My no-mar tire changer (HF Mods)

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I finally decided to get a tire changer. The posts here about the HF changer, and the fact a coworker has one, made the decision easier.

Harbour Freight has their tire changer on sale for $49.99, and the MC attachment is also $49.99. Below is a link to the changer. If you buy it in the store, I think it's cheaper.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=34542


The changer by itself will scratch rims up terribly. A coworker (rides a BMW) has one as well, and warned me. He came upon a link that uses cut up pieces of a poly cutting board to convert the tire changer into a "no-mar" tire changer. (Earlier I posted this link in a couple of threads on the subject.) Many thanks to the original poster of this mod. :bow1:

http://www.motorcyclistcafe.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3737

Friday I stopped by the HF store, and picked the tire changer up with the MC attachment. Below are a few pics of my attempts at making it a no-mar tire changer. Now all I need is the mo-jo bar, that will be here probably by the end of the month.

Here's the modified changer. The poly pads are on the rim holders, and the 2 pieces to break the bead. The pads are cut out pieces from a poly cutting board, available at Wal-Mart, or most any smaller h/w stores.




I shaped the top bead breaker a little. The 2 pieces on the bottom overlap at the top, and the carriage bolts are counter sunk so they wouldnt come in contact with the rim.



The rim holders are made of 3 pieces bolted together. One thing I did differently here was I left the original rim lip in place. I cut a slot in the poly pieces so that the poly pieces would fit snugly in. This way if I ever need to use the orginal rim holders, I can.



To secure the changer I cut a 4'x4' piece of heavy plywood and bolted it down. This should be stable enough, with my weight on the board as well, I doubt it's gonna go anywhere.
 

sirepair

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Re: My no-mar tire changer

Looks SSSWEEEEET!! Gotta get me one a dim!

Thanks for the pics!
 
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Re: My no-mar tire changer

I have the same setup and use a mojo lever. The only difference is I bought a stick of 1x4 delrin plastic from McMaster-Carr and used a table saw to cut a groove for the rim and back side of the steel tire clamp. It works very well. At some point I will probably get a No-Mar and a hitch mount just for the portability factor and ease of stroage.
 
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Re: My no-mar tire changer

You can also take poly pill bottles and just melt them onto the existing HF clamps. Same with the bar they provide with the changer. I haven't done it yet, but a winger friend has and it works great. Other than getting a little red paint on a rim, I haven't scratched one yet, and I've chnaged a few tires with mine this year.
 
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Re: My no-mar tire changer

+1 On the mojo lever. I used mine for the first time last week to put the Storms on. I used to fight with the HF Tire changer and it took two people. Now......It's a breeze.

I have just dipped the clamps in the insulating liquid rubber. That seems to work well.
 

Imrubicon

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Re: My no-mar tire changer

You can also take poly pill bottles and just melt them onto the existing HF clamps. Same with the bar they provide with the changer. I haven't done it yet, but a winger friend has and it works great. Other than getting a little red paint on a rim, I haven't scratched one yet, and I've chnaged a few tires with mine this year.
Now I know I?m getting old because the people I hang out with have that many old pill bottles hanging around LOL
Ill have to make room next to the margarine bowls
But is the poly one the brownish orange ones ?
 
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Re: My no-mar tire changer

Now I know I’m getting old because the people I hang out with have that many old pill bottles hanging around LOL
Ill have to make room next to the margarine bowls
But is the poly one the brownish orange ones ?
I'm sorry if I mislead anyone, but I have not done this to my HF yet. the friend that did it used ones that were white, and when he melted them on to the HF they were a milky clear.

I like the idea above of the insulating rubber. That may work even better than the plastic bottles.
 

Imrubicon

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Re: My no-mar tire changer

Understood that you hadnt done it yet I was kust thinking it would be better to melt it on if it holds
 
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gregj
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Re: My no-mar tire changer

I've had the opportunity to use the tire bead breaker, and have made 2 modifications as a result:

1. I used a short bungee cord to keep the breaker arm up. This helps to keep it out of the way when wrestling around with the tire. For a permanent fix, I may use a spring or rubber strap to keep the bead breaker arm up out of the way.

2. I replaced the front facing small poly block on the bead breaker with a wider one. The narrow one allows the rim to come in contact with the edges of the C channel as the bead is broken. The new poly block is as wide as the C channel, and should prevent this from happening again.
 
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gregj
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Re: My no-mar tire changer

Got to use it last night, and made a few more mods.

