Honda spray cleaner
Harbor Freight / No-Mar Conundrum
- Thread starter Andrew Shadow
- Start date
Honda spray cleaner
nomar goop.... make the spray from the same goop
To change tires I use a Slippery STuff recipe:
Murphy's oil soap
Antifreeze
Water
But I can not find my recipe for the proportions right now.
Murphy's oil soap
Antifreeze
Water
But I can not find my recipe for the proportions right now.
Uncle Phil
Site Supporter
I called the Tuxedo folks and talked to a good service department manager. The air operates the clamps and the bead breaker (bead breaker is on the side). The 'foot' which is both a 'removal' and an 'install' foot comes down spring loaded and you lock in place with the lever. Where you hit the proper foot pedal (it has 3), an electric motor spins the turn table and takes the tire off/on. So the 'manual' means you don't just hit one button like on the more expensive machines, there are a couple of steps. For the price, which appears to be about the same as the NOMAR pro (the distributor says free shipping if you have a shipping dock), it might be a pretty good deal. 1 year warranty on the machines.
Iterwebs says;
70% Murphy's oil soap
15% antifreeze
15% water
I have a gallon of x-tra slik pm from pep boys. Works ok and will last for a lot of tire changes. 80-90% water .02% antifreeze and the rest they don't have to disclose in the msds.
The nomar paste (little more $) works well and stays where you put it. If I wasn't in a hurry I would have ordered this instead.
.02 I'd avoid fuel oil (wd-40) silicones and waxes etc. Stuff that stays slippery after you don't want it to, but if it works, it works.
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Mondo
Site Supporter
I've been using this, makes 1 gallon. Also purchased my 90* metal valve stems from here, cheap.
http://www.patchboy.com/mm5/merchan...e_Code=P&Product_Code=CE-005&Category_Code=CE
acedantinne
Site Supporter
Have some pictures of my HF. I do use NoMar lube. Spray mixture for taking tire off, paste lube for mounting.
Cut 6 inches from the height, now 29 inches, 4" from bottom, 2" from mid, above bead breaker. U can't cut to much off the lower. No leverage to break bead.
The mid section has a 8" 1/4 plated welded on pipe & 1/2 bolts for added strength. I did break this area when new mounting BS020. Very poor welds from new.
The floor base is 1/4 plate steel Lag bolted to floor.
I also used 2x4 & 2x6 place wheel on to break bead. keep hub & brake disc off floor.
have 3 bars mounting & dismounting. NoMar for dismounting. My MoeJoe, home made for mounting. With lube can spin around tire 1 quick motion to mount any, YES any BS rear tire, front are easy.
Used different lubes. Some get hard, Brown in color, have to scrape from rim=noGood. NoMar is vegie based. easy clean up.
HF spin balance. Have Marc Panes also. Had to work to get HF to spin free with tire on it. Bearing/bolt problems.
All is good now. No broken welds.
So if u can weld? Have a source for plate steel? X to make it right go for the HF.
Like I said JUST pay it out now & buy the NOMar=great deal.
Cut 6 inches from the height, now 29 inches, 4" from bottom, 2" from mid, above bead breaker. U can't cut to much off the lower. No leverage to break bead.
The mid section has a 8" 1/4 plated welded on pipe & 1/2 bolts for added strength. I did break this area when new mounting BS020. Very poor welds from new.
The floor base is 1/4 plate steel Lag bolted to floor.
I also used 2x4 & 2x6 place wheel on to break bead. keep hub & brake disc off floor.
have 3 bars mounting & dismounting. NoMar for dismounting. My MoeJoe, home made for mounting. With lube can spin around tire 1 quick motion to mount any, YES any BS rear tire, front are easy.
Used different lubes. Some get hard, Brown in color, have to scrape from rim=noGood. NoMar is vegie based. easy clean up.
HF spin balance. Have Marc Panes also. Had to work to get HF to spin free with tire on it. Bearing/bolt problems.
All is good now. No broken welds.
So if u can weld? Have a source for plate steel? X to make it right go for the HF.
Like I said JUST pay it out now & buy the NOMar=great deal.
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Newer lots of the HF don't have those hooks for grabbing the rim. Just a tab sticking straight up. The box section of the clamp pc is rotated 90 degrees from Ace's picture so the open end faces up. A hunk of delrin, uhmw cutting board, or whatever with a half round to grab the rim works well and is backed up by that box section.
I have used a HF for the last few years, with mojo block mods and cutting board piece on the bead breaker. As Bob said, the HF is a bit too tall, and I was going to shorten it and make it a trailer hitch mount. It works well. I bought a Cycle Hill and will clamp a piece of 2x2 tubing to the bottom to make it a hitch mount, and a small removable platform for beadbreaking as it will be a foot off the ground.
For tire lube, I use a rubber lubricant called RuGlyde. It is OK for 10 minutes or so, or it has to be re-sprayed. When it dries, the wheel will not slip on the rim.
