A tire shop runs on three machines: a tire changer, a wheel balancer, and an alignment system. Everything else is support equipment. If any one of those three is outdated, unreliable, or mismatched to your workload, it costs you money every single day — in slower cycle times, in damage claims, in comebacks, and in jobs you have to turn away because the machine cannot handle the wheel sitting in front of your technician.
Auto Lift Services sells, installs, and services tire and wheel equipment across Iowa and nationally. We carry Hunter Engineering, Rotary, Snap-On, and Coats equipment — new and used. We have handled over 30 pieces of used tire equipment through trade-ins via our Equipment Systems Inc partnership, including Hunter TCX-series changers, GSP-series Road Force balancers, Snap-On changers and balancers, and Coats machines. We service tire shops throughout Iowa, from Heartland Tire and Auto to Hardin County Tire to Big 8 Tyre Center and dozens more. We maintain 150-plus Hunter Engineering technical PDFs and 24 Rotary product sheets in our reference library. We stock 8,165 parts in our Iowa warehouse. When we recommend a machine, it is because we have installed it, serviced it, and watched it perform under real shop conditions — not because we read a brochure.
Tire Changers
A tire changer is the highest-throughput machine in a tire shop. Every vehicle that comes through the door for new tires, seasonal swaps, flat repairs, or rotations touches the changer. The right machine handles your wheel sizes without damage, runs all day without overheating, and lets a single technician work without needing a second pair of hands.
Hunter Tire Changers
Hunter builds the broadest tire changer lineup in the industry. The TCX swing-arm family covers entry-level through premium: the TCX50 and TCX51 for shops doing fifteen sets a day or fewer, the TCX53 Pro with hybrid leverless head technology for mid-volume operations, and the TCX59 Pro with an automatic swing arm and premium leverless system for high-volume shops. We have sold and serviced the TCX500, TCX575, TCX550, TCX535, TCX50E, TC3000, and TE3955 — those are not catalog entries, those are machines we have physically handled in Iowa shops.
Above the TCX line, the Hunter Maverick introduces fully variable hydraulic controls with rim capacity from 10 to 34 inches. The Hunter Revolution is fully automatic — an 80-second unattended demount cycle that frees the technician to prep the next wheel. The Auto34 uses a center-clamp design for rim sizes from 10 to 34 inches, making it the machine for shops that see everything from ATV wheels to dually truck rims.
For a detailed breakdown of the full Hunter changer lineup, read our Hunter Tire Changer Iowa guide. If you are comparing Hunter to other brands, see Hunter vs. Coats Tire Changer and Hunter vs. Rotary Tire Changer.
Rotary Tire Changers
Rotary is known primarily for lifts, but their tire equipment line has been growing. Rotary changers are built for durability in fleet and commercial environments. We carry 24 Rotary tire equipment product sheets and can source any current Rotary changer model. If your shop already runs Rotary lifts, keeping your tire equipment in the same ecosystem simplifies service and parts sourcing. See our Rotary Tire Changer Iowa page for available models.
Snap-On and Coats Tire Changers
Snap-On and Coats have been in tire shops for decades. We have handled the Snap-On 326A tire changer and the Coats 70-X-EA-L and 5060AX through our used equipment program. These are solid machines with large install bases. Replacement parts are widely available, and technicians who trained on Coats equipment often prefer to stay with the platform they know.
Coats changers tend to be simpler mechanically, which means fewer electronic components to fail. For a shop on a moderate budget that services standard passenger and light truck tires without a heavy load of low-profile alloy work, a Coats changer in good condition is a legitimate option.
What to Consider When Buying a Tire Changer
Daily volume. A shop doing 10 sets a day has different needs than one doing 50. Entry-level machines work fine at lower volumes. High-volume shops need leverless heads, faster hydraulics, and ergonomic features that reduce operator fatigue over an 8-hour shift.
Wheel mix. If more than half your work involves low-profile tires on alloy wheels, you need a leverless or hybrid leverless head. Metal-on-metal contact with a conventional head will generate damage claims. If you service wheels larger than 24 inches regularly, evaluate center-clamp machines or the Maverick platform.
