ATS (Autoshite Tyre Services) tools testing.

[Cavcraft]

Right, this will probably crash and burn, but how about a useful tools/testing thread?

I recently purchased some properly shite looking tyre changing equipment from an internet auction site. It's manually operated so no air or electricity required and it was pretty cheap:

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MANUAL-TYRE-C ... 4cff8669e8

 

(Mine's a Sealey but I expect they're all the same).

 

Assembled it this afternoon and just put it to the test. It broke the beads on a steel wheeled tyre without any real effort, and this was with the changer not bolted to the floor as it should be.

An alloy wheel I'd been struggling with previously (by jacking up against my lad's Frontera) took a couple or so goes but it broke the bead on that too, again with it not being bolted to the floor.

Like a bellend I thought the lever that is used to break the beads was hydraulically operated (a bit like a car jack) but it's not, so the longer bar that comes with it is used to exert pressure. Putting it on the end bolt hole made it easier as more leverage is used thus less exertion needed.

 

Build quality: Doesn't look like it'll last a lifetime and where it bolts to the garage floor it looks like it'll soon bend the bottom support 'things' but I reckon a length of metal or wood inserted into said supports will help no end.

We're hoping to drill into the garage floor, insert some sort of 'rawl plug' type affairs and then have studs sticking up so we can simply unbolt it after use to free up room.

The top tyre removing part doesn't rotate and the supplied tyre lever bar is described as not being suitable for alloys, though this isn't a concern to us as I only want it to strip old alloys to be weighed in.

I reckon removing the tyres using this tool could be tricky and would probably require two levers, though once again this doesn't worry us as I have two tyre levers of my own and removing tyres with them (and a lump hammer) is no biggie.

If it saves time and money whanging to a tyre company to strip tyres off alloys then it'll be a God send and I reckon it'll be pretty handy for anyone who strips their own wheels tyres to change them over.

 

This leads me to give it an Autoshite rating of 7/10, though further/extended use may change this rating.

[dollywobbler]

Great thread idea.

 

Halfords Ratchet.

 

NOT the professional ones. I bought one of these black ratchets back in about 1995, when I had my first car. The ratchet lasted until last year, at which point it finally exploded into bits and refused to put up with any more of the horrific abuse it had suffered over 15 years of my ham-fisted tinkering. Lovely to use, with a nifty release button and a perfectly located thumb-switch to change direction. I replaced it with a later all-chrome Halfords ratchet and I hate it.

 

This ratchet got walloped with hammers and bits of wood and had to undo some bolts that were well outside what it was designed for I'm sure. Long lasting and pleasant to use. I'm giving full marks.

[AeroNautiCal]

For fitting tubed tyres, the Breezer Tyre Tool is excellent! Obviously, it works on tubeless tyres too, and a pipe fits over the end for more leverage, if needed (I never did).

 

 

Not my pic (as I've not photographed it) but this is the beastie.

[catsinthewelder]

Halfords Professional Flexible Head Ratchet 3/8"

 

After finally killing my third cheap 3/8 ratchet I elected to go up a notch in quality. The 'you break it, we replace it' type of warranty offered by Halfords on the pro stuff they sell convinced me to part with 20 quid or so for this;

 

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165469

 

It has been alright, The flex head feature was only a pound or two more expensive than a fixed one, so being a tightwad I went for it to save needing a smaller or more flexible tool at a later date. I initially regretted this decision as it was a bit of a fucker to get used to, the old 7" fixed bar of the cheap jobbies seemed more natural and I welded the remains of one back together for delicate jobs. I broke the first one by somewhat overcooking a medium weight tool with a big fuck off bit of scaff bar on the end but the replacement has lasted a good 5 years or so of slightly more careful use.

 

Shortly after buying this I bought a good set of single hex deep sockets from Laser and a Sealey 3/8 torque wrench. This committed me to this size for my main socket related activities rather than moving up to 1/2" as I probably should have done at the time

 

 

A Draper sliding T bar in 1/2" flavor with an adaptor down to 3/8 now provides opportunities for the scaff bar to teach stubborn nuts a lesson and is the reason that I haven’t killed any more ratchets.

 

Overall 8/10 by itself it makes spannering harder to conquer, but once you've got used to it, it gives 90% of the heft of a 1/2 inch tool while squeezing into most of the spaces that a 1/4" ratchet can get too.