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Tire mounting lube?

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archibaldtuttle

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Dec 26, 2021
Messages
3
@bubinga well ATF hews reasonably closely to my understanding of a composition of oils that doesn't lead to decomposition of rubber seals. doesn't have the gelatinous body i'm looking for to help with making the bead (vs. bead sealing).

notice several votes for euro paste. e.g. @nicks78camaro and @Greg5OH . while i understand that to be maybe bassed on vegetable oil or (?) i notice it says it has "rust inhibitors" which suggests to me that it is kind of on the water based/mixable side.

ditto ruglide which makes people happy.

I'm going to inquire directly with Xtra tomorrow about the difference between euro paste and no rim rust.

reminder that the main distinction of my replaying of this thread is my garage is unheated and well under freezing much of this season which is why i'm focused on non-water base.

thanks all for picking up this boxing day thread.

brian
 

archibaldtuttle

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Dec 26, 2021
Messages
3
@Bad Eye Bill and @MarineScott

sorry, i was typing when you were. like ATF, these are automotive fluids (that might be a euphemism for silicone spray) that are designed not to degrade rubber but they aren't as pasty as a mounting compound that doubles for helping bead making and bead sealing.

both would be compatible with cold temps of course.
 

Locker537

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Joined
Sep 25, 2016
Messages
488
Location
Massachusetts
simple green, used diluted dawn too. Never ever had an issue
Be careful with Simple Green on aluminum and certain alloys. It's corrosive.


There's plenty of horror stories of people letting aluminum parts, such as expensive carb bodies and wheels, soak in Simple Green and it essentially destroying the part.
 

GophersGarage

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Joined
Apr 19, 2012
Messages
720
Location
Ontario Canada
(xtra seal) which is made for this type of thing. and not expensive
this is the professional way to do tires

rust lubes, degreasers, engine oil etc are not for tire repair.
 

Bad Eye Bill

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Nov 15, 2017
Messages
5,028
Location
New Brunswick Canada
@Bad Eye Bill and @MarineScott

sorry, i was typing when you were. like ATF, these are automotive fluids (that might be a euphemism for silicone spray) that are designed not to degrade rubber but they aren't as pasty as a mounting compound that doubles for helping bead making and bead sealing.

both would be compatible with cold temps of course.

Sorry, the OP's original question was for tire mounting lube not bead sealer. That's what I was responding to. I wasn't joking either, brake fluid makes a great lube.

I don't think the newer fluid will peel paint anymore either. Or maybe the newer paint isn't vulnerable to brake fluid? Anyone know?
 

Mgdoug3

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Joined
Mar 2, 2018
Messages
1,391
Location
KY
I usually use WD40 in a squirt bottle or Dawn water down. That's on tractor tires though. I never have had a tire slip on the rim. Years ago before I had tire tools a guy came and used grease on the tire. Grease takes forever to dry and ended up spinning on the rim and destroying the tube. It doesn't take long to pay for tire tools that way.
 

Beanscoot

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Joined
Jul 25, 2018
Messages
41
Location
Vancouver Island, Canada
I have been using plain old motor oil or gear oil for a couple decades with no issues. When I take the tires off after they're worn out, the rubber shows no issues, and is nice and soft still.
I did used to use grease, and had no issues with that either.
I like the petroleum lubes as they won't encourage rust or corrosion of rims.
 

Gurp

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Jun 12, 2014
Messages
366
Location
So.Ohio
For motorcycle tires I always use a bit of 80-90 gear oil wiped on the inside of the tire.
For a car tire I use to local tire shop. its worth the 8 bucks to have them change it.
 

Beanscoot

Active member
Joined
Jul 25, 2018
Messages
41
Location
Vancouver Island, Canada
I mount all my tires with my swap meet manual bead breaker and tire spoons I made 25 years ago during my apprenticeship. I actually enjoy it, although it can be a bit of a chore at times.

I'm always using second hand tires anyway, the tire shops might complain about the date codes.
 

powerwagon63

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Apr 2, 2009
Messages
165
40 years ago Grampa taught to change a tire with spoons and a big hammer. He used bacon grease and had been doing so for decades.
 

