hungryhippo

Does anyone have any experience with a newer budget machine ( greg smith, ranger, etc)? Looking to spend around $2k on a new one. Are there any features that i would need for low profile and 12+" wide tires? It seems like a quality used one won't be able to do the bigger and wider wheels. This would be for personal use. I did a search and the most recent thread is from 5 years ago, i figure machines should be better and maybe cheaper now.

smellya

Can I be a customer?

hungryhippo

Sure. In the meantime, do you know anywhere decent to go around here?

Racingswh

I found some stuff here. Need a balancer as well. Make sure that it can work with the rim width which in my case for the CCW application would be 13".

http://www.bestbuyautoequipment.com/...gers-s/286.htm

Nowanker

My $.02 from the auto repair business: avoid off brand 'inexpensive' equipment. Plenty of lightly used, recent name brand stuff available, usually around the same $$. If it breaks, you can get it fixed. If you need parts, they're available. And if you want to sell it later, it'll still be worth something.
Alot of otherwise intelligent people enter the auto business, buy expensive sh*t, go broke, then sell that expensive sh*t at a loss!
I got my tire stuff off ebay...

fatbillybob

I have a hunter changer and coats dynamic spin balancer. I believe Nowanker. Buy quality you can get parts for and acessories that can make your tire changing easy because we are not pros. Manual changers are fine unless you own a concourse car that wheels cannot be touched then the newest greatest are awesome. Today's wheels and race tires do not need balancing and balancing makes no sense can't be done properly on a used tire that is flipped for wear. You will flip because it is easy and you own the changer. Wheel tire combo's are less in need of blance and more in need of being concentric in the wheel. Jumping curbs kills all wheels and just 0.20" out will make for large weight to balance the wheel. So if you really want the best set-up tweek your wheels to get the bends out. It is time consuming but easy. Then you can just mount and run the tires. If you are lazy like me maybe I tweek my wheels once a year and during the year I just balance new tires saved for a race and just run old tires any old way for practice etc or races that don't count.

69427

I'd be interested in reading a thread about that.

Nowanker

Hard to go wrong with a Coats or Hunter machine... standard of the industry. I bought a Corghi tire machine, it's excellent and plenty of HP for low profile stuff, but service and parts are a little iffy. Coats balancer, seems bulletproof, but if not, easily serviced. From ebay, pennies on the $.
Buy quality, you'll be happier!
I disagree on the rim runout vs tire imbalance theme... I'm always amazed how out of true some rims are, yet how small the required balance weight is. Probably the biggest issue rebalancing used track tires is the pickup rubber. Once they're scrubbed, it's thrown off...along with the balance. Unless you want to spend 6 days scraping all that crap off!

gnx7

We have one that may be for sale. I believe its a Snap-On.
In San Ramon, CA

PM me

smellya

No I went to the big O to have my dead 345s taken off. It would not fit there machine... I will see you at buttonwillow on the 27th 28th.

lefrog

I have a tire machine (W-893) and balancer (W-937) from Derek Weaver that I have been using for 3 years now. Links on my page here: http://www.frogracing.us/the-shop/tools
It doesn't have all the bell and whistles of the more expensive machines but it does everything from ATV tires to the slicks on my C5 including the tires on the Rallycross WRX. Really good quality and reliability for a personal use (about 20 sets of tires a year). The bead blaster on the tire machine is too weak on stubborn tires, just get a separate bead seater/blaster that will save you time.
I looked for used Coats or similar machines, most of them are really beat up and will cost you in maintenance (and it's a real headache to ship or pickup). For the same price, you can get these machines new with warranty and I haven't had any issue so far. Also I found that the tire machine without additional accessories is more compact which can be a plus if you have limited garage space.

ZedO6

Lots of good info in this thread, particularly about buying a quality tire machine rather than a no name or "hobby" machine.

Regarding the concerns about rim width limits on older machines, here is what I did:

I have an old Corghi I've used for the last 15 years. I paid around $700 for it and it was limited to 9 or 10" rims depending on backspacking. My racecar was on 12 CCW's. So...I improvised a welded I beam (two U channels welded back to back) which is bolted in between the tool arm and the base, see pic. This increased the capacity to 13" and the reduced the minimum rim width a bit but I don't do too many 6" rims.

This machine has served me well HOWEVER, like most models designed in the 80's the tool arm flexes and that will reduce the effectiveness on some very short profile tires or some of the newer OEM runflats.

hungryhippo

Thanks for all the input. Would a machine with the helper arm be necessary? I run 30-35 series track tires. I would also like to be able to mount tires without scratching wheels for my regular cars. Coats makes a very basic changer in my price range, but I don't know if it'll be good for low profile tires.

hungryhippo

I was at americas tire today, they can do 345's. All their equipment looks really new, they charge about 150/set though. Its less if you buy the tires from them.

sperkins

After selling my Hunter TC3500, I spent 2 months researching a replacement and ended up with Benpak's Ranger series R980XR.

I have mounted 315's on 12" wheels without a problem although I'm not a huge fan of the swing arm (a tilt back would be better).

I bought mine from Brian at ASE Deals. 5% discount if you have a commercial ship to address with a forklift.

Also, the thing is damn heavy at 800lbs.

http://www.bendpak.com/wheel-service...rs/r980xr.aspx

ZedO6

To me, part of the value of owning a tire machine is to swap tires and repair flats on my street cars. While I can easily do 11.2" wide 35 series R comps on C5Z rims without any issue, I cannot use the same machine to dismount the OE Michelin Runflats on my 255/35 18" BMW wheels. The rims will be severely damaged. The helper arm is necessary to drop the tired bead into the rim reliefs. Also, the tool arm flexes on these older machines which is a deal breaker for run flats. I am considering a new machine so I can do these as well. I'll always have a tire machine in my garage....

smellya

My bad... Big O it is then. The one on main next to the ford dealership.