-On that I think @Frank DuVal was referring to.

It will also do flywheels! A must if you bolt your own Corvair flywheels.   They are three piece, not one piece like most every other flywheel.  I just checked Ebay, and there are none for sale. Not even a picture to show you guys.

[Joe in Canada]

Shop for a good used name brand and you should get your money back when done with it. I picked up a nice Snap-on from a school sale that is not worn out like most are from a tire shop or automotive garage. I use it very little but is there when needed.

Also make sure you can still buy the nylon pads for the head before you take the plunge on a used one. I stocked up on them for the future through E bay. 

[Joe Cocuzza]

I have a Coats 40-40(a)? I am thinking about selling.

Works great - just taking up space now.

[63RedBrier]

5 hours ago, Joe Cocuzza said:

I have a Coats 40-40(a)? I am thinking about selling.

Works great - just taking up space now.

Great, Joe!  Where do you live?  I may be interested!

[Dashmaster]

Here is a link for a current Auction in Charleston West VA.  Shop liquidation

https://bidon.hurleyauctions.com/auctions/JoUYeutDRsioOd7gETy9

 

[arcticbuicks]

i bought a China set on ebay 3 years ago for $950.........and was scared of quality.......and now 3 years later and several hundred tires changed and even more balanced.........my buds come and use them constantly.......working perfect still........on a funny note,each had a big fancy warantee paper........but no contact number or email....nothing lol.......but ebay/amazon sells the parts cheap too......i figure i got my money worth now if they have to go for scrap,compared to having tire shop do all the tires plus fuel 

Edited January 6, 2023 by arcticbuicks (see edit history)