Greg5OH

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Joined
Jun 24, 2014
Messages
196
I was like you for a while. Unheated garage slingin tires the europaste held up fine. Dealing with tires was another story. I do low pro stretched tires on high end 3 piece wheels…definitely want some heat. Id preheat them with a heat gun before lol.
if you do any more than a couple sets in he winter, spend the cash for insulation and heating, and youll wonder why you didnt bite the bullet sooner.
Also my hunter road force machine would refuse to turn on for the first 5 minuets when it was cold. Just stood there and had a constant beep.
@bubinga well ATF hews reasonably closely to my understanding of a composition of oils that doesn't lead to decomposition of rubber seals. doesn't have the gelatinous body i'm looking for to help with making the bead (vs. bead sealing).

notice several votes for euro paste. e.g. @nicks78camaro and @Greg5OH . while i understand that to be maybe bassed on vegetable oil or (?) i notice it says it has "rust inhibitors" which suggests to me that it is kind of on the water based/mixable side.

ditto ruglide which makes people happy.

I'm going to inquire directly with Xtra tomorrow about the difference between euro paste and no rim rust.

reminder that the main distinction of my replaying of this thread is my garage is unheated and well under freezing much of this season which is why i'm focused on non-water base.

thanks all for picking up this boxing day thread.

brian
 
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bwringer

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Jan 1, 2013
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10,253
Location
Indianapolis
As far as a tire mounting lube that won't freeze, I have no idea. I don't know if any are alcohol-based, or include enough alcohol to prevent freezing. It just hasn't been a design priority, I suppose.

Perhaps you could experiment with something along those lines; alcohol should evaporate easily enough without damaging the tires.

Ru-Glyde is a water-based potassium soap with some corrosion inhibitors. Other tire mounting lubricants are similar formulations of some sort of mild water-based soap with additives.


On motorcycling websites, this topic comes up often because a lot of us have to start changing our own tires out of financial self-defense.

What I don't get is the outright OBSESSION a lot of folks have with using ANYTHING except a tire mounting lube. They'll obsess and argue endlessly over tires, oil, grease, chain lube, antifreeze, and everything else, but somehow buying tire mounting lube is completely off the table. I've never understood this.

If you share this obsession and simply MUST raid the kitchen, bathroom, or hall closet rather than coughing up the measly $15-$20 on the proper stuff, you want to avoid detergents in favor of a mild soap. Most will also need to be diluted. You also need to avoid substances that do not evaporate and/or leave a residue, as well as solvents or oils that could interact with or soften the rubber.


Could work safely, but none of these contain corrosion inhibitors. If you must, use sparingly and dilute:
Murphy's Oil Soap (and yes, Murphy's makes a delightfully scented tire mounting lube)
Baby shampoo (I'd avoid most shampoos, since many contain some pretty harsh detergents)
Hand soap
Water-based personal lubricant (good old Kentucky Jelly)
Some milder car wash soaps (avoid the "all in one" or "one step" versions with wax and harsh detergents)


Avoid (yes, I've seen almost all these recommended at one time or another):
Windex and all other spray cleaners (very corrosive)
Armor-All (hangs around
Silicone spray
WD-40
Tri-Flow
Bear grease, Bbacon grease, etc.
Vaseline
Vagisil
Athlete's foot/itch cream
Most hand cleaners (many contain some pretty harsh solvents)
Oil, ATF, grease, and other hydrocarbon lubricants
Vegetable oil
Pine-sol
Pam cooking spray
Silicone-based personal lubricant
Antifreeze
Car wax


And yeah, I used the word hillbilly. I come from a long, proud line of hillbillies who ate possum-n-taters and squirrel brains on toast. I have all the respect in the world for hillbillies who make do with what they have when they need to, but there's a point where it gets silly or dangerous to make do when it's so easy and inexpensive to get the right stuff for the job at hand. There are two sides to the hillbilly mindset and I've seen both. Sometimes it's sheer ingenuity, sometimes it's an aggravating pigheadedness and a refusal to even consider doing things the right way.

There are many, many times I can recall on the family farm when the hillbilly "make do" mindset caused more trouble, lost time, cost, and danger than just fixing or doing the damn thing correctly in the first place. And of course just as many or more times when hillbilly ingenuity saved the day. The well-rounded hillbilly must know the difference.
 

