Ranger R980DP Tire Changer and DST30P Balancer Package
Of all the wheel-service packages we sell, this is the one you can actually check your own work against before you spend the money. Both machines publish full range tables — clamping, tire width, tire diameter, wheel weight — and those tables are on this page, further down. That sounds like a small thing. It is not. Most combination listings tell you a headline capacity and leave you to find out about the wheel it will not take on the day a customer is waiting.
Check your wheels against the table, not against the headline
The R980DP clamps rims internally from 9" to 30" and externally from 9" to 26". Those two ranges are different for a reason: internal clamping grips the inside of the rim flange and reaches larger, external clamping grips the outer edge and is what you use on a rim whose inner face you do not want a jaw anywhere near. Turntable tire width for mounting runs 4" to 15", the bead breaker takes 1.5" to 13", and maximum tire diameter is 50". Read those together and the machine's real envelope appears: it is a passenger, SUV and light-truck changer with genuine headroom at the top end, not a machine that reaches 30" only in the sense that a 30" rim will physically fit in it.
Dual assist towers, and the job they are actually doing
The R980DP carries two pneumatic assist arms rather than one. On a stiff or reinforced sidewall the bead does not want to drop into the well of the rim, and every technique for making it do so by hand puts load on the rim edge and on the technician's back. A second assist point means the bead can be held down on both sides of the mount head at once, which keeps the tire where the geometry needs it instead of where the strongest available arm can hold it. Run-flats are the obvious case; heavy light-truck tires and low-profile performance rubber are the everyday ones.
The changer's drive and bead loosener
Turntable drive is electric with reversible direction under foot-pedal control, so a technician who has taken the bead too far can back it out rather than force it through. The bead loosening blade is adjustable across multiple axes, which is what lets one blade suit a narrow passenger tire and a wide truck tire without either being attacked at the wrong angle. Behind all of it is a box-frame structure — a closed section rather than an open channel — which is the reason the machine's accuracy does not drift after a year of absorbing the shock loads that bead breaking puts through a frame.
The DST30P balancer, and what it will and will not take
The balancer handles wheels from 8" to 30" in diameter and 1.2" to 20" in width, with a maximum tire weight of 150 lbs (68 kg) and a maximum tire diameter of 50". It spins at 180 RPM, resolves to 1.4° of angular position, brakes automatically and electronically, and offers dynamic, static and three alloy modes. Three standard cones and one truck cone come with it. Those numbers describe an auto and light-truck machine, and that is exactly how the manufacturer classifies it — a heavy commercial wheel is outside it, and the 150 lbs limit is the figure that decides the question, not the diameter.
Will It Fit?
The changer occupies 47" L x 60" W x 82" H (1200 mm x 1530 mm x 2090 mm), so plan for a shade under seven feet of vertical clearance plus room to swing the arm clear. Its motor is specified at 208-240 VAC, 50-60 HZ, and the drive system is listed as electric and air, so you need shop air as well as a suitable circuit. The balancer's motor is 1.5 HP, 110/220V, 50 / 60 Hz, 1Ph, and it ships at 370 lbs (168 kg) in a 44" x 30" x 46" (1,117 mm x 762 mm x 1,168 mm) crate — worth knowing if it has to come through a standard personnel door rather than a roller shutter. Confirming the supply in your bay, the concrete you are standing the machines on and the route from the truck to the bay is your responsibility, and it is a much cheaper conversation before the order than after it.
Perfect For
Busy independent tire shops and general repair shops running mixed passenger, SUV and light-truck work all day. Dealership service departments that need a documented envelope to check a fitment against before committing to a job. Fleet workshops with light and medium duty vehicles inside the published ranges. Mobile and satellite operations that want one crated pair rather than two separately sourced machines. It is more equipment than a home workshop needs, and we would say so.
What's in the Box
- R980DP tire changer with dual assist towers
- DST30P wheel balancer with three standard cones and one truck cone
- Adhesive steel tape wheel weights, silver and black combination, on two rolls
Decision Table
| Rim up to 30" internally clamped |
Yes |
| Rim clamped externally beyond 26" |
No |
| Tire over 50" in diameter |
No, on either machine |
| Wheel assembly over 150 lbs |
No, balancer limit |
| Shop air available |
Required, drive is electric and air |
Certification, without the alphabet
No independent third-party safety listing is published for either machine here, and we will not imply one by implication or by silence. Powered tire equipment generally sits outside the third-party listing scheme that applies to vehicle lifts, but that is a fact about the category rather than an answer for your insurer. If a policy, a fleet contract or a local licensing rule asks for documentation on powered shop equipment, ask us for what the manufacturer publishes for these two models while you are still deciding.
Shipping, and the part that is on you
Freight to the lower 48 states. Two crates, one of them 370 lbs, so plan the unload before the truck books in: forklift, or pallet jack and hands on a level surface, or collect from the carrier's terminal. Residential delivery is available and attracts a residential fee. Check the crates against the delivery paperwork and record any damage on it before you sign, because a clean signature closes off the easy route to a claim. Warehouse pickup is available at the locations listed further down this page.
Warranty and the teardown that voids it
A single warranty document covers the manufacturer's range; ask us and we will send the current version for these models rather than summarising a term we would then own. Whatever it says, the operational rule is the same: open the claim before anybody opens the machine. Stripping a faulty unit to diagnose it is the most reliable way to turn a straightforward claim into a long conversation, and it usually saves less downtime than it costs.
