What would you use to hold down a HF tire changer?

What would you use to hold down a HF tire changer?

I bought the harbor freight tire changer and changed a couple of car tires. They were easy but I really need to bolt that damn thing down somehow.

I bolted it to a pallet, and that helps, but it still moves around too much. So it needs to stay in one place!

I'm gonna change some SUV tires for a neighbor next week, so I need to really bolt that thing down.

All the pictures I find are bolted to cement and other things.

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I never drilled/dug/cemented bolt holes before.

I have a concrete garage. I'd prefer not to ruin the garage so I would like to put it in the soil next to the garage.

Would that work?

What would you use to hold down a HF tire changer?

Reply to
Bill Moinihan
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I would pour a 3ft x 3ft x 6" slab and embed fasteners in the concrete.

If you want to put it in the garage, bore the correct number of holes and use female drop-in concrete anchors so you can unfasten and remove the tool when not in use. The female drop-in anchors will ensure there is nothing sticking up above the surface to trip on. Red Head makes great anchors:

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You will need a hammer drill with a good bit to bore the holes.

All that said, is it really preferable to do this yourself instead of taking it to a tire shop where they can dismount, mount and then balance? How were you planning on balancing the tires?

Reply to
Stormin' Norman

I'd drill the floor and use anchors made for that type of work. If you want to put it next to the garage the best way is to pour a pad. Dirt is not going to hold it. You don't have to go more than a few inches wider than the base but you have to go deep enough to make it stable.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

If you don't want a permanent fasten, keep it on the pallet and use sand bags or other heavy bagged product (pea gravel, soil, etc).

Reply to
Meanie

That would solve the problem of damaging the garage, but it's a lot of work.

I was hoping to just "bolt" the tire changer temporarily to the soil (somehow). That way, nothing is ruined.

That is the "perfect" solution. I can't at all disagree with you on that. It is certainly what I "should" do.

I guess it may be what I "will" do. But that's why I asked first about "bolting" it temporarily to the soil.

Those guys are monkeys.

They've bent my rims in the past, they don't torque correctly, they put the wrong air pressure in, they pry off the BBS twist-off hubs breaking the plastic tabs, they don't remove the old weights, they don't even mount the tire properly according to the red or yellow marks.

They're all monkeys. They always mount tires wrong. Every single time.

Never once did they do it correctly. (Of course, you'll argue I go to the wrong places, such as Tire Rack recommended installers, and you're probably correct - but who wants to spend $50 a tire for the off chance that it may be mounted correctly for once).

  1. I used to buy from Tire Rack & choose the recommended installer
  2. The installer calls me when the tires arrive & I make an appt
  3. I watch them intall my tires (and I bring a camera!)

Generally I have paid about $20 to $25 per tire for mounting/balancing, using the Tire Rack recommended local installers.

But never once has a Tire Rack recommended installer mounted my tires correctly. Not once in maybe 30 years of driving (two cars).

To be clear, the installers all know exactly how to mount tires correctly.

But since most of their customers don't know how to mount tires, they get lazy. Really lazy. I'm sick of those monkeys. And I'm even sick of complaining to the management about these monkeys. I've complained to Tire Rack and sent them pictures of what these monkeys do and Tire Rack removed Midas from their program for example.

Last time a Tire Rack installer mounted my four tires, it took three hours because I made them look up the specs and they didn't have them (they don't even have the Internet for heaven's sake!). I had to go home and get my BBS hexagonal hubcap wrench because they just pry them off with a screwdriver.

That's why I call them monkeys. They never once mounted my tires correctly. (And they're not mounting yours correctly either.)

I've complained to Goodyear and they gave me my money back. Twice.

Never once have I had my tires mounted correctly by those monkeys. Not once.

So I do it myself. Isn't that what this ng is all about?

Besides, it's so easy to mount and balance a car tire that it's crazy to spend $100 each time on just mounting and balancing. Instead, I spent about $125 and got the HF mounting and static balancing tools (on sale).

