Another stubborn tire bead ??....

[Crow Horse]

I'm having trouble seating the beads on new LT235x75-15 General Grabber AT2's on Jeep OEM 15x7 steelies. They arrived banded together and the sidewalls push inwards making seating the beads almost impossible. However I did manage to get one to seat after wrestling with it for too many hours.

Things I've tried:
ratchet strap
liberally lubed tire and rim
tried seating the back bead and wrestle with the face bead
placed 2x4's inside the tire to spread the bead prior to mounting
let sit in sun
blast of CO2, valve core removed and Tomco QD on the valve instead of an air chuck.

No joy on all of the above.I don't want to drop a load of cash on a Cheetah but am considering similar ones on eBay that run around $50. Do they really work? I am going to try the bicycle inner tube method tomorrow and see how that works.

I've mounted the same tires in the past without issue. Maybe these were on the bottom of a stack and sat for some time.....
I don't want to try the starting fluid method. I'd rather buy the proper toll than risk injury or property damage. I know people have used this method with success but in my mind it's just screaming for a visit to the ER.

Any ideas? I have 2 sets to mount

 

[bobcatdan]

Cheetah bead setter works wonders, otherwise there is always ether.

 

[pamike]

Ether works for me...That or take it to a truck shop and throw a guy a little cash to mount them...

 

[drwheels]

wheel bearing grease lots of it. wd40

 

[slopdog]

If there isn,t a big rush . put something between the tire beads for a few hours . I used pop bottles once when I had the same problem , Left them overnight . next day had no trouble getting them mounted .

 

[Milton Shaw]

We used to use old tire tubes and blow them up inside the tire and leave them out in the sun to soften up. Usually worked fairly well after an hour or so in the sun.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Ether works for me...

If you do this, be ready with a tire chuck to IMMEDIATELY start filling the tire.

 

[malibu101]

If you do this, be ready with a tire chuck to IMMEDIATELY start filling the tire.

YES! This man knows what he's saying.
Don't be stupid if you've never done it before but it's not bad. Like don't spray 1/2 a can in and fire it off. Start off easy and learn until you have "experience" in this art.

And like drwheels said- Some grease (along with lube) will help create a better seal to help seat the beads.

 

[KDXSR5]

Take it to a tire shop. Not worth the effort IMO. I have mounted and dismounted many tires from passenger car up to 35s when I was younger (broke), but if you have a few bucks to throw at a tire monkey, it isn't worth your time and energy. Now I will buy a couple pizzas and take them to the tire shop and they are happy to mount/dismount tires for me. Best of luck!

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

I have one of the $50 bead seaters, it works good to spread the tire for a fraction of a second. Usually not enough to seat the bead by itself.
I also have a chuck that clips on. I removed the center post from it (I think you can buy them like this). With the valve stem removed you don't need the center post.
I start the air flowing in the stem and quickly blast the bead. Then keep the air going to fully seat it.

 

[Crow Horse]

I have to add that I'm using balancing beads so I'm not sure the ether method would work. I was told that using the Cheetah or something similar would work with the balancing beads.
Grease won't take up the space that is needed for the beads to seat. I'm hoping that the bike inner tube method works.....

 

[Zapp Branigan]

Doesn't anyone use propane anymore?

 

[Tim C]

We use a cheetah tank at work for this all the time. If your not mounting tires frequently though it'd be money ahead to find a tire shop to just inflate them for you. Probably won't charge too much since you've already done the hard work.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[AMCguy]

Here is a technique that I learned in the tire shop I worked in when I first got out of high school. They used to stack the tires in the storeroom and the ones on the bottom of the pile were always flattened and posed a challenge to seat. I have used this technique ever since and I have always had success.

Stand the tire up with the rim loose. Lean the tire over so the outside is facing downward toward the floor at about 45 degrees. Gravity will help you with this next part. With your foot, push hard or kick on the back side of the rim, while pulling back on the tire. What you're tying to do here is seat the tire to as much of the rim as possible. You won't be able to seat much more than half, but if you push really hard you will manage to get the inside bead jammed well enough onto the rim that it will help you with this next step.

Now gently stand the tire up and lean it over, backside towards the wall at about a 45 degree angle. While inflating, gently push on the centre of the rim just enough to make the bead touch evenly all the way around the rim. The back can't leak enough to work against you here, so if you can get the front to touch evenly without undoing what you did to the back, it will begin to inflate.

