A little background: my 26 year old son and I run LO206 Senior and Masters in Northwest Ohio. Up to now, we’ve been running club races at Fremont OH with occasional races at the Elkhart GP, Clyde GP and trips to other tracks such as East Lansing and MCC. With the opening of two new tracks in Ohio, we’ll be running more at different tracks that require different tires than we’ve been running up to now (MG Red SH2 and Hoosier R60B). I have arthritis in my hands which can make mounting tires difficult. So, my question: which tire mounting tools have you had success with mounting tires with minimum effort? I’ve seen mentions of the Kartlift tire changer, the turbo tire changer and the scissors style changers? Preferences and why? Thanks!
We have tried a ton of things over the years. We recently became converts to the scissors. They work well on all tires and wheels we’ve tried. The KartLift changer works well too but takes some more finesse to get the technique down. But we used that for years (my dad designed it). Before that we had a Semel Baby E changer which obviously is the easiest but most expensive and had a tendency to bend rims if you were too eager clamping them down.
I only have experience with the scissors but they work well. I would suggest getting tire lubricant to help with the process as well. I have good luck with Napa RuGlyde. Let your son do the hard work too!
I could never get the kart lift system to work better for me than the scissors, even though I really wanted it to, so I sold it. The scissors will still require some muscle during dismount to get the 2nd bead removed (typically by hand), and the initial bead started during mounting.
If you truly want to save your hands, then as TJ mentioned the Semel machine is the best bet, but you’re going to pay for that privilege.
Also, this tire lube works great and one tub should last a lifetime.
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I use a bead breaker, the scissors, and 1 small tire tong (tong photo below). The bead breaker for popping the bead down, scissors to push the first bead off when breaking down and the second bead back on when mounting. I use the single tire tong to insert and pry the rim through when pulling off the second bead. I can do it by hand, but the tong gives my a bit more leverage to help roll the rim through that bead. For mounting the first bead I try to roll the rim bead through the tire, if the tire starts to collapse too much before the rim goes through, I flip it over and grab the tire and push down and walk it on the partially inserted rim.
If you are mounting 6” (180mm) tires on 7” (220mm) rims I strongly recommend mounting lube and tire bands for ease of beading and safety. I don’t miss that part of 206 racing!
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I have a set of tire mounting ‘spoons’ that are more for motorcycle tires - they have a lip and work well but aren’t as long. With arthritis in my wrists, it’s not as easy to manipulate the tire onto the wheel as it used to be. We’ve been using slightly diluted Dawn dish soap as a lube for mounting.
After 20 years of karting i would never mount a tire without the scissors again
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I just got the Game Changer. I have almost no experience, but it works great so far. I found it about the same as using the Semel and 1/4 of the price.
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i use the scissors, as well. hardest part, and it’s not that hard, is only during the install of the tire. the initial push through of the rim is sometimes a pain, depending on the rim and/or the tire, but usually not much of an issue. i just mounted some hoosier r70’s on some tony kart rims with zero issues last night.
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I use the scissors too! Works great. I struggle sometimes getting the tire to seal up enough to take air. But getting them on/off with the scissors is super easy once you get the hang of it.
I use the Turbo Tire changer. I’m not super strong.
Dismounting: by hand, two-taco method. Keep in mind: if you don’t create a gap, it won’t dismount.
Mounting: slip-on gel, scissors
That is a piece of cake, except for AMV rims. Those sometimes will require scissors to dismount too.
Either way, helps a ton when tires are hot (after a session or leave under the sun)
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