For tire lube, I use a rubber lubricant called RuGlyde. It is OK for 10 minutes or so, or it has to be re-sprayed. When it dries, the wheel will not slip on the rim.
OP
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Andrew Shadow
Site Supporter
Curious......... If it works well why the switch?
acedantinne
Site Supporter
Cycle Hill is made by NoMar. Pretty nice tire changer for the money.
Uncle Phil
Site Supporter
Andrew - I think the one question you probably need to think about is how often are you going to use it. The HF will change motorcycle tires but you will need tire irons/spoons on the rear, seldom on the front. If you are changing them every week that's a consideration. If you are changing them once every six months, then just be prepared to spend a little more time and save some money. If you go with the HF, you will need MOJO blocks and a MOJO/NOMAR bar (or make your own). I put a 4x4 on the floor for one side of the rim, and a piece of deck rail on the metal 'hump' on the bead breaker for the other (from scrap lumber I had laying around) and never damaged a disc (done lots of tires). The Cycle Hill function very much like the HF, but it has all the 'stuff' with it already ($500 vs $100 + the other stuff) and is better built. Both appear to work about the same. If money and space are no object, I would look at the NOMAR Professional or that TUXEDO air unit (which has really caught my eye after talking with their techs). The answer lies somewhere between $1500 and $100 in price, the working space needed probably about the same on all options. ;-) I figure between the tire markup and install expense at a dealer, I save about $100-$150 per tire change and I know that molly is getting put on the splines each and every time! 
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Several reasons..... the Cycle Hill was on sale for $295 and I didn't feel like going through all the modifications to lower the HF and make it into a hitch mount. Besides, I am changing tires now for several friends..... Cycle Hill is more robust and easily made into a hitch mount. See Uncle Phil's advice if you're going with HF.
Uncle Phil
Site Supporter
That's a great price on the Cycle Hill unit. Good snag, my friend, especially if you're after a hitch mount. Modifying the HF would take a welder and some one pretty handy with it. ;-)
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Andrew Shadow
Site Supporter
The point about needing the resources and the skills to modify the HF or else pay someone to do it is part of what is at the heart of my question. I guess what I really am asking is it worth it to buy the cheap Harbor Freight machine and spend the effort to modify it and the money to buy the extras to make it in to a workable machine that won’t damage anything? It will work but will it be frustrating and irritating to use? Or does it make more sense to put this money and a good chunk more towards something like a No-Mar or Cycle Hill which is said to be of better quality, won’t damage anything right out of the box and is possibly easier to use. I have read quite a few posts elsewhere by people who purchased the HF only to "upgrade" to a No-Mar later on. Having never used a manual tire changer of any kind I don’t know the answer. I am sure that there are others who are pondering this same question however, so all of your feed back does provide insights.
Get the HF and customize it with the Mojoblocks. You won't be out a lot of money and it will pay for everything you have spent in 2-3 tire changes.
The key is which bar you use and the skills you develop. I use a Wicko lever, which the Mojolever appears to be modeled after. My friend has a Mojolever, and it is great. No-Mar sells a "Yellow Thing" that is great for holding the bead down when installing a tire on the rim.
Actually, the old HF machine appears to be a copy of the Wicko manual changer. Here is the Mojo site, lots of info here:
http://home.comcast.net/~prestondrake/mojoweb.htm
The key is which bar you use and the skills you develop. I use a Wicko lever, which the Mojolever appears to be modeled after. My friend has a Mojolever, and it is great. No-Mar sells a "Yellow Thing" that is great for holding the bead down when installing a tire on the rim.
Actually, the old HF machine appears to be a copy of the Wicko manual changer. Here is the Mojo site, lots of info here:
http://home.comcast.net/~prestondrake/mojoweb.htm
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Andrew Shadow
Site Supporter
The HF portabale tire changer base that is listed as required for using their motorcycle adapter is listed as capable of handling 8" to 16" wheels. There is another seemingly identical base that is rated for 16" to 20" wheels. The base that is listed for use with the motorcycle adapter lists a "40 mm shaft size" while the larger base lists a "50 mm shaft size". From looking at pictures I am assuming that this is in reference to the centre threaded shaft where I believe the motorcycle adapter screws on to the base. If this is the case then the motorcycle adapter could not be screwed on to the larger 16" to 20" base. I have no where close by to go and see these machines so I do not know if this is a correct assumption. If the motorcycle adapter would fit the larger 16" to 20" base I could use this set-up for motorcycle wheels as well as all my 4 wheeled vehicles as they all have 17" and larger wheels.
Would anyone know by any chance?
Thanks.
Would anyone know by any chance?
Thanks.
Uncle Phil
Site Supporter
Andrew - On the one I have, the motorcycle attachment slides down on top of the unit. I've attached some pictures of mine. It appears that the shaft size on mine is about 1 1/2" that the MC attachment slides down over. But it is an older one so I don't know if they kept the specs the same or not. Hope that helps you some.
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