Parts of a Tire Machine – Tire Changer Diagram Labeled

All 15 parts on the diagram

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The whole machine 12

Turntable (table top) Turns the wheel while the tire is taken off or put on. Makers call it the turntable or the table top.
Column (tower) It carries the swing arm and the vertical shaft. Some makers call it the tower.
Swing arm Swings from side to side. This moves the mount/demount head toward the rim or away from it.
Locking handle Locks the vertical shaft in position at the rim. That locks the head too.
Vertical hex shaft A six-sided bar that slides up and down. This suits wheels of different widths. The mount/demount head is fixed to its lower end.
Bead breaker arm Pushes the blade against the side of the tire. This frees the bead from the rim. Some makers call it the bead loosener.
Bead breaker blade It presses on the tire's sidewall next to the rim. It is rounded to follow the wheel, and is also called the shoe.
Foot pedals They turn the turntable and open and close the rim clamps. They also work the bead breaker.
Inflation pedal Pressing it sends air through the air hose to inflate the tire.
Inflation gauge Shows the air pressure in the tire. It reads while the air hose is on the valve stem.
Air hose Its end clips onto the wheel's valve stem. Compressed air goes through it into the tire.
Filter and lubricator The filter takes water out of the compressed air. The lubricator adds a little oil to it for the machine's air cylinders.

At the wheel 3

Rim clamps (jaws) Four clamps on the turntable move together to hold the rim. Makers also call them clamping jaws.
Mount/demount head Guides the tire's bead over the edge of the rim. The bead goes off the wheel or onto it. One maker calls it the duckhead, after its shape.
Bead lifting tool Its curved end goes under the tire's bead. It lifts the bead up over the head. Also called a tire lever.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30 and kept only where at least two independent sources use it. (1) Wikipedia, Tire changer, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire_changer , and the maker's manual it follows, a rim clamp tire changer manual in full text at https://archive.org/details/manualsbase-id-448310 (counted together as one source): table top, rim clamps, duckhead, swing arm, vertical slide, locking handle, tower, foot pedals, inflation pedal, air hose, air inflation gauge, bead loosener and its shoe, bead lifting tool. (2) A second maker's tire changer operation instructions, https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-6358977 : vertical hex shaft, swing arm, lock button handle, mount/demount tool or head, tilting tower or column, turntable, clamping jaws or rim clamps, bead breaker arm, bead breaker blade, bead breaker pads, foot pedal controls, inflator pedal, inflation gauge, air hose, air lubricator. (3) A third maker's manual, https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-6761145 : table top, wheel clamp, bead breaker arm, bead breaker blade, tilting column, hexagonal arm, horizontal arm, filter and lubricator, tyre lever, mounting/demounting head, bead lifting tool. (4) A fourth maker's manual, https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-6237103 : chuck jaws, swinging arm, column, bead breaking arm, locking lever, head, bead lifting lever, inflation gauge, lubricator and air filter. (5) A fifth maker's manual, https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-5883093 : jaw, turntable, mount/demount head, hexagon bar, control pedals. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's machine, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A tire machine is the shop's name for a tire changer: the machine that takes a tire off a wheel and puts one on. Here is a swing-arm changer from the side, then the wheel on its turntable close up.

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What each group of parts does

The bead breaker arm presses its blade against the tire to loosen the bead from the rim. The rim clamps then hold the wheel on the turntable, which the foot pedals turn. The swing arm and the vertical hex shaft bring the mount/demount head to the edge of the rim, and the locking handle holds it there.

Air for the tire

The air hose clips onto the valve stem, the inflation pedal lets the air in and the inflation gauge shows the pressure in the tire.

The mount/demount head is often called the duckhead, one maker's name for it, after its bill-like shape.
A wheel balancer is a different machine and is not drawn here.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a tire machine?

A cabinet with foot pedals, a turntable with four rim clamps, a bead breaker arm and blade on the side, a column with a swing arm, a vertical shaft carrying the mount/demount head, and an air hose with an inflation gauge and pedal.

What is the duckhead on a tire changer?

It is the mount/demount head: the shaped piece at the bottom of the vertical shaft that sits at the edge of the rim. The tire's bead is lifted over it, and it guides the bead off the rim or onto it as the turntable turns.

What does the bead breaker do?

It frees the tire's bead from the rim before the tire can come off. An arm on the side of the machine pushes a rounded blade against the tire's sidewall, next to the rim.

What holds the wheel on a tire changer?

Rim clamps, also called jaws. They sit on the turntable and move in or out together, worked by air from a foot pedal, to grip the rim.