Tips For Investing In A New Tire Changer

Tips For Investing In A New Tire Changer

If your techs are struggling on tough tires or damaging wheels, it could be time to invest in updating equipment.

Investing in equipment that allows a technician to mount a tire without damaging the tire or wheel can pay dividends for shops every day. 

Many OEM wheels can cost in excess of $1,000 each, and to repair them, your shop could fork out $500 for a simple scratch or gouge. If a shop can save itself just one wheel repair per month by having the correct tire changer, that more than pays for the new changer and keeps more revenue from each job in the business owner’s pocket.

When to Invest

If your technicians are struggling on tough tires, damaging wheels or sending tire work out, it could be time to invest in updating older or obsolete equipment.

An extremely busy tire shop that mounts 500 to 1,000 tires per month may get only a few years out of a tire changer. Most medium-volume tire shops outgrow their current tire changer in terms of capacity or capability before it truly wears out. Wheels and tires have grown in complexity, size, difficulty and fragility in the last 10 years. The machine that could handle everything 10 years ago likely no longer can, which makes a tire changer investment a requirement for any tire dealer.

Coats-Tire-Changer-Cut-Out-1400x700

Key Considerations

When investing in a new tire changer, shop owners, managers and technicians should ask themselves the following questions: 

  • What types of tires are we currently damaging or struggling to service?
  • What types of tires or wheels would we like to service in the future?
  • What is our current tire volume? 

Investing in a tire changer that will easily change all of the tire and wheel assemblies you’re servicing today—plus those you’ll see several years down the line—is very important. 

Another key consideration and an argument for investing in a current tire changer is shop labor costs. The need to have two techs on each tire job every time a car with a low profile or difficult tires comes in can be very expensive for a business to absorb over time. Having the proper equipment allows one technician to change tough or low-profile tires easily, keeping other techs in the shop productive and making money.

Available power sources in a shop is another consideration to take into account. For example, many shops don’t have 220v available but still require a powerful changer. For this customer, an air-powered changer might be the best option. Similarly, a mobile tire changing operation may not have electric available at all. For this type of operation, air-powered may be the only option.

If your shop is looking to invest in heavy-duty tire changers for truck, bus and agricultural tires, some equipment requires three-phase power, which sometimes is not available in shops and can limit a shop’s choices when considering a heavy-duty tire changer.

Content provided by Coats Garage. For more information, visit coatsgarage.com.

You May Also Like

Air Ride Conversion Kits

Air ride and active shocks and struts will eventually fail – succumbing to either damage to or dry rot of the air spring.

Article courtesy Brake & Front End.

Air ride, active dampening and other ride control technologies probably hit their apex of development in the past 15 years. Many of these vehicles have racked up the miles since then and now need to be repaired.

Air ride and active shocks and struts will eventually fail – succumbing to either damage to or dry rot of the air spring. The dampener will lose its ability to control the suspension’s movement due to internal wear and lose fluid inside the dampener.

Wheel Speed Sensors and Bearings

The only way to diagnose the sensor and circuit is with a scan tool or scope. 

Threadlocking Compounds For Vehicle Corners

To get the most out of these “liquid” tools, you first need to know how they work.

Check TPMS, Save on Fuel for Your Next Road Trip

Discover the benefits of TPMS for enhancing safety, fuel efficiency and peace of mind during long road trips.

Brake Pad Errors and Mismatches

In order to make the right selection, you must do your homework while still remaining skeptical.

Other Posts

Chassis Parts and Alignment Angles

Knowing why the adjustment is required is critical to performing the total alignment.

Ball Joint Inspection

It’s important to remember not to miss a worn joint. If a ball joint fails, the driver loses control of the vehicle.

Brake Pad Edge Codes – What Can They Tell You?

The “Edge Code” can tell you information about a brake pad’s friction material.

Steering Angle Sensor Service

Ninety percent of the time when a steering angle sensor code is active, it means the sensor needs to be calibrated.