The Product:
The Mueller-Kueps Wheel Weight Pliers, No. 282 240, are designed to remove sticky wheel weights from aluminum rims. Thin edges grip the wheel weight without damaging the aluminum, leaving no scratches or notches in the metal. The pliers will never touch the wheel, as the weights lean on their own tape, the company says. Wheel weights can be easily removed and trashed using the spring-loaded handle. The rubber coated grip provides a comfortable handle. This tool is made in Germany.
The Review:
For technician Randy Kaiser at Rost Motor, Inc. in Mason, Iowa, the Mueller-Kueps Wheel Weight Pliers helped save a little time. He found that to use the tool, he just had to grab the wheel weights and give them a twist.
“Instead of having to dig and pry to remove old wheel weights and possibly causing damage to an expensive wheel in the process, you simply grab the weight, give it a little twist, and it pops right off,” Kaiser says.
Rost Motor is a new car dealership that works on all vehicle brands, in addition to four wheelers and motorcycles. Mounting and balancing new tires is a routine job in the shop, as well as rebalancing tires.
While Kaiser found the Mueller-Kueps Wheel Weight Pliers, No. 282 240, to be a timesaver, he also notes it is a quality product and easy to use.
“[The pliers] are extremely well made; it appears as though they will last a long time, and they do exactly what they are designed to do,” he says. “They will save a lot of time removing stick-on weights without having to worry about damaging the rims.”
The tool is ready to be used right from the box, and doesn’t require setup or a manual.
“Setup is simple," Kaiser says. "Take the pliers out of the box and plastic bag, and you’re ready to go. There are no accessories, and none are needed. It’s self-explanatory, and a very simple operation."
Kaiser notes that the tool works like other wheel weight pliers, however the difference is with the jaws, which Kaiser says are “specially designed to grab stick-on weights.”
“I previously used traditional [wheel weight pliers] and they didn’t work for stick-on weights, only for clamp-on weights,” he adds.
In the past, Kaiser would have used a plastic scraper to remove the stick-on weights, and then used glue remover to take off any additional adhesive still left on. He says the Mueller-Kueps Wheel Weight Pliers would even take the adhesive off most of the time.
At the dealership, Kaiser and his team of technicians use stick-on weights for vehicles with chrome or aluminum wheels where the wheel lips are too big for normal weights, and when customers don’t want to see the weights on their tires.
When describing the features of the tool, Kaiser was most impressed with the quality of the product.
“The craftsmanship is exquisite,” he says. “The handles and jaws are heavy duty. The handles also have a nice cushioned rubber covering on them and are spring loaded so that they automatically open up to dispose of the weight that you removed; [they] are then ready for the next weight.”
Kaiser concluded that these wheel weight pliers were the first that he has seen for such an application, so he was glad to try them out.
