# Setting the Beads When Mounting Tires



## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

It's that time of year again, get the mower ready for Summer..... Maybe it's time to do something about those junk tires, or the ones that keep going flat? Tires can be a huge PITA. I've done so many over the years that I've broken down and bought a mechanical tire mounting machine, a 5 gallon bead blaster, and a couple of regular pneumatic straps. Even with all the correct tools, it can still be a real struggle to get the beads to set, especially on new tires where the sidewalls have never been fully flexed.

I've learned to take a wire wheel mounted on an angle grinder and buff the inside of the rim as clean as possible. Just the smallest amount of rust, debris, or a nick can hang up a stubborn bead. The trick is to put as much air volume into the tire as quickly as possible to "pop" the bead on the rim, that's how a bead blaster works... That's also how you blow up dry rotted tires. That's where an *"open flow" locking air chuck* comes into play.

I've always used a separate air line at the tire stations I've set up in various shops equipped with one of these, they were also set up with a hard mounted ball valve shut off. This style of "open flow chuck" allows you to lock on the valve stem, *with the valve core OUT*, and use the ball valve to give the tire a couple of quick burst of full shop air all at once. That works 90% of the time... If it doesn't, then it's time to move on to the pneumatic straps and a couple of quick "burst" through the open flow valve set up. If that still fails, the 5gal bead blaster, is the last resort. The locking chuck/shut-off valve set up gets you away from the tire if it explodes, and it has happened, but never on a new mower tire *so far*.
Open Flow Locking Air Chuck

Everybody and their mother uses soapy water and I normally do also, but if you've just buffed the rims with a wire wheel, you've just started the rusting process again. Sometimes on really stubborn rims, I'll use white lithium assembly grease, or Vaseline. Somebody is probably going to comment about "spinning the tire on the rim under torque". When have you ever seen a lawnmower with "bead locks" on the back rims like a dirt bike, especially on front tires? For rear tires on motorcycles and ATVs, I use Armor-all. It's as slick as soapy water, but it dries "sticky" on the rubber and aluminum rims, unlike assembly lube, or Vaseline. I'm about to order some regular Murphy's tire mounting "Snoot". This what the Pro's use and 8lbs will last the average DIY guy a lifetime
Murphy's Tire Snoot

The final trick I'll mention is to cautiously use a heat gun to warm the bead/sidewall. I'll usually do this on tires that have never been mounted and the bead/sidewall can be really stiff (6-8 ply tires). Some times, this is the only way to get a new tire mounted that has sat in a "stack" on a slow boat from China, and arrives from an on-line seller flatter than a pancake. When that's the case, I have a bunch of various sized used tubes, I'll install/inflate to get the tire to fully expand. I slowly apply heat with a heat gun a couple of times and the tire will usually hold it's intended shape after a few heat/cool cycles that you can get the beads close enough to the inside of the rim to get pneumatic straps to work.

Sometimes I come across a bead where somebody has torn the hell out of the bead/air seal by dismounting it with screwdrivers. The only way to seal a leaking/damaged bead and still run tubeless is with "Bead Sealer"
Bead Sealer

Good luck... I feel your pain, if all this fails to get your beads to set, there's always installing a tube


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## ovrszd (12 mo ago)

I've mounted several using Starting Fluid.


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## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

ovrszd said:


> I've mounted several using Starting Fluid.


Yep.... I've done it myself a few times. Had an old school tire man that did it that way all the time. Even though I was constantly on his butt to use the OHSA inflation cage, he'd still sneak in using the ether if he thought I wouldn't hear it. That BS solved itself one day when he used a bit to much, blew up a 11R22.5 tire, and gave himself 3rd degree burns from the flaming schrapnel. HR did everything they could to keep from processing the workman's comp claim.


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## ovrszd (12 mo ago)

All things in moderation.


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## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

ovrszd said:


> All things in moderation.


Tire was a "run flat" repair and "zippered" on him. It would have blown up even in the inflation cage. I was always very strict about my guys marking run flats with "RF" on the sidewall to prevent this exact scenario. Tire was changed on the road and when it came off the service truck, it went into the repair rack without getting marked. That's what I used to convince HR to finally file his workman's comp claim. They also gave him a disciplinary letter and a 3-day suspension (with time already served) while he was sitting at home with 3rd burns for not using the cage and ether, just as a swift kick in the butt (as if he needed it). 

I had the tire mounted on the wall above the inflation cage as a daily reminder to the guys on the shop floor of how dangerous it can be to inflate HD tires. Never had to tell anybody else to use the cage and get the hell away from it when you're inflating a tire. I've read where an 11R22.5 exploding at 100PSI is equivalent to 1lbs of dynamite

I don't have an inflation cage in my current shop, so I always inflate mower/motorcycle/ATV tires locked down on the tire mounting machine that is bolted to the shop floor.... Call me paranoid, but I've shown to many videos like the one below in OSHA required monthly Shop Safety Meetings
Tire Zipper Explosions


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## ovrszd (12 mo ago)

Surprising how small psi it takes to hurt someone.


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## LouNY (Dec 15, 2016)

I have used ether at times I also have a small bead blaster tank.
No cages available for me so clip on chucks and split rings down to the ground.


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## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

LouNY said:


> I have used ether at times I also have a small bead blaster tank.
> No cages available for me so clip on chucks and split rings down to the ground.


I watched a split ring facing down pop off 10x20 Dayton rim. Rim and tire hit the ceiling in a 16' high shop so hard it dented the roof panel. Damn things were killers, especially the 2-piece style below.


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## LouNY (Dec 15, 2016)

Bob Driver said:


> I watched a split ring facing down pop off 10x20 Dayton rim. Rim and tire hit the ceiling in a 16' high shop so hard it dented the roof panel. Damn things were killers, especially the 2-piece style below.
> 
> View attachment 78566


They could be, they certainly will make you pay attention to what you are doing.
Mine are on 9.00-20's.


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## ovrszd (12 mo ago)

I prefer the two piece like Bob pictured. I didn't trust the one piece.


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## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

I am so glad technology advanced beyond the Dayton split rim days. Inner tubes, liner boots, and those BS locking rings that can turn into a missile. It took a wooden block and 10 minutes to get both front tires to run straight enough that the truck wouldn't rattle your teeth at 65MPH. We've even moved beyond Budd stud piloted rims, with that stupid inner stud and outer nut. You needed quart jars of anti-seize, or the inner stud would always come loose first. I've still got a couple of these laying in tool boxes...










Had one of these at one time just for road calls, but sold it years ago....













Give me a hub piloted rims, tubeless tires, and right handed lug nut threads all the way around the truck any day of the week.


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