Tyre changers for HGVs: What to look for before you buy

By Josh West
Commercial Tyre Changer

Tyre changers are a core piece of kit for any busy fleet or workshop. But if you’re looking to upgrade (and especially if you want to future-proof your investment), you’ll find that not all tyre changers are created equal.

Here’s what you need to know before you buy — to be sure you’re making the right choice for your workshops and your vehicles:

 

Wheel size

With a huge range of vehicle types in different fleets, there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all tyre changer. You’ll need equipment to match the vehicles you’re servicing, with a specific range of wheel sizes for each tyre changer you buy.

That usually breaks down into:

  • LCVs — like our Light Commercial Tyre Changer, for 10”–24” rim diameters
  • Heavy trucks — like our NAV11 Tyre Changer, with a ride range of suitable wheels
  • Agricultural vehicles — like our NAV43 Tyre Changer, for 11”–42” rim diameters.

 

Speed

Every minute spent on tyre changing is another minute off the road. Your vehicles aren’t earning, and your throughput suffers. On top of that, a slow process in an everyday task puts your teams behind, adding to the maintenance backlog that so many fleets suffer from.

That makes the speed of your tyre changer one of the most important things for a busy fleet workshop. You should be looking for:

  • Leverless operation. Has integrated rollers and bead-breaking systems
  • Synchronised movement of tools. To reduce the input needed from the technicians
  • Automatic speed adjustment. To optimise the rotation speed depending on the tyre’s condition.

But as well as choosing features for the speed of the tyre-changing operation, you should also look for speed in the user controls: like the adjustable arm of the NAV101 Tyre Changer, which lets your teams quickly reposition for each stage of the tyre-changing process.

Wheel protection

With the high forces involved in changing heavy-duty tyres (and especially with older vehicles that have been through more tyre changes), the action of changing tyres can cause wear and tear on your wheels.

Over time, that could mean more costly replacements and repairs — and could also affect the safety of the vehicle.

The best commercial tyre changers come with options for alloy protection: usually a special coating on the parts that touch the wheels, designed to reduce friction and abrasion and keep your wheels healthy for longer.

When you’re choosing a tyre changer, you should look for alloy protection on its:

  • Central jaws — to protect the inner metal of your wheels
  • The bead-breakers and rollers that grind against the outer rim
  • The assist arm (if it has one)

Ease of use

Any good tyre changer is designed to minimise strain on your workers: to reduce fatigue and keep their throughput high.

But as well as helping them avoid the manual labour of lever-based tyre-changing, there are more modern features that can make your technicians faster and safer as they complete the job.

You should be looking for:

  • Simple and responsive controls for precise positioning of the rollers
  • An adjustable arm to help them reposition around the machine
  • An additional assist arm for smoother mounting
  • Synchronised movement and automatic speed adjustment.

 

Need advice on an upgrade?

We’ve got a full range of tyre changers for different types of vehicle and wheel — from LCVs and HGVs to the heavy-duty tyre changers for agricultural vehicles.

So if you’re looking to upgrade and you’re not sure what you need, start a chat with one of our workshop experts — and we’ll show you the options to help you find the right fit.