  1. Tire Rack ships a set of tires to my home
  2. I unmount the old tires & mount the new tires
  3. I balance very carefully (perfectly, down to the last 1/4 ounce)
  4. On the way to Costco, I test the vibration at speed
  5. I pay Costco to dispose of the tires (around 10 bucks)

Never yet have I had vibration - but if I did - I'd have them dynamically balanced. But, surprisingly, with both alloy and steel wheels, the static balancing works just fine. Plus I mount the heavy spot correctly so I use the least amount of weight necessary.

My only problem is keeping the tire changing tool from spinning, especially on those big thick-sidewall 60/70/80 series SUV tires. (Thin wall 40/50/60 series car tires are so much easier than those thick-walled SUV tires!)

I understood your recommendation for the floor mounts in concrete, but is there something that temporarily works in soil?

Reply to
Bill Moinihan

I use Discount Tire and Costco. I give the installer and the service guy a couple of six packs of St. Pauli Girl Pilsner and I always get a perfect job and always get a bigger discount than normal.

As for holding the tire changing rig solidly in-place on soil, I assume you are being serious but I can't for the life of me imagine how you would do that so the force you apply to the lever is safely and adequately transmitted to the tire.

I suppose you could use Earth auger anchors and an impact wrench and large socket to drive them deeply into the ground, but you would have to unbend the loops, insert them into the holes of the rig and re bend the loops and them drive them in. However, I still doubt that would work unless you put some heavy wood under the rig and even then it is doubtful. I wouldn't even bother trying.

See:

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Reply to
Stormin' Norman

What I do now is *stand* on the pallet. That works fine for car tires. But those SUV tires end up twisting the pallet.

I just thought of an idea though, based on what you said. I could just drive stakes in the ground, at the four corners of the pallet.

That should work!

Reply to
Bill Moinihan

Everything you said is true.

If I mounted "just" the tool, the base would be too narrow for holding in the dirt.

I have it on a pallet right now, so I could "bolt" the pallet into the dirt. That at least gives me a much wider base.

Any idea what a "dirt bolt" would look like?

Reply to
Bill Moinihan

Get a long 2x6 or 2x8 maybe a 4x6. Bolt the changer to the board. Then park a car over each end or atleast one end of the board. If you don't want to park the car, put some holes in near the end of the board and drive some rebar through the holes to the ground.. You may want to make a cross out of two of the boards.

You could bore some holes in the floor and use the anchors that would be flush or ever counter sink them slightly. Bolt the changer to those. When done, remove the bolts, remover the changer and install some bolts in the anchors to keep them from filling up with trash.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

Making a 4x4 or 3x6 or whatever sized small slab is not all that hard. Make a sqyare (box) out of 2x4 or 2x6 boards. Nail together. Dig it into the ground if you want, or pour concrete on top of ground. Make your box level, and stake it with some rebar scrap pipes, or even pointed boards to make sure it remains square.

Now for the tough part. Getting the concrete..... You have 1/2 yard of concrete (or less). Many concrete companies wont deliver such a small amount or have a one yard minimum. But they will often bring a half yard and charge you for a full yard. Sometimes if you are willing to wait awhile, they will deliver you some "scrap or left over concrete" (at their convenience). And only charge you a small fee. TALK TO YOUR LOCAL CONCRETE SUPPLIER.

Leveling such a small amount of concrete is not hard. Pour it into the wooden box you made, tamp it down with a flat shovel. Run a 2x4 across the top to get it even, and trowel it as needed for the next hour or so. You'll have to apply your bolts into the wet concrete as needed, or drill them in after it hardens.

Do you, or a close-by neighbor need a smallish sidewalk, or to extend a sidewalk? Thar's a good way to order a full yard of concrete, or more. Or make a sidewalk up to your tire changer slab at the same time.

Aside from the wood needed to make your box, (which you remove and can reuse later for something else), your biggest cost is the concrete. I heard it's around $100 per yard lately, but that depends on your location.

