I need to replace my car’s tires since they’re worn out. I don’t see any tire changing or balancing in the tools Wiki, but there’s lots of tools that aren’t listed. I thought I had seen one but I can’t recall.
Negative. No tire working equipment. Sadly. 
I have seen the equipment offered as donation, but it was declined. Something about how makerspace is more than auto garage.
Now this is just my opinion, and i’ll probably get flogged for this, but yes indeed, makerspace is much more than just a place to fix the personal auto. So much so IMO that there should be no fear that adding some tire balancing and alignment equipment could possibly place the status of DMS as creative workshop in peril.
The reason I have seen given for not accepting tire balancers had to do with space. We only have so much space…
I think you mean tire changer? The bubble float type tire balancers take up about the same amount of space as a toilet plunger and don’t have to be bolted into the ground.
Either way, thanks for the info guys.
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Most folks who want one want a spin balancer, in part so you can balance in 2 planes, as is generally recommended on modern automobiles. Others don’t want people working on automobiles, especially super scary tires…
A good friend of mine used to work at…
He gave my wife and I a nickel tour. They had two instruments of interest regarding tires. The first was a truck-sized centrifuge. The tire was mounted on it with a special high RPM wheel. The entire machine was lowered into a deep pit in case something went wrong. A several inch thick steel door was moved over the pit. The instrument would spin the test tire up to 250,000 RPM. Needless to say, tires occasionally came apart spraying rubber and steel. The pit and door were most certainly a requirement!
The second instrument was a steel conveyor belt with a very large robot arm. That instrument had a window allowing observers to witness a test. The glass was about six inches thick. The test tire was mounted on it using a normal wheel. The instrument could run up to 300 miles per hour. Using the robot arm any conceivable road condition could be tested. Occasionally, the force was so great the wheel (not necessarily the tire) would tear apart. My friend said the separated tire would spin around the room about two dozen times before finally running out of energy.
Scary tires indeed!
Cool. Destruction testing is what I SHOULD be doing with my life. But I’m not.
But modern spin balancers only operate at about 100 RPM, which is roughly equal to 15MPH max.
Not so scary (not that it can’t be dangerous, but hardly scary).
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Haha, yeah. With all the gifs on reddit going around of tires exploding and killing people I can hardly blame them, even if the only tires that stand a chance of doing so are the kind found on 18 wheelers not passenger cars and light trucks.
Some people forget how old their tires are. Most ST tires are 50 PSI, and some LT tires are 80 PSI. Just airing up a 8+ year old tire to those pressures has some risk.
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Perhaps if we had a tire machine, members would be more inclined to replace their tires sooner.
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that is a nice thought - but in reality - knowing how many drivers are - they would prolong it EVEN farther…
Plus mounting a tire that has a low profile sidewall is not as easy as the tire monkeys (that do it everyday) make it look.
For what many non franchise tire shops charge - I’d rather not do anymore of my own tires. It isn’t worth it.
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Light truck tire sizes can be misunderstood. You put a 17.5 on a 17" rim and you’ll have it pop right in your face.