What To Do When Your Tire Bead Becomes Unseated

[MountainDon]

Anyone who does much traveling on backwoods and desert trails knows that a key to better off road performance is to air down their tires. That means reduce the air pressure until the sidewalls flex a bit. The larger the tire the more the pressure can be reduced. For example on my Cherokee with 32 x 11.5 x 15's I reduce pressure to 15 lbs maximum; if I know ahead of time the trail will be gnarly I do down to 12 lbs. On my old CJ with 33 x 12.5 x 15 I normally went down to 10 lbs.

Those low pressures greatly increase the tire footprint and reduce the impact on dirt trails. They also allow the tire to flex and wrap around rocks for better traction. Comfort is also improved as the tires absorb much of the rock jarring before it gets to the springs. There are downsides. 1. You need to air up once the speed of travel is increased. An on board air compressor is a necessity. Some folks use CO₂ bottles. 2. sometimes a tire will lose the bead seal. Instantly you have a flat.

An on board air compressor doesn't have enough volume to stand a chance to reseat the bead. My normal method of dealing with something like this is to use an endless loop ratchet strap around the tire circumference. Compressing the circumference causes the sidewalls to push out and the tire can be seated and then re-inflated.

I have heard of this alternate method, but have never seen it done. This guy appears to have lots of experience with the technique. Here are 2 links to the same video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeqxiLTZJn0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW_TYS_Gv9k

A cautionary word. Use "just enough" to do the job. I did a search on YouTube and found a couple of grossly over sprayed tires and some large explosions and fires.

Once the tire is reseated you must get air into the tire quickly. That's because the heated air will cool and contract and maybe pull the bead seal.

[bayview]

   Thanks for the tip !!!

   Maybe outside . . . With a fire extinguisher.   

/

[MountainDon]

I'm sticking to my ratchet strap.



I meant to thank Frank, NM_Shooter for that.

[glenn kangiser]

Couldn't find many ads but NAPA carries a similar product.  Its like soap - shortening consistency - I use it on my
Bobcat.

I have nearly successfully set the tire on fire with ether, but never seated the beads.

http://www.rimex.com/custom/tiretube.html

I nearly set my pants on fire with methane but that's another (old) story. ...

[cordwood]

 Murphy soap is the standard in the tire world but I found Lysol and some stick matches works best. I didn't wait for dial up speed to show the Youtube stuff but I am guessing thats the theme here, I have a cousin in the grave yard from watching me do it and trying it himself. 270 lbs flew over a hundred feet! Two cautins other than what should be obvious is to remove the valve core and never stick your thumb over the valve stem to try to stop the air while you find the core!

[peternap]

I nearly set my pants on fire with methane but that's another (old) story. ...

OH....wait a minute. I set my tennis shoe on fire while welding once

[apaknad]

poor sassy