Rim clamp vs. center clamp. Most shops use rim-clamp (tabletop) changers. Center-clamp machines offer wider size range but cost more and take longer to set up per wheel. See our Center Clamp vs. Rim Clamp Tire Changer comparison for a detailed breakdown.
Budget. Entry-level tire changers from reputable brands start in the low thousands. Mid-range leverless machines run mid-range. Premium automatic changers are a significant capital investment — but shops that process high volumes recover the difference in months through labor savings alone. Read our Tire Changer Buyer Guide for Iowa or How to Choose a Tire Changer for detailed buying criteria.
Wheel Balancers
A balancer that only measures static and dynamic imbalance catches the obvious problems. A diagnostic balancer catches everything — belt separations, radial force variation, lateral pull, rim runout, and stiffness irregularities that produce vibrations conventional balancers cannot explain. The difference between these two capabilities is the difference between a customer who comes back with a vibration complaint and one who does not.
Hunter Wheel Balancers
Hunter builds three tiers of balancers. The SmartWeight Pro is compact and efficient — no-touch measurement, laser-guided weight placement, and SmartWeight technology that reduces weight consumption by up to 30 percent. The SmartWeight Elite adds a vision system that scans spoke locations for cosmetically hidden weight placement and delivers 70-second cycle times. The Road Force WalkAway is the most advanced diagnostic balancer on the market.
We have direct experience with the Hunter GSP9200 and GSP9722 Road Force balancers. The Road Force diagnostic roller presses against the tire at up to 1,250 pounds of force, simulating road contact and measuring force variation that no standard spin balancer can detect. ForceMatching calculates the optimal tire-to-rim position to minimize vibration without replacing parts. StraightTrak identifies lateral pull sources that mimic alignment problems.
For shops that handle vibration complaints — and every shop does — Road Force technology eliminates guesswork. Full details are on our Hunter Wheel Balancer Iowa page.
Snap-On and Coats Wheel Balancers
We have handled the Snap-On EEWB332A, EEWB330A, and WB304D balancers, plus the Mac Tools WB2600 and John Bean BFH1000. On the Coats side, we have moved the 1055 and 950 balancers through our used program. These are reliable production machines. They lack the diagnostic depth of Road Force technology, but for shops focused on standard balance services, they do the job.
Choosing a Wheel Balancer
The decision comes down to whether you want a production balancer or a diagnostic balancer. A production balancer spins the wheel, measures imbalance, and tells you where to put weights. A diagnostic balancer does all that plus identifies the root cause of vibrations that standard balancing cannot fix. If your shop handles vibration comebacks regularly, or if you service newer vehicles with increasingly sensitive ride expectations, diagnostic capability pays for itself quickly.
Alignment Machines
Alignment equipment is where a tire shop becomes a full-service operation. Selling tires without offering alignment is leaving money on the table — and it is bad for the customer, because new tires on a misaligned vehicle wear unevenly and need replacement sooner.
Hunter Alignment Systems
Hunter’s HawkEye alignment system is the industry standard. Camera-based sensors mount to each wheel and measure toe, camber, caster, thrust angle, and SAI/included angle with precision that contact-sensor systems cannot match. The system displays live alignment data on a monitor, walks the technician through the adjustment process, and stores before-and-after measurements for customer presentation and documentation.
We have installed and serviced the Hunter Auto34 alignment machine, the WA23X Plus, and the R611. Hunter alignment systems integrate with HunterNet for production tracking and data sharing across your shop network.
Rotary Alignment Systems
Rotary offers alignment systems designed to pair with their alignment lifts. If your shop runs a Rotary alignment rack, their alignment system integrates cleanly. We carry Rotary alignment product documentation and can source current models. See our Rotary Wheel Balancer Iowa page for related equipment.
What a Shop Needs for Alignment
An alignment machine is only as good as the lift underneath it. You need a level alignment rack or four-post lift with integrated turnplates and slip plates. The machine itself requires network connectivity for software updates and specification databases, adequate bay lighting for camera systems, and a technician who understands suspension geometry — not just how to press buttons. We handle all of this: lift selection, machine installation, calibration, and technician training.
