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If you don’t mind Eric, I would just like to add a couple of things for upcoming technicians and to address some concerns from the YouTube.com comments.
– Most large and tire chains use state of the art machines to do this. Where, as here, Scott is an independent and has some slightly older (and works just as well once you have some experience) machines. Then there is table top machines, which are pretty much ancient and also extremely annoying and difficult to use. So whenever you go to use a machine for the first time, always ask someone to show you the intricacies of that machine. While they mainly operate the same, some require additional steps or protection.
Here you can see the machine my dealership uses, and while we don’t go through all those steps (a.k.a. shortcuts not recommended by Hunter but that make mounting and dismounting a tire more profitable and done in under 3 minutes).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzYKTZc2ukY
– Tire balancers are the same as I mentioned above, and I just wanted to blow Eric’s mind a little more with how amazing they have become.
– Quick tips I learned for avoiding damage to a TPMS, when removing the tire, lift the bead above the rim of the wheel starting with the stem between 10 and just before 12, rotating the wheel clockwise of course. This goes for both top and bottom bead.
When putting the tire back on, start it with the stem a exactly 6, going clockwise of course.
This will have the bead clearing the sensor before the biggest stretch, so it would wedge up against and break the sensor.
– Please, do not ever double row or stack the stick on weights.
– When doing a rotate and balance, it is best to remove the weights and re-balance completely than to try to offset the imbalance by just adding more weights.
– The locking bars that hold the rim to the machine come with rubber covers. I use them for all wheels, because I feel that a professional should never leave even one new, even unnoticeable, mark on any tire, but always use this on alloy wheels.
– If when mounting a tire, it is being difficult to start or the head jerks suddenly into place or you hear unusual stretching noises, STOP, back it off completely and set it back up, you are just mere moments from ruining that bead.
– Please never try to hide a bead you damaged during dismount or mounting, you are just causing future problems for another tech or yourself.
– Always use bead sealer.
– Please take the time to clean the dirt and grime off the area of the inner rim before mounting sticky weights, so they don’t come flying off in a week.
I may have more to add as the new guy at my shop continues to screw up tires, rims and the assorted parts and additional tools that come with our machines.
Oh yeah, to touch further on your directional tires, don’t just look for an arrow, some of the tires will not be directional but will have an outside and inside face, so check to make sure you are mounting those properly too.
The tire balance machines have come a long way. While we are talking about tires, any chance you could do a video of wheel alignments? That’s stuff that smaller shops have to farm out because of equipment costs.
I am a tire mechanic for Pomp’s Tire. I get to mount and balance tires all day long. Not just car tires, we do large truck and tractor/trailer too. We do anything that has tires on it. Its not an easy job. It really takes a lot out of you and can be a really stressful job.
Eric et. al.,
I noticed that Scott just cleaned up the rim with the roloc disc.
What’s your opinion of shops that paint a dark rubbery like substance on the inside of the rim before the bead is seated? Does it actually help seal any rim leaks?Newbie
That’s bead sealer, it’s basically a glue and space filler. Still need to clean the rim before using it.
[quote=”sawdusted” post=45603]Eric et. al.,
I noticed that Scott just cleaned up the rim with the roloc disc.
What’s your opinion of shops that paint a dark rubbery like substance on the inside of the rim before the bead is seated? Does it actually help seal any rim leaks?Newbie[/quote]
That’s bead sealer. As I said in the video don’t use bead sealer. In fact I cut this line from the video.
“If you use bead sealer to deal with this problem then I curse the day your mother laid with swine and brought you into this world”
Bead sealer has a time and place. A place of last resort in my opinion. I often see lazy techs use it instead of cleaning the wheel like Scott did in the video. This creates a mess for a real technician to clean up later when the tire gets changed again OR it comes back because it’s still leaking.
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