Image shown with optional QX Leverless System

Four generations and 30 years of this model in the UK gives it ‘legendary’ status in the UK.

Effectively the ‘bigger sibling’ of the SX228 Pro, the SX228 Pro Duo has gained cult status in the UK tyre industry over the last 25 years due to its ‘original and still the best’ twin-assist arm design.

For years, it was always an argument from competitors as to why would you need 2 arms when one will do. This refers to the fact that most tyre changers are supplied with some form of assist arm, that is usually designed to press the bead down by the demount head, and also rotate 360 degreed via a separate attachment, all in one unit.

There is no doubt that this works, and is a vast advancement over having no arm at all, but it will never be as functional and useful as a twin-arm system, and we can explain this in very simple terms.

On a single assist arm, you only have one pneumatic cylinder, and this operates both functions; the static roller and the ‘travelling’ arm. Depending on the shape of the rim and the nature of the tyre, those two components really need independent movement, which is the ability to raise the roller by the demount slightly towards the end of the cycle, whilst maintaining the pressure at the travelling arm, or ‘wedge’ which is keeping the bead depressed. If you only have one cylinder, you can’t do this; if one component moves, so does the other. With the Pro-Duo system, you can operate both functions in total independence, making fitting and removal much easier and safer. Plus, by having 2 cylinders you have one cylinder dedicated to each function, giving twice the power. When you are faced with a really tough run-flat, you are not diluting the pressure, and having two cylinders makes all the difference to stop the tyre effectively ‘fighting back’.

There is now doubt, anyone who has used the Pro Duo system will never go back.