ADAS Calibration Equipment
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems — lane departure warning, automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring — rely on cameras and radar sensors that must be precisely calibrated to the vehicle’s thrust line. A wheel alignment that changes the thrust angle can knock ADAS calibration out of specification. That means alignment shops now need calibration capability, or they need to sublet the work to a shop that has it.
Hunter and Rotary both offer ADAS calibration systems that integrate with their alignment equipment. Hunter’s system uses the existing HawkEye alignment data to position calibration targets with the precision these sensors require. This is an emerging equipment category, but it is not optional for long — the percentage of vehicles on the road with ADAS features grows every model year.
Read our full overview at Hunter ADAS Calibration Equipment Iowa.
Used and Refurbished Tire Equipment
Not every shop needs to buy new. We move used tire equipment regularly through our partnership with Equipment Systems Inc — over 30 pieces of used tire equipment to date, including Hunter TCX-series changers, GSP-series balancers, Snap-On 326A changers, Snap-On EEWB-series balancers, Coats 70-X-EA-L and 5060AX changers, and Coats 1055 and 950 balancers.
Used equipment from Auto Lift Services is not the same as buying off a classified listing. We inspect every machine, identify what needs repair or replacement, and disclose the condition honestly. If a machine needs new heads, seals, or electrical work, we tell you before you buy — and we can handle the refurbishment ourselves.
We also take trade-ins. If you are upgrading your tire changer or balancer, your existing equipment has value. Contact us for a trade-in evaluation.
Installation and Service
We do not just sell tire equipment. We install it, calibrate it, and service it for the life of the machine.
Installation includes site survey, concrete and electrical assessment, delivery, assembly, anchoring, plumbing (air and hydraulic), electrical connection, calibration, and functional testing. We have completed over 3,600 service invoices and documented 5,786 lift and equipment inspections backed by 39,284 inspection photos. That same operational discipline applies to every tire equipment installation.
Ongoing service includes preventive maintenance, warranty repairs, emergency breakdown response, consumable replacement (polymer heads, bead breaker pads, clamp jaw inserts), and software updates. We service equipment from our bases in Ames, Iowa and Kissimmee, Florida.
Parts. We stock 8,165 parts in our Iowa warehouse. When your machine needs a component, we typically have it or can get it fast.
Why Buy Tire Equipment From Auto Lift Services
We are a real equipment company, not a catalog. Founded by Josiah Ragsdale and operating since 2019, Auto Lift Services has built its business on hands-on equipment work — installation, inspection, service, repair. When we recommend a tire changer or balancer, it is because we have installed that machine, serviced that machine, and seen how it performs over years of daily use in Iowa shops.
We carry multiple brands. Hunter, Rotary, Snap-On, Coats — we are not locked into one manufacturer. We recommend what fits your shop, your volume, your budget, and your vehicle mix. If a Coats changer is the right machine for your operation, we will tell you that, even if a Hunter changer costs more.
We handle the entire lifecycle. From helping you choose the right machine, through installation and training, through years of maintenance and repair, through eventual trade-in when you upgrade — one company, one relationship, one phone number.
We know Iowa. We service tire shops across the state. We understand Iowa’s freeze-thaw concrete challenges, the vehicle mix of pickups and farm equipment alongside passenger cars, and the seasonal volume swings of spring and fall changeover seasons. That local knowledge matters when selecting and installing equipment.
Warranty support. Authorized dealer warranty service means your factory coverage is fully backed. We handle warranty claims, stock genuine parts, and get your machine running again without delays.
Get Started
Whether you need a single tire changer for a startup shop or a full tire bay buildout with changers, balancers, alignment, and ADAS calibration — we can help.
Phone: 800-674-9302
Email: info@autoliftserv.com
Browse equipment: store.autoliftserv.com
Services: autoliftserv.com/services
We will evaluate your shop, recommend the right equipment for your operation, and handle everything from delivery through installation and long-term service. One call gets it started.
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