Times they are a-changin

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The chaotic world of OTR tires

Times they are a-changin’ New tire mounting/balancing equipment eases service

By Lori L. Mavrigian

With a nod to singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, the times are indeed changing for tire service. Th ere are numerous new products on the market that make UHP tire demounting, mounting and balancing quicker and easier than ever before. “If you’re changing high performance tires and wheels, you can’t be doing it with the same old stuff ,” succinctly states Pete Liebetreu, Hunter Engineering Co.’s product manager, tire changers. So here’s a rundown of some of the equipment suppliers’ latest off erings.

Leverless is more with tire changers

Hunter Engineering Co.’s new Auto28 tire changer services all wheel designs from 10 to 28 inches in diameter safely and easily. “Th e Auto28, our latest tire changer, is the ‘litt le brother’ to our Auto34 tire changer,” says Liebetreu.

Th e Auto28 features a tool head design that automatically slips easily between the rim edge and tire sidewall and extracts the bead gently in one fl uid down-and-up motion without the use of bead levers. Th is leverless system reduces potentially damaging stress on the bead and eases overall operation.

“Th e leverless head is quite thin where the tire passes over it. It doesn’t stretch the tire more than it needs to,” Liebetreu notes.

Th e powerful, high-torque electric motor exerts over 850 ft .-lbs. of torque to mount even the most stubborn beads. Th e variable-speed drive system gives the technician the ability to control the amount of force needed to service a wheel at the most effi cient speed, while safeguarding against damage.

Th e center-support clamping table and self-centering quick clamp give the Auto28 the fl exibility to easily mount a wide variety of wheel designs with the same clamping technique. Th e mount/demount rollers gently roll the tire off or on the rim. “It ‘worries’ the tire off the rim,” explains Liebetreu, taking extra care not to damage the wheel. The bead press arm pushes and holds stiff sidewalls in the drop-center of a rim as the wheel rotates, greatly reducing the risk of bead damage. Th e Auto28 also features a side-mounted bead loosener using a sideshovel design familiar to Hunter’s Auto28 tire changer’s most technicians and an tool head design automaticaloptional wheel lift to help ly extracts the bead without with heavy or expensive the use of bead levers. wheel assemblies.

Corghi USA off ers an automatic, leverless tire changer, the A 2024LL. It uses a top bead demounting procedure with the same working movements as a manual demount using a tire lever, but it requires no eff ort from the operator thanks to the “leva la leva” technology incorporated in the mount/demount head, the company says.

Th e machine features pneumatic tilting and Corghi’s turntable system, which allows clamps to be moved to change the working range.

Th e A 2024LL also features an adjustable bead breaker arm, which moves to ensure that the working position is always perfect for the rim diameter. Th e bead breaker arm is supplied with a shoe extension system for use on large diameter wheels.

Th e A 2024LL tire changer is suitable for tires up to 14 inches wide and 43 inches in diameter and off ers an inside clamping capacity of 13 to 26 inches and an outside clamping capacity of 10 to 24 inches.

Snap-on Equipment is off ering the John Bean Pegasus ATC 800 Leverless tire changer designed to meet the needs of shops handling high volumes of wheels, particularly low-profi le, run-fl at and extended-mobility tires. “Its best-in-class design and features will improve safety and consistency while reducing technician fatigue and damage to wheels and tires when compared to tabletop tire changers,” the company notes.

Th e Pegasus ATC 800 is easy to operate with its laser-guided demounting process, in which a laser light assists the technician in sett ing the demount head in the optimal position for both mounting and demounting, and eliminates the chance of wheel damage during the process.

Th e Pegasus ATC 800’s demount head has no pivot points. Once in position, the demount head effi ciently lift s the sidewall from the wheel with no manual input and eliminates the need for a tire lever or for multiple technicians to assist when demounting tires. Th e Pegasus ATC 800’s bead breaker does not contact the wheel at any point in the process, providing what the company has termed “Do No Harm” performance.

Hennessy Industries Inc. is off ering the Coates ProGuard Leverless tire changer developed specifically for handling oversized, run-fl at and low profi le tires, the company notes. It features a design that reduces the risk of tire or rim damage.

In addition to the leverless operation, the ProGuard Leverless tire changer has built-in features that take the strain out of tire changing. Lift ing, prepping, bead loosening, mounting and demounting can all be done with easy-to-use controls from a single operator location. It features the Coats Leverless Power Duckhead Bead Lift er that eliminates traditional tire tools that can mar the tire’s surface due to application diffi culty or operator error. It also has a highly intuitive and easy-to-use design that eliminates metal-to-metal contact, taking the tire bar out of the

operator’s hands and ensuring a controlled mount and demount process. During demounting, the leverless tool hooks the lip of the bead and eff ortlessly lift s it just above the rim. Th e tire then comes off the rim safely and easily with a simple rotation of the tabletop. Other features include a protective pedestal and center lock design, a built-in adjustable wheel lift , a bead loosener disc and tower, Robo-Arm helper device and a tilt back tool tower.

Additionally, the Coats 70-Series Rim Clamp tire changer recently got upgrades to increase its capability to handle performance tires. “The additional functionality and improvements we’ve made to our workhorse machines for the tire retailer enable them to handle those high performance and UHP fi tments down in the more average size range,” says Kevin Keefe, vice president, marketing.

Hennessy’s 1250-3DV tire balancer has a video display that helps less experienced operators complete many specialty operations.

Keeping it in balance

Hennessy Industries’ Coats 1250 Series wheel balancer comes in three models – the 1250-2D, 1250-3D and 1250-3DV.

Th ey come equipped with 1.5 hp direct drive motors, eight balancing modes, and Laser-Guided Operation that eliminates error by pinpointing the exact Tape-AWeight placement and behind-the-spoke weight placement locations.

Th e company’s top model, the 1250- 3DV, has a video display that is bright and durable and provides on-screen training while reinforcing proper balancing techniques.

Hunter Engineering’s Road Force GSP9700 tire balancer offers precise and accurate tire balancing, says Greg Meyer, product manager, balancers, which is especially important today because “vehicles are increasingly sensitive to imbalance,” he notes.

Th e Road Force GSP9700 eliminates tire and wheel vibration. Each tire/wheel assembly is tested for the amount of dynamic/static imbalance and road force. It simulates a “road test,” with a unique “load roller” which applies up to 1,400 pounds of force against the rotating assembly. Th e roller measures the loaded runout of the assembly and automatically recommends corrections when needed.

Th e GSP9700’s technology eliminates many of the time-consuming and oft en non-productive manual measurements previously used to diagnose and repair ride disturbance concerns. ■