How to reseat tire bead?

[dieselfume]

Hi,

I have a 12-16.5 tubeless tire that was low in pressure and I broke the bead by driving and working with it. :Banghead

Does anyone know a way to reseat it without taking it to a garage?

Thanks

 

[joedirt]

Tires

A couple things come to mind that have worked for us.
1) Try a small ratchet strap over the center of the tire and crank it down tight. Some times that will force the bead out and it will take air.
2) If you can get your hands on some super stiff pipe soap and place it around the bead this may work. You might have to remove the tire and place on a 5 gallon bucket to ensure one side of the bead is set.
3) Lastly, (I'll probably get some grief for this) use some starting fluid. Some times you can do this technique while it is still on the machine but if not use the 5 gallon bucket trick. Make a couple laps around the tire while spraying starting fluid in between the bead and the rim. Leave yourself a little ether trail and lite. Make sure you have your air hose charging the tire before you lite. Stand back and be careful (I've burned some eyebrows before). Good Luck.

 

[RocksnRoses]

You can buy proper sealing goo (for the want of a better word) and plaster it in the gap between the bead and the rim. The trick is to seal the gap until the air pressure builds just enough to pop the bead back out. We use this on loader tyres and have used it on problem truck tyres with great success. One place I was at, all we had available was a 20kg bucket of Petroleum Jelly, so we used that on some truck tyres that we were having trouble with and they popped out straight away. Anything with a heavy consistancy like grease or maybe pipe soap like Joe says, I am not sure what that is, should do the trick, it's just a bit messy, but can save a lot of frustration.
I have seen the starting fluid trick on Youtube and have always been going to try it, but I haven't got around to it, yet. It sure works well on there.

Rn'R.

 

[ezfriday]

rachet

I have used the ratchet strap on my 12 x 16.5 on both Bobcats and john Deere’s and it does work but does require a little persuasion at times.

You will need a heavy duty strap about 3" wide. They cost about $20 at Lowes or Depot. Be careful... Only put enough air to start the bead then use a pry bar of sorts or a long screw driver to pop the ratchet off. I have used this method many times and it does work... just be careful...

ez

 

[bobcatmechanic]

pull it off and take it a tire shop and have them put it back on or find some one with a cheeta bead sealer and use it they charge to about 150 psi off shop air and have a 1in to 1 1/2 in pipe on it that forces air into the tire and seats the bead takes 2 seconds

 

[dieselfume]

Yeah thanks guys, just got back from working on it. Wanted to get it working because we're getting some snow tomorrow. I tried the strap earlier as that always seems to work on less stiff tires but it didn't on this one, really didn't flex it all.

Then I thought about a come-along, well it worked. But it took a real lot of pressure from the come-along to seal it. Had to do it a couple times because when I would get it to seal it was so tight with even just a little air I couldn't loosen the come-along and when I let the air out the bead would free up. I had to find just the right point where it would seal and still be able to loosen it.

I have bead sealer and I should have put it on as I think that may be why it slowly went down. But of course I didn't. I'll see if it is still at the same pressure in the morning. Anyway now that I know how to do it, it won't be a problem next time.

Its a little strange because it doesn't pop on or off the bead. If the air is out it just slides off the bead and when you put air in it just inflates, no popping. And they are the original tires and wheels.

Thanks again

 

[bobcatmechanic]

yeah they are not like a car tire real stiff and not to easy to flex and get on there the strap trick works and the cheata i have poped my hand a few times really good from the straps and i have heard a story from my boss of another guy poped the strap to get it off and had the ratchet part climb up the inside of his arm and take out about 5 in going from nothing to 2 1/2 in wide at the end so be care ful about doing it

 

[KSSS]

You can buy those Cheata's. I have seen them for about 400 which seems like a lot for what it is. However if it saves a couple trips to the tire store, it would pay for itself.

 

[Squizzy246B]

You can always try the "LowBoy" method described in this thread;
https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=3131

...but Heavy Equipment Forums accept no liability for the use of Beer & Ether in re-seating tyres on rims.