Bad Eye Bill

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Joined
Nov 15, 2017
Messages
5,028
Location
New Brunswick Canada
As far as a tire mounting lube that won't freeze, I have no idea. I don't know if any are alcohol-based, or include enough alcohol to prevent freezing. It just hasn't been a design priority, I suppose.

Perhaps you could experiment with something along those lines; alcohol should evaporate easily enough without damaging the tires.

Ru-Glyde is a water-based potassium soap with some corrosion inhibitors. Other tire mounting lubricants are similar formulations of some sort of mild water-based soap with additives.


On motorcycling websites, this topic comes up often because a lot of us have to start changing our own tires out of financial self-defense.

What I don't get is the outright OBSESSION a lot of folks have with using ANYTHING except a tire mounting lube. They'll obsess and argue endlessly over tires, oil, grease, chain lube, antifreeze, and everything else, but somehow buying tire mounting lube is completely off the table. I've never understood this.

If you share this obsession and simply MUST raid the kitchen, bathroom, or hall closet rather than coughing up the measly $15-$20 on the proper stuff, you want to avoid detergents in favor of a mild soap. Most will also need to be diluted. You also need to avoid substances that do not evaporate and/or leave a residue, as well as solvents or oils that could interact with or soften the rubber.


Could work safely, but none of these contain corrosion inhibitors. If you must, use sparingly and dilute:
Murphy's Oil Soap (and yes, Murphy's makes a delightfully scented tire mounting lube)
Baby shampoo (I'd avoid most shampoos, since many contain some pretty harsh detergents)
Hand soap
Water-based personal lubricant (good old Kentucky Jelly)
Some milder car wash soaps (avoid the "all in one" or "one step" versions with wax and harsh detergents)


Avoid (yes, I've seen almost all these recommended at one time or another):
Windex and all other spray cleaners (very corrosive)
Armor-All (hangs around
Silicone spray
WD-40
Tri-Flow
Bear grease, Bbacon grease, etc.
Vaseline
Vagisil
Athlete's foot/itch cream
Most hand cleaners (many contain some pretty harsh solvents)
Oil, ATF, grease, and other hydrocarbon lubricants
Vegetable oil
Pine-sol
Pam cooking spray
Silicone-based personal lubricant
Antifreeze
Car wax


And yeah, I used the word hillbilly. I come from a long, proud line of hillbillies who ate possum-n-taters and squirrel brains on toast. I have all the respect in the world for hillbillies who make do with what they have when they need to, but there's a point where it gets silly or dangerous to make do when it's so easy and inexpensive to get the right stuff for the job at hand. There are two sides to the hillbilly mindset and I've seen both. Sometimes it's sheer ingenuity, sometimes it's an aggravating pigheadedness and a refusal to even consider doing things the right way.

There are many, many times I can recall on the family farm when the hillbilly "make do" mindset caused more trouble, lost time, cost, and danger than just fixing or doing the damn thing correctly in the first place. And of course just as many or more times when hillbilly ingenuity saved the day. The well-rounded hillbilly must know the difference.

This well-rounded flatland hillbilly got a pretty good laugh out of Vagisil.

Good post and 100% true.
 

bubinga

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 26, 2014
Messages
12,744
Location
Bridgeport Ohio. (Across River From Wheeling WV)
I was like you for a while. Unheated garage slingin tires the europaste held up fine. Dealing with tires was another story. I do low pro stretched tires on high end 3 piece wheels…definitely want some heat. Id preheat them with a heat gun before lol.
if you do any more than a couple sets in he winter, spend the cash for insulation and heating, and youll wonder why you didnt bite the bullet sooner.
Also my hunter road force machine would refuse to turn on for the first 5 minuets when it was cold. Just stood there and had a constant beep.

As far as a tire mounting lube that won't freeze, I have no idea. I don't know if any are alcohol-based, or include enough alcohol to prevent freezing. It just hasn't been a design priority, I suppose.

Perhaps you could experiment with something along those lines; alcohol should evaporate easily enough without damaging the tires.

Ru-Glyde is a water-based potassium soap with some corrosion inhibitors. Other tire mounting lubricants are similar formulations of some sort of mild water-based soap with additives.


