"Mr. Plow" <adam_is_mr_plow@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Jon, when did you get a tire machine???
> Oh wait, i guess i haven't been at your place for almost two years now...
> That's plenty of time for you to have totally transformed your barn. hehe
A little over a year ago now, I think. I got tired of paying $10+
a tire for mounting and balancing, and quickly became frustrated with
my manual tire changer and especially the static bubble balancer, on
which it was impossible to get consistent results, so I got a tire
machine and a computerized dynamic spin balancer. Nothing fancy, not
a lot of bells and whistles, but they can handle 99% of the tire jobs
I'd ever need to do. The one thing I did wish I had opted for was a
built in bead blaster on the tire machine, but it was an extra $500
and I didn't think I would need it at the time. As it turns out, a
bead blaster can be REALLY useful. Fortunately, I was able to pick up
a used Cheetah on e-bay for a lot less than $500, so it all worked
out. I got a motorcycle kit with the changer and balancer so that I
can do the bike too. (The MC dealership really rakes you over the
coals for mounting and balancing.) I still need to get a set of HD
truck cones for the balancer though so that I can do the 3500's
wheels. I've been meaning to stop at the local machine shop to see
what they'd charge to spin one for me instead of buying them retail,
but I haven't gotten around to that yet.
I cannot overstate how awesome it is to be able to pop tires on and
off rims and balance them whenever I want. Just the other day my
brother picked up a nail in the tire on his Durango. Instead of using
the gas to take it to the tire store and paying for the labor to take
the tire off the rim, fix it, remount it and balance he just pulled up
to the barn and I pulled it off the rim, plugged it, popped it back
on, balanced it and had it back on the vehicle in a few minutes.
I know we could have used something like this at several of the
past BBQs. ;-) Oh well, better late than never, I guess!
--
-Jon-
.- Jon Steiger -- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com -.
| '96 Kolb Firefly, '96 Suzuki Intruder, Miscellaneous Mopars |
`-------------------------------- http://www.jonsteiger.com --'
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