I have seen many discussions regarding the Harbor Freight tire changer that occupy space in many garages and the modifications made to make them work better. As a unit, for the price, the HF changer is a good starting platform but does require some improvement. The iron claw that is provided to secure the rim would probably work well if you didn't care what the rim looked like when you were done. Once it bit into the rim, I?m sure it would keep it from slipping.
Searching the web I found nylon blocks to add to the rim clamps which looked like a good idea. Being rather resourceful, and cheap, I fabricated my own and gave them a try. They worked fairly good but I came to the realization that you couldn't clamp down tight enough to keep the rim from turning while you mounted or dismounted the tires. That was easy to fix by looping a nylon strap around one of the three arms on the tire changer and a spoke on the motorcycle wheel.
The nylon blocks presented another problem though by interfering with the tires that I mounted. The blocks contacted the sidewall of the tire which pushed it up making it more difficult to mount the new tires. After giving it some thought, I came up with a solution that improves on the situation. I removed the nylon blocks, cut off the iron claw and fabricated a new clamping surface.
Using 1/8? x 1? steel flat stock and some nylon material approximately 1/8? thick and 1? wide. I cut both pieces 2-1/8? long and slightly rounded off the top corners. Next, I drilled an 11/32? hole, clearance for a 5/16? bolt, ?? up from the bottom, in the center of the strap . I then clamped the upper 5/8? of the strap in a vise and bent it slightly. I did the same thing to the nylon liner after I had heated it up a bit with a MAPP gas torch (at a distance). I then marked the hole from the strap onto the face of the clamp bracket where the iron claw had been. I drilled the hole and tapped it with a 5/16? -18 tap and bolted the new clamp in place on each of the 3 arms, sandwiching the nylon in between the strap and the bracket. On top of the brackets, where the rim sets, to keep it from scratching the rim, I used carpet tape and taped a piece of foam to each bracket. This was a short term fix and I hope to replace that with an adhesive backed neoprene or similar material as soon as I find what I want.
I?m pretty happy with the results. The clamps do not interfere at all with the tire now so I don?t have to fight against the nylon blocks while mounting the tire. I still use the nylon strap to keep the rim from slipping and it works well.
Searching the web I found nylon blocks to add to the rim clamps which looked like a good idea. Being rather resourceful, and cheap, I fabricated my own and gave them a try. They worked fairly good but I came to the realization that you couldn't clamp down tight enough to keep the rim from turning while you mounted or dismounted the tires. That was easy to fix by looping a nylon strap around one of the three arms on the tire changer and a spoke on the motorcycle wheel.
The nylon blocks presented another problem though by interfering with the tires that I mounted. The blocks contacted the sidewall of the tire which pushed it up making it more difficult to mount the new tires. After giving it some thought, I came up with a solution that improves on the situation. I removed the nylon blocks, cut off the iron claw and fabricated a new clamping surface.
Using 1/8? x 1? steel flat stock and some nylon material approximately 1/8? thick and 1? wide. I cut both pieces 2-1/8? long and slightly rounded off the top corners. Next, I drilled an 11/32? hole, clearance for a 5/16? bolt, ?? up from the bottom, in the center of the strap . I then clamped the upper 5/8? of the strap in a vise and bent it slightly. I did the same thing to the nylon liner after I had heated it up a bit with a MAPP gas torch (at a distance). I then marked the hole from the strap onto the face of the clamp bracket where the iron claw had been. I drilled the hole and tapped it with a 5/16? -18 tap and bolted the new clamp in place on each of the 3 arms, sandwiching the nylon in between the strap and the bracket. On top of the brackets, where the rim sets, to keep it from scratching the rim, I used carpet tape and taped a piece of foam to each bracket. This was a short term fix and I hope to replace that with an adhesive backed neoprene or similar material as soon as I find what I want.
I?m pretty happy with the results. The clamps do not interfere at all with the tire now so I don?t have to fight against the nylon blocks while mounting the tire. I still use the nylon strap to keep the rim from slipping and it works well.
