Starter Fluid to Seat your tire bead, Anybody try it?

[snowdog]

I did................. and you can send the get well cards to room 315, Howell Hospital.  No, just kidding, I'm all right.  Anyways, it worked like a charm.  It seem like half my life is tire repair.  Between the tractor and all it's implements and both cars putting 30k miles each a year.  All right enough whinning.  The log splitter tire was flat, didn't notice it and start pull it with tractor and it rolled off it's bead or mount.  Normally, I would put a strap aroung the tire and tighten it to seat the tire, what a pain.  I read about the seating using starter fluid in some tractor forum.  So I tried it.  I just squirted 1 second of starter fluid in the tire and used a lighter with a long neck to light it, and after the smoke cleared it was seated with about 10 psi in the tire.  Of course I used gloves and safety glasses and made sure no gas cans were  laying around.  But it worked great.  Anybody else with back yard fixes like that?

[GoodysGotaCuda]

I've definitely heard of that one, also using a 'cheetah' which is filled with high psi air and bursted out to seat the tire.

[72hemi]

I've heard of that one too, but a friend of my dad's did it and the tire/wheel shot through the roof of his garage. No joke he was hurt as well. I would not advise it.

[BIGSHCLUNK]

My buddy's done it on semi-truck tires lots of times.  

[71bigblock]

I've heard good and bad.  I'd be not quite smart enough that I'd try it, too.   

[Moparal]

I use carb cleaner and take the valve out of the valve stem. It seats good and seals the bead, then it discharges the extra air

[73challenger_TN]

A friend of mine and me did that one time. He had this old truck and was "rallying" it in a field. He rollled the tire off 

[snowdog]

I use carb cleaner and take the valve out of the valve stem. It seats good and seals the bead, then it discharges the extra air

Your so smart, that's a good Idea removing the valve stem core.

[Moparal]

Your so smart, that's a good Idea removing the valve stem core.

trial and ouch, I mean error. Lawn mowers with flats, you know?  Also when doing this particular stunt, I would suggest a charcol lighter. It keeps your hand away from the bead. I go tubes now

[67vertman]

I have used an air blast gun.  A five gallon canister with a guick release lever and an air check valve.  Fill it to 100 PSI, aim it at the tire and open the valve, it releases all the air at once.  We used this at my dad service station on truck tires works pretty well an no singed eyebrows!

[ViperMan]

Very dangerous practice - the pressure created can cause the bead to stretch OVER the edge of the rim and turn the tire into a projectile.  I'm glad it worked for you, but it also could have killed you.

I worked with a guy at a Goodyear shop.  He got fired (he wasn't the best employee) and went to another general repair shop.  He was mounting tires onto a car and the sales guy gave him a 15.5" tire to mount on a 15" rim - salesman's mistake.  But the tech didn't notice, so he put the rim on the machine and started seating the tire.  When the bead popped, it popped hard enough that the difference in diameters allowed the tire to launch off the rim.  As he was leaning over the assembly, the tire caught him in the mouth, literally tearing his face off from his lip upwards.  It ripped open his cheek and destroyed most of his upper jaw.

He wasn't killed, but had to have a bar inserted into the top of his jaw to hold the rest of his teeth (and some new fake teeth) in place.  His mouth was terribly deformed, and all I could think when I first saw him (he stopped by the Goodyear store a few months later) was that he looked like one of the "Hoo's" from the live-action Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

Mounting Tires is a lot more serious than most people think.  The forces at work are absolutely incredible, and should be respected.

Jeff

[dutch]

     that doesn`t sound very healthy  ....I don`t like playing around with pressure...gas oil, air....it seems to always take you by surprise...

[Moparal]

   that doesn`t sound very healthy  ....I don`t like playing around with pressure...gas oil, air....it seems to always take you by surprise...

The level of things I do even today is at a thrill seeker level. Not for the meek. It isnt all that bad if yer careful.  Try being 100ft in the air on a 3" beam no harness 900 degress and guiding a crane   My wife says quit, but I like the level of challenge. I usually gotta tell people to stand back and be amazed   They cant hang with me anyways. 

But really, under controlled circumstances (wow big word)  it isnt all that bad to seat if you have been educated on the pros and cons.

[dutch]

there you go....education is the word....
on the other hand, loads of educated workers get accidents when they do the same things for a long time and think they`ve seen it all...  The powerhammer in my forge carried this sign;  "engage brain before using this machine"    kept me awake...

[bentpshrods]

   I worked in a truckstop for over twenty years---most of that time in the shop. Fixed a lot of tires.  One night a driver came in late with a flat on the left rear inside dual on his flatbed trailer. The tire had come off the bead but the driver was in a big hurry to get on down the road so we got out the ether/starting fluid and gave it a shot. It went poof but didn't seat the bead.  We gave it another shot and the same thing happened. Now this driver was getting really impatient so he gave it a rather large shot of starting fluid and I thru a match at it from way back----it went POOF and then caught on fire---but would still not seat the bead. After putting the tire out I finally crawled under the trailer and had a look.  That tire had a blown sidewall on the inside .   I can also attest to the power of compressed air.  I walked into an unfortunate situation one afternoon that ended with a tubeless tire (11r24.5) exploding on me---long story---but it came off the rim with about 80 PSI in it with me kneeling beside it. Slapped me up beside the left leg. The force of the blow crushed my kneecap and broke my femur--split it length wise 11" and blew it out. Got a nice steel rod and some pins from that shot.  Sometimes even now when filling my wheelbarrow tire with a bicycle pump I kinda cringe.