Unite Automotive Equipment Buying Guide: Shopping for a new tire changer?

Modern tire changers come with a number of add-ons that substantially help limit the problem of altering cutting-edge low profile tires.
Up there with oil modifications and brakes, changing and repairing tires is the most frequent job a light-duty fleet upkeep facility will handle. A properly tire changer will, with regular preservation and some repairs, remaining for many years. However, modifications in gasoline economy regulations, car types, and traits as it pertains to rim measurement and composition have had an impact on tire service.

The days of handy steel rims and regular valve stems are quickly disappearings. Fleets these days have “soft” aluminum rims, tires with stiff sidewalls and TPMS (tire stress monitoring system) valve stems that if serviced improperly can break. Not surprisingly, times are changing in the tire altering the world as well. Keep this in the idea when shopping for a new tire changer.

110V OR 220V?

For years, many shops have been working with 110V and 220V tire changers, not understanding that there is not a big distinction between the two. Both distinctive types of machines eat the same wattage, however, the 220V laptop will run at half the amperage.

Simply put, with half the voltage available to a 110V machine, the amperage is doubled. Many retail outlets will purchase a 110V computer because it will spare them a smartphone call to the electrician.

According to Jeff Kritzer, senior vice president of income and advertising for Unite Automotive Equipment, when a tire is properly secured, there is one clear differentiator between 110V and 220V machines.

Unite Automotive Equipments (www.uniteautomotive.com) is a global leader in automotive repair-related capital tools together with lifts, oil filter crushers, and tire and wheel provider equipment.

“One benefit a motor strolling on higher voltage would have is beginning underneath load,” he notes. “When servicing heavy wall truck tires or cussed performance tires and wheels, the turntable may additionally have a tendency to stall. A computer walking on 220V will have a higher risk of restarting and persevering with after a stall.”

For this reason, 220V machines are becoming increasingly more important. Most new light-duty cars come with aluminum rims, all of them come with TPMS sensors and a growing amount comes with run-flat tires.

Multi-Function Left 009 help arm for U-2092 tire changer

Oftentimes, putting in these items requires inserting a helping arm on the ways facet of the tire and depressing the bead in between the rim and the mounting head with a tire bar. Then, the consumer turns the tire 30 degrees or so, readjusts his tire bar and repeats the process.

When installing the tire, even when the rim is properly secured and the tire has lots of lube on the bead, the turntable may also cease turning if the technician takes his foot off the pedal. Sometimes, he will need to do this if the anxiety from the bead pulls the mount head into the rim, which motives damage. Other times, he can also stop to regulate his tire bar in order to keep away from tearing the bead.

No matter the reason, a 220V machine with the terrific help palms help stop this and harm to the rim due to the fact it approves the person to get the turntable moving even as the bead receives tighter. This enables the technician to make changes except fearing that the turntable might not b able to be made to rotate afterward. It also decreases the need for another technician to help spin the tire as the turntable struggles to rotate. In this way, a 220V desktop is safer and extra efficient.

SPECIFICATIONS AND ACCESSORIES

Fuel economy requirements and automobile customers needing giant rims with low profile tires have affected the form of tire work fleets require. It is wise to seem to be for a tire changer with a large turntable and a tilt-back mechanism in order to no longer only accommodate the tires that are already in the marketplace however to be adaptable to the large rims and thinner tires that are yet to come.

“For a fleet operation servicing by and large passenger motors and light-duty truck tires and wheels, a fashionable swing-arm or tilt-back fashion changer with a wheel clamping vary up to 24” should be adequate,” says Kritzer. “Be sure to test your unique requirements before choosing the fabulous machine.

More vehicles, in particular, electric powered automobiles and hybrids, are being equipped with low-rolling-resistance tires in an effort to make bigger fuel efficiency. These tires have stiffer sidewalls and are made of a harder rubber compound, making them extra difficult to change.

“Having a tire changer with power-operated assist tools will play a pivotal role in making certain these (low rolling resistance) tires are most effectively serviced,” says Kritzer. “These same tires will want the use of a couple of assist fingers in order to prevent scratching the rim and tearing the bead.

“If you are going for walks a cutting-edge tire service department today, having at least one tire changer with help equipment or helper’s palms is almost essential,” he adds. “Today’s assist-ready machines function a multitude of gadgets that improve operator efficiency, safety and minimize injury to expensive wheels.