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For anyone that bought the Harbor Freight Tire changer gizmo, I'm wondering what you think of it after using it a while. I'm getting a little "tired" of doing it the hard way, and don't like paying a shop to do it, plus time driving there and waiting.

I'm especially interested in how well it works on 19" MX wheels, those low profile tires are a bitch.

the gizmo: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=42927

Thanks,

I just changed my first m.c. tire last night (without the gizmo) I bought a couple irons and went for it. It was a pretty good battle for a while but I finally won, well sort of, ended up with a pich flat and some pretty good scars on my rim.

I get a lot of use out of mine

It works great for what I use it for, which is basically a changing stand

I just clamp the rim in and use levers, takes most of the fight out of it

What used to take hours (with lots of cussing and bruised knuckles) only takes a few minutes

Probably the hardest tire to change that I've ever dealt with was the 17" rear on the DR650. It was just about impossible without the HF changer, but now it is a piece of cake

so that lever gizmo they show on the review link doesn't really work well? I thought it might slip under the bead and you could rotate it around the tire using the center bar as a fulcrum.

Never tried it

There's a guy that makes a better one

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/prestondrake/mojoweb.htm

i've never used one but here is a review from 4strokes.com

http://www.4strokes.com/reviews/harborf ... rechanger/

I don't have one....want to get one...

Wibby has said the bead breaker is real handy. That moreso on tubeless than tubed.

Last time I tried getting the bead off my 16" Honda, I realized pretty quick it wasn't going to happen. Put the whole thing in a vise..didn't budge the tire off the rim.

Something like $35!!! to get it done at a shop. No 'wait' for it, either. It's make another trip...in a few days.

Get one! Tell us what you think!

BTW...I think Wibby put his on some big fat hunk of plywood as a mounting surface. In the noted review link it appears to be simply standing on a concrete floor. THAT'S not going to work for squat.

yeah, I think I will get one. Room is a big deal to me , so I'm not volting it to the floor.

With my kid going through tires the way he does, it'll save some money.

I'm looking forward to your report!!

I'd like to know how their tool works for levering the beads on. If, no WHEN I get one, I have no intention of using it merely as a stand...with tire irons.

I put my name on the mojo waiting list....The metal rod that comes with the changer doesn't impress me. Maybe on dirtbike wheels it would be OK..but I wouldn't want it on my cast street wheels.

Tell him, 'Less wheelspin!!!' Throttle control!!!'

Here's what mine used to look like



I've since taken the top piece off, it just gets in the way.

There is a post that goes in the middle, right? I mean that is still part of it?

To use that mojo lever, you would use that configuration...something to lever against.

Yes there is, er was

well, I bought the thing today, hopefully I'll have time tonight to assemble it and maybe even try it out. It was on sale at the local HF, so I got the base unit and the MC tire adapter for $75 incl. tax.

There's not much to assemble on this thing, so that went pretty fast. I think it took about 10 minutes, but I also didn't bolt it to the floor. Doing so would help a lot if you can afford to lose the floor space. I ran into a problem with that top over-arm thing. It has a bad thread in the nut that was welded on to accept the lock knob that holds the vertical rod. That rod is supposed to go down through the wheel hub, and support the great big red tire iron gizmo as you rotate it around. I just put the rod in and held it in place with a pair of vice grips.

I needed to replace the rear on my bike, which is a Maxxis 110/100 I think , anyway that tire is pretty much a beast with the stiff sidewalls. I got the rim mounted up on the stand, and that part works pretty well. I used to change tires by setting the disc side down in a 5 gallon bucket with the spokes resting on the rim. The stand holds the thing a lot better. Getting the old tire off using the big F’ing bar (BFB) they provide was beyond my comprehension. I just went at it with my regular tire irons. Once I got the bead pretty much on the way off, I did use the BFB to peel it off the rest of the way. I used plenty of car wash soap to lube it.

Getting the new tire on is a bitch because it’s so stiff. The first bead went on fairly easy, again well-lubed. I had a ton of trouble just getting the valve stem into the hole, but that’s just from the sidewalls squashing my hand, or the bead trying to cover the hole. Once I got that settled, I was able to get the second bead started with the tire irons, then I ran the BFB around most of the way to seat all but about 5” of the bead. I was actually able to get that last part on by hammering the sidewall with my fist. The moment of truth came when I aired it up to 20 psi. , went in and had dinner, came back and it was still holding air.

The Bottom line is, it’s not as easy as I had hoped, but it does offer some advantages in at least holding the wheel and allowing you to get some leverage. With more practice I expect it to go a little smoother too. For $75 , it’s not a bad deal.

Need to bolt it to a big piece of wood like our friend Mr. Wibbens did!

yeah, I plan to do that. it would have made a good bit of difference. I plan to use some T-nuts on the underside of it and some handscrew type bolts to allow it to break down quick. the unit itself doesn't take a lot of room if you take the MC adapter off and hang it on the wall, that comes off real easy.