- I countersunk the bolts on the top of the rim holder pieces. This will keep the bolts from interfering with getting the lip of the rim inbetween the poly pieces, and will keep from scratching the rim.

- I shorted the top lip 1/4", to make it a little easier getting the rim lip into th e slot.

- On the top of the arm of the tire holder, I use a magic marker and marked a line where one of the sliding rim holders are, and noted 17", so I'll know which pins for the rear wheel. I'll also do the same for the front wheel.

- On the back side of the 3 bolts holding the poly bead breaker on, I ground down all excess bolt and sanded them smooth, so they wouldnt get hung up on the tire.

Also, having a mojo lever on hand is most important. Wooden wedges and about 3 more hands doesnt hurt either.
 

Mark

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Re: My no-mar tire changer

Thanks for the hints!

I made my hdpe pieces this week and tried to glue them... hpde... no glues that I can find work...
So I'll be just bolting them on.

Thanks for the hint on the bead breaker nuts too... I'll grind them off before do my rear wheel.

Pictures to follow when I get all the pieces mounted on the changer.

Mark
 

Mark

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Re: My no-mar tire changer

I cut up one of Chris's HPDE cutting boards... a pretty green one. :)
I tried pvc and abs; then I went to the internet and found out there aren't any glues that will work...
So I have to go to see if I can find a PVC cutting board...

Notes:
I'm only going to use 2 pieces in each stack.
The bottom one will be long and cover the rim landing pad area.
The top will be about 1/3 the length and be angled (about 45 degrees) to hold the rim.

A 3/4" bar does *not* fit the threaded HF hole (I haven't gone back to see if they have 5/8ths black iron pipe...

Mark
 
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gregj
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Re: My no-mar tire changer

I like the idea of using 2 pads and angling the top one. May have to give that a try. Glue wont do any good, they must be bolted, and dont forget to countersink the bolt head. Looking forward to your pics.
 
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gregj
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Re: My no-mar tire changer

Mark, I forgot to add this. When you make your pads, pay attention to their size. Meaning when I used mine for the first time, the wheel axle bearing didnt line up quite right with the hole in the shaft of the tire changer, so the rod couldnt go all the way through the wheel and down into the tire changer shaft. I tired to make sure all the pads were of the same size. But I believe the issue is the tolerances of the HF when they welded it together seem pretty loose. You could go ahead and make up the pads, then shim as appropriate when you have the wheel on to change tires. This is what I plan on doing. Hope this helps.
 

Mark

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Re: My no-mar tire changer

That makes sense... by adding 1/2 to 2" we've made the 'risers' unable to line-up when using the existing positioning points (holes on the verticals of the 3 horizontal square tubes).

That might be why the 1st guy ground off the existing rim catch tabs.

Mark
 
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gregj
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Re: My no-mar tire changer

That makes sense... by adding 1/2 to 2" we've made the 'risers' unable to line-up when using the existing positioning points (holes on the verticals of the 3 horizontal square tubes).

That might be why the 1st guy ground off the existing rim catch tabs.

Mark
Possibly. But if you just move the riser to a farther hole back, you've negated the alignment difference caused by the pads, assuming the pads are of equal size. By slotting the rear of the pad, the only difference is the thickness of the metal that forms the lip. I still think it has more to do with the lack of tight tolerances when they jigged up the metal components for welding. I have noticed definate differences in placement of each riser welded onto their square sleeve. We get what we pay for. :eek::
 

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Re: My no-mar tire changer

You've given me an idea...
I might pull my rear tire, put the rim up there and mark where I want the 'catch piece' before drilling the holes! :)

Thanks!

Mark
 
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gregj
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Re: My no-mar tire changer

Mark, if you do, make sure you put tension on the upright supports (somehow tighten the rim down). There is sufficient slop in them that your measurements could be skewed otherwise. Let me know how it goes.
 
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gregj
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Re: My no-mar tire changer

Ok, I guess I cant leave well enough alone. Mark and others had made some suggestions about doing something a little different with the poly pads, so I made a few changes.

Rather than 2 blocks on top to hold the rim, I replaced them with a single round pad that has been shaped with a convex curve. This should make it a lot easier to get the rim into. Especially if small wood blocks are used to keep the tire off the rim (see this No-Mar Goldwing Video). The round pad is about 1 1/8" in diameter. I used a handheld wood belt sander to shape it. I used a hardened torx screw to secure the pad with a nut, and chucked into a drill to shape it on the sander. I then shortened the screw about 1/2 in. I'll probably be using the changer with the new pads shortly, as I'll be needing new rubber up front soon.







 
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