Old tire machines discussion

[Herzog]

I've always wanted to have a decent tire machine around for trailer tires and odd jobs that need to get done. Finally I ended up with an old Coats 30-40a machine that had certainly seen better days. It was a hand-me down from my Uncle which I think he probably purchased at auction from Price Auto Tire a couple decades ago.



Anyways, a couple tires (35x12 r17) on the tacoma were severely cupped and I ordered a single new tire with the plans to just also rotate the (still new) spare tire in. All fine and dandy, except this machine couldn't even break the top bead. The bottom bead breaker galled up my wheel... I tried to search and see if I could fit this size on here and it said it would do it... but I think this machine needs to broken down, cleaned up and repaired.

I wonder though, am I missing something? Anybody here cut their teeth on this machine? Any tips?

I had to disassemble the lower bead breaker so I could use the top spinner to get the new tire on the wheel. But the damn spinner would only go slightly more than half way around. Is that normal? I ended up getting the bead half way back on then manually pulling it on, no big deal.

My hopes is that this machine will still work decent for trailer tires on steel wheels. If not, I may just pass it on to the next person who could use it or fix it up.

 

[Herzog]

So according to this video - it does only rotate a little more than half way, so that tells me there's nothing wrong with the center rotator, but mine is certainly not as strong as this one. My bead breaker is nowhere that good either.

 

[Herzog]

I honestly think this machine is just too small for these tires. This is full pressure on the bead breaker

 

[jeeper]

I think I’ve got the 4050 like the video. I can’t do most 35’s because they hit that upright bar for the top breaker.
Also won’t do anything bigger than 17” wheels because the bottom breaker hits the wheel instead of the tire. I bought mine from big o when they upgraded, and it was a machine I used when I worked there in high school. So kind of fun in that sense.

I dismounted a ton of old tires today and did some new trailer tires. For like 90% of what I need it does a fine job, 5% need a little extra coaching from additional breaker bars and such.. and that last 5% cause me to have to repent for my language afterwards.

Here’s what you need to understand from the beginning… that machine was made when the biggest tire conceivable was a 31” truck tire, on steel wheels. It was never intended to treat an aluminum wheel with kindness. It was never intended to work with big tires. The breaker bar is metal and is going to scratch everything it touches. They do make one that has a polymer slider, which helps, but is not perfect. The reason all the new machines are the sliding clamp style is because of the change in wheels and tires.

There are a few secrets I’ve picked up on over the years though.
-Make sure you have a lube bucket and applicator. It helps a ton.
-most of the time that half turn is enough to get the tire off/on. To help with getting it on, spin the tire on as tight as you can first, and then a 1/4 turn usually pops it on. If you need more than 1/2 a turn, I lift the breaker off the center pole and let the machine reset, then set the breaker back on the center pole and go again, this gives is a full turn. It takes a little practice to make sure the slot in the breaker is lined up, but it’s pretty easy.
- on really stubborn tires, I break the top bead, then flip the tire over to break the bottom bead. The top breaker on mine is way better.

 

[jeeper]

Now that I’ve watched the video.. his tips were about the same as mine.

One other though, I loosen the center cone before putting air in, otherwise the tire inflates and puts pressure against it making it difficult to take off.

 

[jeeper]

OK, one last thing. Mine has this stupid lever that if moved will prevent the machine from going through its full cycle. I don’t know what it is supposed to be for or why it does that, but it’s caused me confusion when I don’t realize it’s been moved. If your machine will not cycle fully without a tire on, look for it or something similar.

 

[Coco]

Oh heck yeah! An old Coats box machine! Those things were kind of fun, but I also got beaned in the head by the bar one time. My boss/uncle was showing me how it worked back in '05/06 when I started here, and it has tension on it. When it released it came up and nailed me in the head. We couldn't see that it split me open, but it definitely caused lots of blood. It was actually a fun machine to work on after that.

You're definitely pushing the limits on that machine. I don't think it was rated for anything more than CUV sized tires and smaller. And you are correct on the center rotator. Only about halfway, then you would lift the bar, let it move back to return, then slide it back on to finish the dismount/mount.

 

[Herzog]

I think I’ve got the 4050 like the video. I can’t do most 35’s because they hit that upright bar for the top breaker.
Also won’t do anything bigger than 17” wheels because the bottom breaker hits the wheel instead of the tire. I bought mine from big o when they upgraded, and it was a machine I used when I worked there in high school. So kind of fun in that sense.

I dismounted a ton of old tires today and did some new trailer tires. For like 90% of what I need it does a fine job, 5% need a little extra coaching from additional breaker bars and such.. and that last 5% cause me to have to repent for my language afterwards.

Here’s what you need to understand from the beginning… that machine was made when the biggest tire conceivable was a 31” truck tire, on steel wheels. It was never intended to treat an aluminum wheel with kindness. It was never intended to work with big tires. The breaker bar is metal and is going to scratch everything it touches. They do make one that has a polymer slider, which helps, but is not perfect. The reason all the new machines are the sliding clamp style is because of the change in wheels and tires.

There are a few secrets I’ve picked up on over the years though.
-Make sure you have a lube bucket and applicator. It helps a ton.
-most of the time that half turn is enough to get the tire off/on. To help with getting it on, spin the tire on as tight as you can first, and then a 1/4 turn usually pops it on. If you need more than 1/2 a turn, I lift the breaker off the center pole and let the machine reset, then set the breaker back on the center pole and go again, this gives is a full turn. It takes a little practice to make sure the slot in the breaker is lined up, but it’s pretty easy.
- on really stubborn tires, I break the top bead, then flip the tire over to break the bottom bead. The top breaker on mine is way better.

Awesome info! Lines up with what little I could find searching last night so I appreciate you taking time to explain it much better. I figured this machine wasn't made to do aluminum wheels. I watched a vid where a guy welded a stop setup to prevent the upper breaker from galling the wheel. I did the same thing last night but it still just didn't work.

I do have a lot of smaller tires/wheels that would work on this machine so I may just keep it around for that stuff. Unfortunately though, it does take up some space even while in the corner so I'm battling with keeping it.

One other though, I loosen the center cone before putting air in, otherwise the tire inflates and puts pressure against it making it difficult to take off.

I learned that last night on my own!

OK, one last thing. Mine has this stupid lever that if moved will prevent the machine from going through its full cycle. I don’t know what it is supposed to be for or why it does that, but it’s caused me confusion when I don’t realize it’s been moved. If your machine will not cycle fully without a tire on, look for it or something similar.

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I have that same lever, but it won't stay in place even when I pull up to set it in the notch. I found 1 manual on the internet for a 40-40 that kind of explained what it does but it doesn't appear to work on mine.

Thanks again for the info!

 

[Coco]

@jeeper explained everything well.