DIY Tire Changer Builds: What a Homemade Changer Has to Do

People search for plans and blueprints for homemade tire changers. What is missing is any document that says how such a build has to be made or how it holds up. This page does what the sources allow: it explains what the tool has to do, shows the parts as a patent and a manual describe them, and lists the rules that no build can get around. We have built nothing and have run no trials.

The three jobs of any tire changer

1. Hold the wheel. The rim must not turn or lift while a bar pries against it.
2. Break the beads. Both beads have to be pushed off their seats and over the safety humps into the drop center, on both sides of the wheel.
3. Lever the tire. A bar needs a fixed point to turn around while it lifts the bead over the rim flange, and the opposite side of the bead has to sit in the drop center while it does.

A build that does only the second job is a bead breaker, which has its own page: homemade bead breakers. The first and the third job are what make a changer.

The parts, as a patent describes them

The clearest public description of a hand-operated changer we found is U.S. Patent 6,145,566, granted in 2000 to Summit Tool Co. for a center post tire changing apparatus. It is a design description, not a plan for a home build, and we do not turn it into one. It is useful because it names each part and what the part has to withstand.

The patent also says what earlier manual changers did wrong, and the list reads like a warning to builders. Clamping a rim takes significant force and can deform or damage it, small and light aluminum wheels above all. Holding a wheel by a pin through a lug hole can damage or deform the rim and only suits some lug patterns. Earlier bead breakers made the user turn the wheel over or refit the lever for the second bead.

What the store-bought stand already includes

The reference machine of this class is the Harbor Freight Pittsburgh manual tire changer, item 58731. Its product page describes an all-steel stand, 36 in. tall, with a predrilled base, specified for tires from 8 in. to light truck (7-1/2 in. x 16). According to the copy of its owner's manual on ManualsLib, it is assembled from a center post and base parts, a bead-breaker handle with a shoe, and a mount/demount bar, and it is to be mounted on a floor surface at least 4 in. deep. That is the same set of functions as in the patent, bought as a kit in the budget price class.

Pittsburgh is a Harbor Freight house brand and is not in our selection. The Amazon counterpart is our pick among the floor-post changers:

Our pick: car & light truckAd

VEVOR

VEVOR Manual Changer 8–16 in.

The Amazon counterpart to the store-bought reference machine: post, bead breaker and lever bar for 8 to 16 inch wheels.

Why here: Post, bead breaker and lever bar in one stand for 8 to 16 inch tires, in the budget price class. Its maker states the range and the bolt-down base on its own product page, which no home build can offer.

Best for: Steel and basic alloy wheels up to 16 in. on cars, trailers and older light trucks, in a garage where the base can be bolted down.

Type

Floor-post changer with bead breaker

Wheel range

8–16 in. (manufacturer)

Mounting

Bolt-down base, three holes

Weight

30.9 lb

Size

18.1 x 15 x 37 in.

Price class

Budget

What it does well

• Stated range of 8 to 16 in., the range the reference manual of this design covers
• Bead breaker and mounting post in one stand; no power or air line needed
• Base with three mounting holes for bolting down (manufacturer)
• Same price class as the Harbor Freight machine, delivered to the door

Where it falls short

• Has to be bolted to the floor or to a base that takes the lever force
• Stops at 16 in.; not for 17 in. and larger or low-profile wheels
• Steel bar on the rim edge: marks on alloy wheels are possible
• The maker's page states no warranty terms, and we have not read the user manual

View on Amazon*(paid link to Amazon, opens in a new tab)Ad · paid link · check price & delivery on AmazonRead the comparison

The TUFFIOM changer^* (paid link) has the same layout; its seller lists it for 8 to 16 in. tires, and we have the listing only. All stands are in the comparison of manual tire changers.

Build or buy

We print no prices. One point needs no figures: the bought stand sits in the budget price class, so that class is the most a build can save. Whether a changer is worth having at all is weighed on the page are manual tire changers worth it.

Rules no build can get around

The hard rules of tire work are not about the stand. They are written for tires and rims and apply whatever holds the wheel.

• The drop center. The tire makers say the beads have to be completely in the drop well of the rim during mounting. A homemade stand does not change that.
• Lubricant. Both beads and the rim are lubricated with a proper non-petroleum lubricant. See tire mounting lube.
• Wheels are not workpieces. The tire makers' care manual says never to rework, weld, braze or heat a wheel or rim.
• Tools are not modified. OSHA's chart for truck tire service, written for trained personnel, says never to alter or apply heat to any tire service tool, never to use an extension or cheater bar with tire irons, and never to use a bent, cracked or mushroomed tool. It shows how the trade treats the bars a builder is tempted to lengthen.

The inflation procedure is on the page how to seat a tire bead.

Where home builds are weakest

No source rates homemade changers, so what follows is our assessment from the documents above, not a finding.

• The anchorage. The reference manual does not allow use without floor mounting. A stand that is heavy but loose moves under the bar. How bought stands are fixed is described under mounting a manual tire changer.
• The joints. The patent asks for a post rigid enough for bead breaking and mounting torque. On a home build, nobody has specified the welds and bolts that carry those loads.
• The contact points. The patent blames clamps and pins for deformed rims. Every point where a build touches the wheel is a point where a rim can be marked or bent.
• The range. A bought stand states the tires it is for. A build has no stated range, and the tire makers ask for equipment designed for low aspect ratio, high performance tires and wheels.

Modifying a bought stand instead

A DIY project can also start from a bought stand: a longer bar, a different head, a hitch mount. According to the copy of the reference machine's owner's manual on ManualsLib, the changer is to be used only with the accessories included and is not to be modified. Third-party parts such as duck-head kits are outside what the manual covers and remain your own decision; they are sorted on the page about manual tire changer upgrades. Ways to use a stand without drilling the floor are compared under portable tire changers.

No machine at all

For small wheels the documented alternative to building a machine is to use none. Motorcycle and small tires are changed with a bead tool, tire spoons and rim protectors. OSHA's chart shows that even tubeless truck tires are demounted and mounted with tire irons on the floor, by trained personnel and with a restraining device at inflation. What a stand adds for car wheels is the fixed post and the built-in bead breaker.

All tool types, bought and by hand, are sorted on the manual tire changer homepage.