Mounting wide race tires

[stownsen914]

I've been having a hard time finding a shop that can properly mount wide race tires. My car uses 16x12 BBS centerlock rims that have relatively small diameter mounting face 4 3/4" and 6 on 3 3/4" drive pins. I know race tires are challenging to mount, so I look for experienced shops to mount tires. These wheels seem worse than others for some reason. Just had a BBS wheel center ruined by a shop that has probably mounted 1000s of race tires, including wide, low profile, etc.

Is there a trick to mounting tires on this type of rim? Particular tire machine? Take the wheels apart to mount tires? Pic of the inner mounting face of one of my wheels below.

I've toyed with the idea of getting a Roger Krause tire machine, thinking about it again now! Is that the answer?

Thanks!

[David Ferguson]

The tire machines I'm familar with only grab onto the rim, and don't care about the center. The balancing machines on the other hand use cone adapters to fit different wheel centers. I had to modify my balancer work with only external-cones since the hubs were so thin, and small in diameter on FF/FC/S2/DSR/P2 type cars.

[SteveG]

I would suggest calling Kraus and talking to Brandon or Roger, they know their stuff. They've been mounting everything from FV to F1 for many years.

Phone numbers on on the top right of the home page https://rogerkrausracing.com/

Steve

[stownsen914]

Bumping to get input on people's experience mounting their own tires. Mine are 16" x 12" Hoosier radials. Do people mount this type of tire on their own? To be clear, I'm not looking to save a few bucks - I don't have a good tires shop near me, and I'm tired of spending hours hauling my wheels/tires to shops experienced in mounting race tires, only to have my wheels damaged. (It ain't cheap either, but that's secondary.) I'd rather just spend the time doing it myself if the cost isn't too bad.

I've heard the Roger Krause manual machine is suitable, but out of production and not easy to find. Searching here yields a number of threads talking about using the Harbor Freight cheapo machine used with a No-mar bar. Would that work for wide slicks? With mods like a swing arm + duck mount? Curious to hear people's experiences. Thanks!

[TedV]

Have you looked closely at the drop center to opposite side rim lip distance? I remember some 16" GT1/TA rims that had zero drop center making it rather "fun" to get a tire on the rim combined with huge safety bead lip making it "fun" to seat the bead. I'm sorry I can not help you on how to mount the tires with Harbor Fright ( yes fright) machines as I have access to the track side service machines Hoosier Road & Drag/ Appalachian Race Tire send to the track, Hunter TC3500 that I kinda pioneered how to mount all the Hoosiers back in the late 90's since the Roger Krause machines were so hard to come by. If a shop can mount street run-flat tires, they should be able to mount all the Hoosiers. The employee's willing to do work is another questionable topic. I hope everyone remembers this when the track side service folks make the race tire mounting and balance look easy.

[Charles Warner]

For years I mounted atlantic tires with the Kraus machine with little problem They were 13 x 15 wheels. Never tried with radials, though. Depending on your circumstances it might be feasible to have the tires mounted at a race (assuming a tire truck is in attendance).

[Jerry Kehoe]

The machine I have is a Harbor Freight unit that I have had for many years. Think it's similar to Kraus's machine. Mounted everything from bias ply to radials, 13" dia and 15" to 18" wide including some god awful F1 tires from the original tunnel era for my Can-Am cars. Reinforce a little here and there and a few adapters for the really wide wheels. No problems to speak of just make sure you lube the beads a bit.

[Rick Kirchner]

I made protective surfaces out of plastic and added a pin for the drive pin holes in my wheels. Hopefully the pictures I posted are still there.

I also use the HF machine to mount 16" radial trailer tires (I did 12 of them one weekend) and it wasn't too bad with the no-mar bar and a lot of lube.

sometimes it helps to have a friend hold the 3rd hand while you tug on the bar when mounting.

Hardest part is a sturdy mount. I welded mine to trailer hitch material and hang it off my truck.