On motorcycling websites, this topic comes up often because a lot of us have to start changing our own tires out of financial self-defense.

What I don't get is the outright OBSESSION a lot of folks have with using ANYTHING except a tire mounting lube. They'll obsess and argue endlessly over tires, oil, grease, chain lube, antifreeze, and everything else, but somehow buying tire mounting lube is completely off the table. I've never understood this.

If you share this obsession and simply MUST raid the kitchen, bathroom, or hall closet rather than coughing up the measly $15-$20 on the proper stuff, you want to avoid detergents in favor of a mild soap. Most will also need to be diluted. You also need to avoid substances that do not evaporate and/or leave a residue, as well as solvents or oils that could interact with or soften the rubber.


Could work safely, but none of these contain corrosion inhibitors. If you must, use sparingly and dilute:
Murphy's Oil Soap (and yes, Murphy's makes a delightfully scented tire mounting lube)
Baby shampoo (I'd avoid most shampoos, since many contain some pretty harsh detergents)
Hand soap
Water-based personal lubricant (good old Kentucky Jelly)
Some milder car wash soaps (avoid the "all in one" or "one step" versions with wax and harsh detergents)


Avoid (yes, I've seen almost all these recommended at one time or another):
Windex and all other spray cleaners (very corrosive)
Armor-All (hangs around
Silicone spray
WD-40
Tri-Flow
Bear grease, Bbacon grease, etc.
Vaseline
Vagisil
Athlete's foot/itch cream
Most hand cleaners (many contain some pretty harsh solvents)
Oil, ATF, grease, and other hydrocarbon lubricants
Vegetable oil
Pine-sol
Pam cooking spray
Silicone-based personal lubricant
Antifreeze
Car wax


And yeah, I used the word hillbilly. I come from a long, proud line of hillbillies who ate possum-n-taters and squirrel brains on toast. I have all the respect in the world for hillbillies who make do with what they have when they need to, but there's a point where it gets silly or dangerous to make do when it's so easy and inexpensive to get the right stuff for the job at hand. There are two sides to the hillbilly mindset and I've seen both. Sometimes it's sheer ingenuity, sometimes it's an aggravating pigheadedness and a refusal to even consider doing things the right way.

There are many, many times I can recall on the family farm when the hillbilly "make do" mindset caused more trouble, lost time, cost, and danger than just fixing or doing the damn thing correctly in the first place. And of course just as many or more times when hillbilly ingenuity saved the day. The well-rounded hillbilly must know the difference.
Did you really eat squirrel brains on toast? 😱
 

bwringer

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Joined
Jan 1, 2013
Messages
10,253
Location
Indianapolis
Did you really eat squirrel brains on toast? 😱
LOL, I see we have diverged from the topic...

No, I never ate squirrel brains on toast, scrambled (cow) brains-n-eggs, possum-n-taters, or noodles-n-scratchers, but I grew up around people who did. I never witnessed possum-n-taters because the smell was so bad that possum was specifically banned from Grandma's kitchen before I was born.

I don't remember anyone talking about cooking up a raccoon, but I know people in southern Indiana hunt them (you could hear the night hunts for miles) and so I suppose some folks must eat them.

And of course I have witnessed both terribly dangerous and incredibly clever things done with baling wire on the farm.
 

Wrench97

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Joined
Jun 23, 2018
Messages
12,053
Location
Southeastern Pa
Buddy of mine had Hog brains once at the Holiday Inn in Augusta Ga after the waitress corrected him for ordering pigs brains in a fine establishment in the south.....................
 

leadfoot415

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Joined
Nov 28, 2012
Messages
1,252
Location
Livonia, MI

Gurp

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Joined
Jun 12, 2014
Messages
366
Location
So.Ohio
Be careful with Simple Green on aluminum and certain alloys. It's corrosive.


There's plenty of horror stories of people letting aluminum parts, such as expensive carb bodies and wheels, soak in Simple Green and it essentially destroying the part.


Quite a few horror stories back in the old days of that over at Forums.sohc4.net
 

Fatboy148

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 15, 2017
Messages
999
Maybe I am a "simple man" but I just bring stuff back to the house that will freeze (like tire snot, hand cleaner, etc) till I need it again in my unheated shop.
 
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