Stick a fork in me, I done. It's been a long hot weekend.

You are supposed to Labor on Labor Day right?

Time for a beer.

 

I've been married to the Carolina Girl for 35 years. She told me Friday that this is "My Weekend", not her's but mine.

Well I know what that means. I'm behind on chores, I bought all this stuff and I need to get it set up, ready to use and out of the way!

We cleaned out the big shop, did pressure washing, moved the tire machine in position and finished assembly of it. That was all day and man was it hot and humid.







I"m sorry to say we did not make it to church Sunday. We slept in and enjoyed a nice breakfast and got back to work.

I decided to build a much needed work bench. The Carolina Girl was happy to see my wood stash go down. I did have to go to Lowes once for 2 each 2x6x10 ft and some self tapping screws.
























Finally dinner time rolled around and we called it a day and cook some stir fry on the Blackstone.






I will say we slept well both Saturday and Sunday nights.

I got up early today to beat the heat. I continued on the work bench, pressure washed the trash cans and hooked the battery charger up to the tractor.

I'm happy with the way everything came out and I'm very close to changing some tires!







Pretty cool pattern in the wood.













For me this is all therapy.

Lunch today was excellent. The Carolina Girl fixed us mater sandwichs with chips and we had watermelon for dessert. Wow, both were delicious.



I moved all the tools I purchased to the new bench and leveled out the balancer.












Happy Labor Day all. I should be changing some tires soon. For me it is always move slow, get and be prepared and have the right frame of mind.

Thanks again for all the great comments. Yes, probably all overkill, but there are much worse things to spend your time and money on.

 

Was going to mention, Harbor Freight make a perfect sized double decker roller tray that I bought when I bought my tire machine. Few years ago but I bet they still have them. It's the perfect compliment to my tire machine. It holds nothing but tire accessories. Valve stems, lead weights, bead balance tubes, any and all assorted tools that I need for tires, and it sits right where I need it.

 

That’s a great ideal.

The balancer you have is identical to the one I bought, other than the color and name brand.

I noticed a couple of things in your picture.

You have the brake rotor removed. Any reason why?

Also you have the clamps in the middle position. My from rims are 19 inch and I was thinking the best position would be the outside. Any advice for best position for 19 inch diameter and 18 inch diameter on rear?

Thanks

 

FYI Brake rotor bolts are usually stretch bolts, which means you should not reach reuse them.

 

He Cos, great pics btw.

You don't need to remove rotors.

This particular wheel had a warped rotor, and I was swapping them out. Pulled the old one off and decided to install the new ones after the mount, then I balanced it with the rotors on.

Even in the middle position you have a lot of room still. You just have to play and figure it out. You don't want it WAY outside. Ideally you want the clamps resting on rubber, or close to it. I have a 21" wheel on my Softail I'll probably be changing this winter, may have to move the clamps outside then, I'll have to see. For the life of me I don't remember moving it on the install, but maybe I did.

 

The slightest wind affects the balancer, sometimes have to close the doors.
When a wheel is mounted on the balancer, check the bearings by holding one of the mount cones and spin the wheel, if there's any roughness or catch, your going to feel it.
So now we need the bearing tools and maybe keep some new bearings on hand.

 

I don't use weights to balance my wheels, instead I use Ride-On which is a balancer and sealant. As a balancer, it works great, and you never need to rebalance a wheel. And there's the added benefit that if you get a puncture, it may keep enough air so you can get home.

 

Convenience tip #42, stick a magnet to the balancer to keep the allen wrench and razor handy (to cut the wheel weights from the strip)

Slime or beads in that tire?, ugh! can get messy

 

I've never used the beads, but the slime stays put in the center of the tire. I've changed them by hand and never got any on me.