Harbor Freight MC tire changer + mods = awesome !

[Road_Clam]

So like anything out of the box Harbor Freight it's "good enough" to get the job done but expect some F bombs . Bought the HF tire changer and I bought the Ebay "Stark" motorcycle tire changer. Now pay CLOSE ATTENTION to my next comments so if you choose to buy these you don't go through the same BS that I had to endure. Here's the link for the HF tire changer :

Manual Tire Changer (harborfreight.com)

And the HF motorcycle attatchment (which is discontinued)

Motorcycle Tire Changer Attachment (harborfreight.com)

Here's the "Stark" Ebay motorcycle tire changer :

Portable Wheel Tire Changer Unit Mount Demount Motorcycle Attachment Bead ATV | eBay

Notice the seller has a pic of the Stark MC changer mounted to a HF tire changer, I can tell you this is BS, they are NOT COMPATIBLE. The MC tire changer is supposed to simply attach to the HF base by screwing the MC unit on to the base easy peasy. Well long story short here's a pic of the issue there's totally different threads between the two units.




The screw on the left is the hold down for the HF tire changer , and the thread on the right was the internal thread for the Stark MC tire changer base. Obviously they are supposed to be identical threads to work with each other. So OK, i'm past the F-bombs now it's time to mod and make this work. Watched a ton of vids and guys figured out a "Duck Mod" and after watching several vids I took a bunch of ideas and made my own mix of fabrications . After about 6 trips to Home Depot and spending about another $120 from Speedy Metals I got this thing working really sweet. With some slippery as snot "Ru-Glyde" it's pretty effortless to remove beads. I bolted the base to my basement concrete floor using threaded SNUG fasteners. So now I can change tires during the winter and I can easily unbolt the changer and have my floor space open.

[Buffalo Bill]

Good story, thanks! Will HAVE to buy one for myself.

[Burque73]

It's good to hear something positive about that harbor freight setup. I bought one a while back with the motorcycle attachment and added mojoblocks to the base. My realization was that the tire changer was simply an elevated work platform. The real work was trying to hold the wheel from spinning. I eventually stuck it on the top shelf and forgot about it. The last two changes were on a five gallon bucket holding the wheel with my knees. The mojolever is good though.

Anyway, glad you were determined and made it into something useful. Thanks for sharing.

[salty_monk]

I have one with the Motoz blocks. It’s ok. Much better with tubeless than tubes.

[steve murdoch]

Can you provide a bit more info on the specific SNUG fasteners you are using in the floor.
Really like the idea that you can get it out of the way when not in use.

[Road_Clam]

Can you provide a bit more info on the specific SNUG fasteners you are using in the floor.
Really like the idea that you can get it out of the way when not in use.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089Q59FL6/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_glt_fabc_D8RYWY9MV0G4KCZPPDCK?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

[Road_Clam]

It's good to hear something positive about that harbor freight setup. I bought one a while back with the motorcycle attachment and added mojoblocks to the base. My realization was that the tire changer was simply an elevated work platform. The real work was trying to hold the wheel from spinning. I eventually stuck it on the top shelf and forgot about it. The last two changes were on a five gallon bucket holding the wheel with my knees. The mojolever is good though.

Anyway, glad you were determined and made it into something useful. Thanks for sharing.

The best mod you can do is ditch the useless center tube (too large to fit through any wheel with bearings installed) and convert to accept a 3/4-10 stud. Many MC bearing id's are 19mm which will will slip over a 3/4" rod. I welded a 3/4-10 nut to the base and all my attatchments work around a .750" dia center stud.

[Burque73]

The best mod you can do is ditch the useless center tube (too large to fit through any wheel with bearings installed) and convert to accept a 3/4-10 stud. Many MC bearing id's are 19mm which will will slip over a 3/4" rod. I welded a 3/4-10 nut to the base and all my attatchments work around a .750" dia center stud.

Noted. Thank you.

If you're interested, here's a thread that we talked about this and other setups. In post #25 I mentioned my work around for the center tube. Not nearly as well thought out as yours though.

It's always great to hear fresh new ideas. How did you keep the wheel from spinning? I can see someting opposite the duck bill in your photo.

[1980GS1000E]

I am missing something here. The last pic links to something else....