 

[stikman56]

I've done 'em with a weatherstrip for a car door, also a bike inner tube.

 

[Streetbu]

Can't believe no one had mentioned that you need to take the guts out of the valve stem when trying to fill it. It will push much more air into the tire and help spread it apart. Use the sun to warm the tire, it works... I cut 2x4's to about 6 or 8" lengths, use them between the beads while sitting in the sun, works every time. During the winter, I use a 140k btu salamander to warm them up and spread them.

 

[Crow Horse]

Can't believe no one had mentioned that you need to take the guts out of the valve stem when trying to fill it. It will push much more air into the tire and help spread it apart. Use the sun to warm the tire, it works... I cut 2x4's to about 6 or 8" lengths, use them between the beads while sitting in the sun, works every time. During the winter, I use a 140k btu salamander to warm them up and spread them.

I did in my first post....

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

I have to add that I'm using balancing beads so I'm not sure the ether method would work. I was told that using the Cheetah or something similar would work with the balancing beads.
Grease won't take up the space that is needed for the beads to seat. I'm hoping that the bike inner tube method works.....

You add the beads through the valve stem after you have seated the bead.

Can't believe no one had mentioned that you need to take the guts out of the valve stem when trying to fill it. It will push much more air into the tire and help spread it apart. Use the sun to warm the tire, it works... I cut 2x4's to about 6 or 8" lengths, use them between the beads while sitting in the sun, works every time. During the winter, I use a 140k btu salamander to warm them up and spread them.

Also the post in most air chucks restricts air flow.

 

[Crow Horse]

You add the beads through the valve stem after you have seated the bead.




Also the post in most air chucks restricts air flow.

I've added the beads prior to seating the beads. Through the valve stem takes way too long but is doable. I also used a Tomco QD that fits over the valve stem and has an on/off. Unrestricted air flow using it.....

 

[Crow Horse]

Success! I used a bike inner tube and inflated it so that the inner bead would seat fully. Then removed the inner tube and I now had a firm anchor to work against. Using the Tomco QD coupler I pulled up on the tire and it inflated then seated with ease. I did pull the trigger on an eBay bead seater similar to the Cheetah unit..... Thanks for everyone's input!

 

[bulletpruf]

I've done 'em with a weatherstrip for a car door, also a bike inner tube.

Been fighting some old 31 x 10.50 x 15 BFG's and managed to get one seated using a bike tube. Perforated the tube on the second tire; will patch it and give it another go.

Next option is a Cheetah-type bead seater; always nice to have a reason to buy a new tool.

Last option is ether.

 

[Robby321]

Tire shop and quit dicking around!

 

[sberry]

Remove valve cores, change chucks, if it dont work have gone to the starting fluid method, it does work. The idea of wedging the beads open in the hot sun is a winner too, that might help.

 

[bulletpruf]

Tire shop and quit dicking around!

That's not how I roll...(sorry for the bad pun)

Remove valve cores, change chucks, if it dont work have gone to the starting fluid method, it does work. The idea of wedging the beads open in the hot sun is a winner too, that might help.

Valve cores were out.

I ended up finding a more few bicycle inner tubes - these are for the high pressure skinny road bike tires. They were still in the box, but at 10-20 years old, it was time to get rid of them anyway.

Anyway, I would put a few pounds of air in the bicycle tube and then wedge the tube between the bead and the wheel -- was doing this on the outer bead. That gave a pretty good seal on the outer bead so I just had to monkey with the inside bead a bit to get it close to being sealed.

Then I aired up the tires until the bead set, inner and outer. Then pulled the chuck off and let all the air out and pulled the bicycle tube out from between the tire and the wheel. Actually managed to get the tube out 2x without tearing or perforating it.

 

[mwalsh9152]

glad you were able to get it done! I got lucky with my last truck tires, and they just seated easily with just air into the valve.

My mower tires were a PITA. I ended up using hairspray to pop the bead in place since I didnt have any either.

 

[txvwnut]

I bought one of the low buck cheetah copies off eBay. The nozzle and valve are smaller than the cheetah but it still does the job quite well. I added a tee and coupler so I could use it as an air tank.