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I attempted to dismount the spare 88 vette tire today with the Harbor Freight tire changer unit....ohhh, about 3+ hours later, the tire looked up at me and gave me "the finger"! ...(grin)...
I watched a few vids before I bought the unit and it was straight forward...HOWEVER, all the tires I saw "dismounted" were of a "full size" and not the spare...
Breaking the tire off/from the bead /rim was simple enough. I purchased the "duck-bill" attachment which dd very little if anything at all...
It was VERY difficult to get the "tire lip" over-onto the duckbill and after doing that, was unable to rotate duckbill attachment around the rim...
I suspect that the age of the tire may have something to do with it along with the thick(?) sidewall and it's inflexibility...
I've thought of buying that a few times and didn't cause I thought the tires might give me the finger too. I tried cutting one off to save the demount fee but got the finger and a big eff u. Tires are tough!
We had one of these where I work. We work on lawn mowers and zero turns. It didn't take long to throw it in the garbage. Talked the boss into a real one. Yes, it was expensive and we had to make adapters for the small tires, but it works. The smaller tires like mowers and the one you are trying just don't work on that unit. Not enough leverage I Guess.
Humnnn...I don't know why this is so damned difficult....
I have to dismount my 88 vette saw-blade wheel and re-inspect teh rim and, while the rims are not in any good shape, I don't want to add to it......
Between the frustration, the heat, and the ever-present threat of rain, I had to walk away from this for a day or two but, may try again in a few days....
If it has more than one moving part and is from Harbor Freight it needs modifications to work well.
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The only issue is the "toughness and inflexibility" of the age-old tire!...I thought that I was starting to bend the tire tool/spoon (silver - seen in picts) at one point.......
Getting the bad tire off of the rim is one thing but, surmise that I will have difficulties with the "new" tire to go back on the rim in it's place.
I have one of these Pittsburgh manual changers with the Lucid Autowerks duckhead adapter.
I use a corgi head on it which is much better than a Hunter head when it comes to dismounting.
I've also had to heavily modify the bead breaker on this thing. Now it is to the point where the 4 foot long tire bar is the weak link and is actually bending.
I actually have a half dozen or so YouTube videos on the changer and much to my surprise they are more popular than I would have thought since there is already a billion videos on the topic.
I have done everything from low profiles from 17 up to 22 inch wheels and off road and truck tires from 32 to 35 inch in diameter.
I've also done probably a dozen trailer tires.
I have NOT ever tried to do a mini spare. I can honestly say I don't know of anybody that has.
This sounds like a challenge I could attempt for another cheesy video.
I have one of these Pittsburgh manual changers with the Lucid Autowerks duckhead adapter. ok
I use a corgi head on it which is much better than a Hunter head when it comes to dismounting. well, the vids I had watched indicated that the one I have is the better one to use...They gave the reasons and, I agreed with them.
I've also had to heavily modify the bead breaker on this thing. Now it is to the point where the 4 foot long tire bar is the weak link and is actually bending. I had no issues "breaking" the very thin spare or the full sized 17'' from the rim(s)....
I actually have a half dozen or so YouTube videos on the changer and much to my surprise they are more popular than I would have thought since there is already a billion videos on the topic.
I have done everything from low profiles from 17 up to 22 inch wheels and off road and truck tires from 32 to 35 inch in diameter.
I've also done probably a dozen trailer tires.
I have NOT ever tried to do a mini spare. I can honestly say I don't know of anybody that has. That was what I was looking for on utube and, didn't find any - only on typical tires...It may be a mini-spare but, appears to "full-sized in size if ya know what I mean...
This sounds like a challenge I could attempt for another cheesy video. I really don't want to attack it all again and that is why I am taking a break, that and the predictable extreme heat here (FLA.) and unpredictable rain...
I was told at Discount Tire that the small spare was not serviceable. Were you able to acquire a new tire?
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Not relevant (new OR old tire).....please re-read my initial post.....
The vette spare tire is sold on the market and such, the old tire has to come off to replace even with a newly purchased tire if need be...
I am not sure what you mean by "serviceable"...Possibly to fix a flat (which is not what I am attempting to accomplish here)?...
I have the old vette spare tire as pictured and, have another tire/rim combo in garage....I want to remove 88 orig vette spare tire from rim (as pictured) and replace with tire that I must take off rim in garage...
The rubber of the spare on BOTH spares is very hard and inflexible and I think therein is my problem....It would NOT matter if new or old tire.......I could cut the tire off but, I could NOT do that to the replacement tire I hope to put on........
Yes, seems to me that the smarter route would be buy a 'new' spcace-saver at the junkyard for $5.
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If one could be found...Nowadays, JY's want an entrance fee just to walk into the yard...
The replacement spare I have is approx 3 years old and I would guess that one in the yard would be much older and dry-rotted and, doubt they would let it go for that little amount.....
Using a HF tire changer tool Problem-Issue