It sounds to me like you need to find another tire shop in your area, if that place cant fix tires properly.... Where I live, it's not even worth changing them myself. The place I go to, charges about $10 to change a tire, they do good work, and if something goes wrong, they do not charge more to fix an issue that they caused (normally a leak around the bead). And such a thing is rare, since they do good work. Balancing a tire is another $6. For $16, I'll just let them do the work for me.....

One other option for you. Dig some railroad ties into the soil. Drill holes in the ends of them, and drive in some rebar or railroad spikes (those long ones that are about 2 feet or more). Bolt your changer to the RR ties with lag bolts.

Reply to
Paintedcow

+1 to all that, especially about the part about using a tire service. It's one of the least expensive car services/repairs and as you pointed out they need to be balanced too. I do a lot of my own work, when I can, but I'd never do a tire.
Reply to
trader_4

I've used Sams Club and a couple of local tire shops. Can't recall ever having a problem. I have seen a couple of cases where they torque them up so tight with an air wrench that people couldn't loosen them to change a flat, but that's about it.

Reply to
trader_4

I've heard of others using thick plywood, particle board, etc with the heavy bag idea. Perhaps you can fasten a board to the pallet and avoid twisting.

Reply to
Meanie

Just bolt it to a sheet of 3/4" plywood. Trim the sheet if you want it to store easily. Counter sink the nuts/heads so it sits flush.

Reply to
Vic Smith

Sorry, I cant resist this.........

Since all the other posts on alt.home.repair today are about Trump or Hillary, why not just get them two idiots to hold down your tire changer. Put one on the right and the other on the left....

At least they would both serve some useful purpose (for the first time)......... :)

(I'll shut up now.....)

Reply to
Paintedcow

Over-torquing can be a real problem with modern wheels. I now always learn the proper lug nut toque for each car and ensure the tire guy uses the proper toque extension stick when installing. See:

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I learned this lesson the hard way after doing a break job and reinstalling the lug nuts, far too tight, which resulted in a horrible shimmy or wobble when driving.

Reply to
Stormin' Norman

Oops....."brake job" not "break job". Of course this means I spelled it horribly and didn't pay attention when spell check corrected it. Compound mistakes are very embarrassing.

Reply to
Stormin' Norman

But how could you ever stand to listen to the two of them? Trump would be whining that the whole thing is rigged, it's unfair to him, he's been deliberately put in the worst spot. Hillary would be coughing and having convulsions while giving the hyena laugh.

Reply to
trader_4

The two jobs almost nobody does themselves, but which I always wanted to do are tires and alignment.

The cost of both will vary greatly, but everyone loves to quote the nominal cost, and not the actual cost (which is way higher in California due to multiple additional taxes and fees).

I'm in one of the most expensive parts of the country, so shop rates are $100 to $200 per hour, depending on where you go.

You can type in a zip code here to get an idea of mounting/balancing rates:

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While out-the-door prices vary, the first hit shows the price to be well within the range I previously quoted of roughly about $100 per set of four or five tires:

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Alighments often cost more, but I try to get them on sale at around $100 if/when I can find them at that price.

Given you often do both when you replace your tires, if you replace tires every two years, for two cars, over a lifetime of 50 years owning cars, that's about $10,000 in just mounting, balancing, and alighment costs.

A bit less if you do alignment every two tire changes.

The cost for the mounting tool + static balancing tool at HF (on sale) plus the weights was less than $150. I already have torque wrenches and a compressor and a floor jack and jack stands.

I'm not sure what alignment tools cost because nobody needs the kind of equipment they have in a shop (which is 50K to 100K in cost to them but which is a different beast altogether from what we'd need).

Since my car only has front toe, and rear camber and toe, there's really only three measurements that I need to make for my car. My wife's car only has four measurements.

Even my cellphone, nowadays, should be able to get me pretty close, but I haven't researched that yet since right now I'm dealing with solving the mounting and balancing problem.

Reply to
Bill Moinihan

This is probably the simplest answer for the soil. It doesn't require drilling into concrete or setting concrete.

I can even use rebar, probably, for the stakes, as Oren suggested.

Reply to
Bill Moinihan

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