I did a set of four using the Harbor Freight "armstrong" changer (ITEM 34542-6VGA) that I bought for around $30. You'll definitely want to securely mount it to the floor or something so you don't chase it all over the place. Breaking beads is about a 6 on a scale of 10 for effectiveness. As far as levering the tire off, again its a bit better than simply using screwdrivers and such, but not by a great deal. There is just enough engineering in the tool for there to be some advantage in using it, but you aren't going to marvel at the cleverness of design or high build quality.
With one of the old tires I was working with the foot of the bead breaker would constantly slip off of the bead, and that one tire I spent 45 mins trying to break the bead :cussing: I even resorted to trying the old plank and truck method with no success too before I hit upon the trick to keeping the foot in place: Basically I drove a prybar through the old tire behind the foot and that finally worked to keep it in place.
In my opinion, for a one-time purchase and use even at $30 I'd say it's not worth it, but if you think you will be changing multiple sets you'd get better at using it and probably recoup your costs.
With one of the old tires I was working with the foot of the bead breaker would constantly slip off of the bead, and that one tire I spent 45 mins trying to break the bead :cussing: I even resorted to trying the old plank and truck method with no success too before I hit upon the trick to keeping the foot in place: Basically I drove a prybar through the old tire behind the foot and that finally worked to keep it in place.
In my opinion, for a one-time purchase and use even at $30 I'd say it's not worth it, but if you think you will be changing multiple sets you'd get better at using it and probably recoup your costs.
