Technical Coats 20/20 questions

I just bought a coats 20/20 tire machine and while it works fine I have a couple of questions that the previous owner could not answer.
There is a separate air tank linked to a "ring" that is underneath the tire as it is laying on the changer. The ring has a bunch of small holes and is linked through a pedal. Perhaps a inflator to set the bottom bead? This has never worked for the previous owner and I am unable to find any references to it.
I'm wondering if it was an option?
In addition the parts list references a quart of "special hyd oil". Any ideas where this goes?
The photos aren't the best as I only have a backside view before I started tearing it down for freshening but hopefully someone has some experience.
Thanks

 

I think that helps seat the bead on tubeless tires....

 

I had one years ago and I thought the air tank in the top picture was the one that ran the inflator. I cant remember witch of the two pedals worked it.

 

^^^^^^^That is exactly what it is for. It should have been hooked up from the factory as they all have it and it is not a separate option. There could have been something disconnected by the PO but it is considered necessary especially when mounting skinny tires on wide rims ot the tires have been stacked for a period of time taking a "smashed" set to them.

 

The ring gives a blast of air as you're trying to get air into the tire. It will spread the tire sides out. The pedal actually has a secondary step, you must step briskly and fully to the floor onto the air filling the tire pedal. If you're not aware there is the secondary step of the pedal, it won't actuate the bead expanding ring. Once the bead is up and the tire is airing up, let your foot back up to just the filling the tire operation. The ring will continue blasting air as long as you hold it to the floor. It blasts a LOT of air, and drains the tank quickly. Make sure you have the valve stem core out of the stem so air can go into the tire quickly. Once you have the beads seated, put your finger over the stem and reinstall the core.
I have a 30 / 30 and have it since the mid 70's. The plastic protector pieces are still available that protect aluminum or chrome fancy types of wheels. Also a rubber cap for when you break the bead.
One of my best investments EVER.
Feel free to ask any questions. I'm sure I can help with any bit you don't understand.
Be prepared to have more friends than you ever imagined!

 

All said is correct. After 35 years in the tire biz, I never thought that I would want to see one again, but there sure are times they come in handy. Good score!
In case you haven't used one, you just lift the tire up so the top bead contacts the rim and tromp down on the inflator pedal. After the bottom bead seats, loosen the hold down cone to finish the inflation.

 

Thanks for all the replies and info. Where i was confused was all the youtube videos I found did not have the aux tank and inflator ring. I cleaned it up and am replacing hoses and a quick coat of paint. Hopefully tonight I can give it a go.

 

Those will destroy a cragar s/s. seen it many times. I sure dont miss them compared to a modern tire machine.

 

That is the machine that breaks the center of Crager SS wheels and the like so be careful!

 

Made a ton of side money with a earlier version back in the 70's. Boss didn't come to work on Sunday's until after church so from 6am until 9am it was tire time. Pretty sure he knew but never said a word. Good machine for it's time.

 

Good to know about the Cragers. Fortunately I'm a steel wheel kind of guy.

 

What is it about the design of this style machine that makes it not work on Crager or other mag wheels? I have been casually looking for a tire machine and see a lot of these older style coats for sale. I would like to be able to do mag wheels along with the steel wheels on my Jeeps and trucks, and trailers.

 

When breaking the bead off the rim the lever on the left side pushes the bottom of the rim up, and the arm on the right pushes the top of the rim down. All this force is applied to the thin center section of the rim where the center cap mounts. Modern machines compress the bead one side at a time and the rim is not held by the machine. When doing cragars we used to break the beads with a slide hammer type tool that was for truck split rims. This was 40 yrs ago....

 

Yep, center cap cone cracker. Did time on a 10-10 when in HS. Had friends I never met, opening on Sunday mornings...2 bucks!

 

Thanks for explaining it to me.

 

There's no "E" in CRAGAR.

 

I like the looks of that adapter. I just bought a Coats Model 3 and am in the process of reworking it. It's pretty much the same design as the 20/20 but without the tin work surrounding it. On mine the cylinder was stuck, the guy I got it from had disassembled it already, it had some rust and pitting in it. I wirebrushed it then ran my cylinder hone through it, turned out pretty good. Might make up an adapter like that for Ford wheels which will be mostly what I'll be dealing with.

 

That's awesome! Coats should have made this 50 yrs ago.

 

Hi Folks,
Descided to restor the super star and found most of the parts I need. Of course all the hoses are gone. Does anyone have a diagram or a picture or pictures of where the hoses connect?
Thanks
Cat_Bruce.
BTW it will be on a youtube video once I get the information.

 

My son has a 20-20. I’ve learned to flip up the lower bead breaker and just use the top breaker by flipping over the wheel if the wheel doesn’t perfectly fit the bottom arch.

 

My 2 cents on it, it is the pedal that inflates the tires that actuates the lower ring.
The pedal has two stages, step on it lightly and it airs up the tire .... stomp on it all the way down and it activates the lower ring along with the air hose connected to the valve stem.

My first guess to fix it would be the pedal is gummed up and not functioning properly.
I would buy a gallon of WD40 and while it is a pita .... add it in through the air line.
Last time I cleaned out a coats 40/40 I used more then a quart, less then a 1/2 gallon.

I had to remove the air fitting from the end of the hose, used a small funnel to fit the hose and added small amounts a few times then put it back together and ran it.
I repeated the steps several times until I had used more then a quart of WD40 .... By this time the machine was working like brand new again.

Remember that WD40 is a great cleaner, it is not a lubricant. It will clean out the insides of that pedal without taking it apart. ...... If this fixes the problem, then I would add the oil in through the air hose using same method.

If it does not fix it, then I would look into removing the pedal and open it up to see whats going on.

Years ago when I worked the tire shops, end of the week would drain the compressor then unplug the tire machines.
On Monday I would then use a spray can to add oil to the machines before airing them up.
These old machines are almost bullet proof, they do need maintenance.
Like any air tool, the oil goes in through the air intake to oil the insides.

 

I just sold my Coats 10-10. I only had it for 50 years. Worked great on steel wheels, not so much on aluminum wheels. Glad I had it, glad it's gone now.

 

I was having tires mounted in a local gas station and the guy was having a devil of a time getting the tire to air up and get the beads seated. He was using a 20/20. BUT... he was airing it up from the side, 90 degrees away from in front of him.

I said, I bet you the cost of the mounting if I can do that in one shot. He said, you're on. I rotated the wheel so the valve was right in front of me. BOOM... right on. I was taught on the old 10/10 machines that there is a larger blast of air right in front of the operator. The guy was impressed, I paid him anyway.

 

The guy was impressed, I paid him anyway.
You old softy.

 

Hi ERguitar, any chance of taking some pictures of where the hoses connect underneath?

 

I think you should be able to figure it out with supplying air to the valve. Then use an air chuck to the rams. Then if as mentioned you have the “ring “ it should have a valve to release air via the valve.
Ofcourse a diagram would be easier, but some figuring and taking notes as you go will work as well.
My old Coats just breaks the beads, I get to do the rest on my own.

 

Yep. Won't be able to get to it until sometime this weekend though. I blew my back out so Ill need to get some help laying it over

 

@cat_bruce here ya go!

 

Hey cat I posted some pics , if you need anything else let me know. I'd be interested to know if anyone has any success using the inflator ring. It doesn't seem to make much difference and actually may make it more difficult to seat a bead as it bleeds off some of the available air. Is there a trick? I seem to have my best luck working around the tire and hammering the bottom bead down with the spatula before inflating to seat the top bead.