[stownsen914]

Thanks guys, appreciate the input. Sounds like the HF unit should be usable with some mods + the No-mar bar. Similar to what others have done, I'd plan to use PVC or similar to minimize the chance of metal to metal contact.

I'm thinking to secure the unit to the floor of my trailer (probably with some bracing to stabilize the floor). That way I can use it at home, or at the track should the need arise.

@Rick Kirchner - looks like the pics on your 2013 post aren't there anymore, but I think I got the idea reading through it. Thanks for that. I noticed a reference to No-mar replacing the plastic tips for the bar for free. It seems they got smart about that. How often do they break?

[SteveG]

Thanks guys, appreciate the input. Sounds like the HF unit should be usable with some mods + the No-mar bar. Similar to what others have done, I'd plan to use PVC or similar to minimize the chance of metal to metal contact.

I'm thinking to secure the unit to the floor of my trailer (probably with some bracing to stabilize the floor). That way I can use it at home, or at the track should the need arise.

@Rick Kirchner - looks like the pics on your 2013 post aren't there anymore, but I think I got the idea reading through it. Thanks for that. I noticed a reference to No-mar replacing the plastic tips for the bar for free. It seems they got smart about that. How often do they break?

The latest HF units are total sh!t, be prepared to reinforce everything. I bent almost everything when trying to break the beads on some 15" trailer tires a few weeks ago. The bead breaker folded like a wet noodle, I fixed that then the bar bent.
I bolted mine to the concrete garage floor and have used it for race tires without much problem.

Steve

[Rick Kirchner]

I had to delete a bunch of pics for storage space. PM me your e-mail and I'll send some.

My no-mar bar came with 3 extra tips. The originals are all grooved and occasionally bent a tad but haven't broken off yet! I've probably done 15 sets of tires with it.

I sleeved the HF unit to use ghe no-mar bar on the bead breaker. I also used HDPE angle on the end of the breaker bar and before that used a die grinder and rolo disks to polish it up and round the edges so it's wouldn't goober up the rims .

[J Leonard]

Anyone in the injection molding business? These went out of production about 20 years ago. About 32 inches overall length.

[stownsen914]

The latest HF units are total sh!t, be prepared to reinforce everything. I bent almost everything when trying to break the beads on some 15" trailer tires a few weeks ago. The bead breaker folded like a wet noodle, I fixed that then the bar bent.

Ha, yeah that's what I'm prepared for based on what I've heard. No issues breaking out the welder. I figure at $50, I have a head start on building one from scratch

[stownsen914]

Rick Kirchner's thread showing the mods he did to the HF tire machine (pics have been re-added).

[stownsen914]

Any suggestions on what to use for tire mounting lube? I see NAPA sells some stuff. Is that as good as any?

[SteveG]

Any suggestions on what to use for tire mounting lube? I see NAPA sells some stuff. Is that as good as any?

Ru-Glyde,

I bought mine at amazon, personally I use the paste and a brush because I'm slow and it dries slower.

Steve

[Jerry Kehoe]

Dishwashing detergent and water in a spray bottle works fine.

[halcyon]

The latest HF units are total sh!t, be prepared to reinforce everything. I bent almost everything when trying to break the beads on some 15" trailer tires a few weeks ago. The bead breaker folded like a wet noodle, I fixed that then the bar bent.
I bolted mine to the concrete garage floor and have used it for race tires without much problem.

Steve

Same experience with the HF kit bending easily.

It took me years to convince myself to invest in a proper tire machine (Coats Center Lock) and balancer. I have zero regrets on that decision. Having a proper machine, I can flip tires as often as I want, and I need fewer sets of wheels. Whether the machine will ever pay for itself, I don't care. The convenience and time saved has been well worth it. I also worry less about my mag wheels when I do them myself. I bought my equipment new, and Coats was great with the install and training included in the price.