H.A.R.D Tire Truer
04-27-2007, 10:24 PM
#1
H.A.R.D Tire Truer
I know the Hudy truer is the best due to its huge motor and ability to tear through tires. I just wanted to get that out of the way because people seem to get uppity about their tire truers.
Anyway, I decided to give the H.A.R.D unit a try because it's about half the size of other truers, and I'm a big fan of keeping the amount of gear I use to a bare minimum. It didn't disappoint, it's small and light, and comes with a nifty case. I also picked up some of the special cutting bits, and found that the 2mm one gave a much better cut. It's not so smooth you wouldn't want to sand it a tiny bit before running the tire, but it's certainly not the worst cut I've seen.
There seems to be a little bit of play in the cutting mechanism that gives it some wobble when taking larger cuts. It's still cutting true and smooth, but it's noticeable wobble, and usually corrects any variations in diameter on the return cut. Has anybody experienced this? I can't find a way to tighten it and reduce the amount of play.
I'm using this device with my power supply rather than off two batteries, so I decided to remove the battery holders on the bottom. They clearly intended for this, since the device has rubber feet on the bottom. In order to unscrew them, you have to open the case and disassemble the entire unit. I feel deep pity for anybody that finds themselves trying to reassemble this thing, as it's easily one of the most frustrating tasks anybody could ever endure. You'll probably find yourself resoldering wires to switches and motors as you fumble around trying to get the circuit board back into its little grooves, and everything lined up. Oh god, it's awful. I could have killed puppies if it would have made things easier.
But it works now, and it's not too bad. I wish I could tighten up the cutting head, but it doesn't seem like there's an option for that. It seems to bog down if you take large cuts, even though it's got two motors driving it. I wonder if the 12V from the power supply instead of 14+ from two packs is affecting it much?
Anyway, I guess that's my mini review. I couldn't find a damn thing about this truer before buying it, but HARD's stuff is always quality, so I figured I'd take a chance. I'm not disappointed, I knew there would be some compromises for its smaller size, and I can live with them. This thing will apparently also work as a comm cutter with an added piece, but I'm not sure how true it would cut if the head wobbles.
Any other input, tips, tricks or whatever would be great. I noticed br00d is selling these now, as well as Tower thanks to Trinity importing the HARD stuff. Presumably, other people will start looking for info. I guess RC Driver did a "product spotlight" on it in the May issue, but that was off the shelves before I got a chance to read it.
Anyway, I decided to give the H.A.R.D unit a try because it's about half the size of other truers, and I'm a big fan of keeping the amount of gear I use to a bare minimum. It didn't disappoint, it's small and light, and comes with a nifty case. I also picked up some of the special cutting bits, and found that the 2mm one gave a much better cut. It's not so smooth you wouldn't want to sand it a tiny bit before running the tire, but it's certainly not the worst cut I've seen.
There seems to be a little bit of play in the cutting mechanism that gives it some wobble when taking larger cuts. It's still cutting true and smooth, but it's noticeable wobble, and usually corrects any variations in diameter on the return cut. Has anybody experienced this? I can't find a way to tighten it and reduce the amount of play.
I'm using this device with my power supply rather than off two batteries, so I decided to remove the battery holders on the bottom. They clearly intended for this, since the device has rubber feet on the bottom. In order to unscrew them, you have to open the case and disassemble the entire unit. I feel deep pity for anybody that finds themselves trying to reassemble this thing, as it's easily one of the most frustrating tasks anybody could ever endure. You'll probably find yourself resoldering wires to switches and motors as you fumble around trying to get the circuit board back into its little grooves, and everything lined up. Oh god, it's awful. I could have killed puppies if it would have made things easier.
But it works now, and it's not too bad. I wish I could tighten up the cutting head, but it doesn't seem like there's an option for that. It seems to bog down if you take large cuts, even though it's got two motors driving it. I wonder if the 12V from the power supply instead of 14+ from two packs is affecting it much?
Anyway, I guess that's my mini review. I couldn't find a damn thing about this truer before buying it, but HARD's stuff is always quality, so I figured I'd take a chance. I'm not disappointed, I knew there would be some compromises for its smaller size, and I can live with them. This thing will apparently also work as a comm cutter with an added piece, but I'm not sure how true it would cut if the head wobbles.
Any other input, tips, tricks or whatever would be great. I noticed br00d is selling these now, as well as Tower thanks to Trinity importing the HARD stuff. Presumably, other people will start looking for info. I guess RC Driver did a "product spotlight" on it in the May issue, but that was off the shelves before I got a chance to read it.
04-27-2007, 10:39 PM
#3
Originally Posted by adamge
This thread is useless without pics.
^ figure of speach, so it's an exaggeration.
^ figure of speach, so it's an exaggeration.
05-01-2007, 11:37 PM
#4
I figured I should update and say that I found a way to tighten things up and make the truer work the way you would expect. It had no trouble at all taking a new tire down to 60mm in a single cut using the 2mm cutting blade and a 12v/24A power supply. I imagine it could probably cut a little more in its first pass if I really wanted to, especially if I put the 3mm cutter on there. You could hear it bog down slightly on the harder front tires, but nothing like, say, the Integy does if you try cutting that deep. This truer uses two motors for its main drive which seems to give it plenty of grunt.
I'm MUCH happier with the truer now, and feel great about the purchase. I don't see anybody in the US that carries it also carrying their special cutting bits, but they seem to work really well. My biggest complaint about the whole thing is the lack of a definitive depth gauge. The numbers on the little knob don't seem to mean anything, and the amount of slack in it is a little hard to get used to.
I'm MUCH happier with the truer now, and feel great about the purchase. I don't see anybody in the US that carries it also carrying their special cutting bits, but they seem to work really well. My biggest complaint about the whole thing is the lack of a definitive depth gauge. The numbers on the little knob don't seem to mean anything, and the amount of slack in it is a little hard to get used to.
05-02-2007, 05:22 AM
#5
Originally Posted by syndr0me
I figured I should update and say that I found a way to tighten things up and make the truer work the way you would expect. It had no trouble at all taking a new tire down to 60mm in a single cut using the 2mm cutting blade and a 12v/24A power supply. I imagine it could probably cut a little more in its first pass if I really wanted to, especially if I put the 3mm cutter on there. You could hear it bog down slightly on the harder front tires, but nothing like, say, the Integy does if you try cutting that deep. This truer uses two motors for its main drive which seems to give it plenty of grunt.
I'm MUCH happier with the truer now, and feel great about the purchase. I don't see anybody in the US that carries it also carrying their special cutting bits, but they seem to work really well. My biggest complaint about the whole thing is the lack of a definitive depth gauge. The numbers on the little knob don't seem to mean anything, and the amount of slack in it is a little hard to get used to.
I'm MUCH happier with the truer now, and feel great about the purchase. I don't see anybody in the US that carries it also carrying their special cutting bits, but they seem to work really well. My biggest complaint about the whole thing is the lack of a definitive depth gauge. The numbers on the little knob don't seem to mean anything, and the amount of slack in it is a little hard to get used to.
No mention of me saving the day
05-02-2007, 09:31 AM
#7
Thank you!
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