I'm getting ready to buy new tires for two ATV's and can't stand the thought of paying $15 per tire to have them mounted. Has anyone tried out this cheap ATV tire changer?
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/taf...emnumber=34552

Also, I have heard of using some kind of thick sealant around the bead of the tire when mounting for a better seal. What is used for this?

Thanks,
Lorrin Lee

 

Leel,
Yea, my buddy has that tire changer from Harbor freight and it works pretty good. IT is perfect for taking to the hills if you are going to be there for a few days (he mounts his to the trailer) I was just over there the other day and he used it to put a tire back onto its rim. Works good and seems to be built pretty well, although I would not want to do to many tires at one time. Good luck.

RoostKing...

 

The changer itself would probably work, but in changing atv tires, the problem isn't in getting the tire on and off the rim... it's getting the tire back up onto it's bead. You usually need a very high cfm (cubic feet/min) air compressor, and a lot of luck. I've seen some guys spray eather, or other gasoline into their tire, then stand back and throw a match at it so the explosion would seat the tire on the rim.

 

We had no problem getting the bead of the tire to seat on the tim, just used an air compressor...

RoostKing...

 

LoL!!! dont be fooled by that like I did. I tried every which way to get my bead to break and could not do it. So i bought that thing and it just bent up my rim. If you look how it works, you gotta have a rim that has a small hole in the center so the rim catches onto the plate on the tire changer. Most atv rims have larger ones and the rim just slids over the whole tire changer. Trust me do not buy this tire changer, The only thing that worked easy for me and wont bend your rim is one from Nacs Racing or similar design. It runs for about 65 dollars and is worth all the aggrivation and bent rims!!! Trust me on this one..!!

 

He does have a good point there. Is what my buddy did to correct this was to get a round, flat, (about 3/4 inch thick, its actually a pulley from an old VW bug) and put it below the rim to keep it from sliding over the piece that comes with the changer, works great...

RoostKing...