Tire mounting

[Dave]

I sprang for the Harbor Freight do-it-yourself tire mounting kit. First try went great except for 1 problem, outside beads won't seat on the fronts. American Racer tires on Revolution wheels. Tried different lubes and up to 50 psi, left them out in the sun, etc. Anyone have the sure fire cure?

Never mind...
Found the answer back on FFU Technical discussion/FF 101, Page 15.

SteveG

[size="1"][ September 08, 2002, 02:20 PM: Message edited by: SteveG ][/size]

[Dennis Cleary]

;) [b]Reprinted here for convenience:[/b]

warren chamberlain
Registered User
Posts: 18
(1/14/02 11:41:04 am)

ezSupporter
Tire Bead Seating
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I'm trying to keep from being an Darwin Award recipient, so...

How much pressure should it take to seat the beads of a FF front tire (revolution wheel)? I used my HF tire mounting tool for the first time yesterday. The mounting went pretty well, but I couldn't get about a 6" section of one of the beads to seat. I got nervous when the tire started looking VERY full of air (I've got this vivid memory from my childhood of sitting on the hillside at Laguna Seca and hearing the explosion of a tire that was being mounted =8~0). Anyway, I checked it, and it had about 42 psi in it. That seemed a bit much, so I deflated it, lubed the bead again with some soapy water, and tried again... same result. Am I just being a wimp? Any suggestions?

TIA,
Warren

David Ferguson
Registered User
Posts: 136
(1/14/02 12:17:59 pm)

ezSupporter
Re: Tire Bead Seating
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I've seen tire busters put as much as 80 psi into a tire to get it to seat.

Rainman
Unregistered User
(1/14/02 2:21:13 pm)
changer
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could you expand on the HF tire mounting tool? How does it work for you, cost, where to get it?

mercuryracing
Registered User
Posts: 391
(1/14/02 4:41:08 pm)
Re: changer
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Warren: The tires we are using are occasionally very stubborn, and you may need to resort to something a lot more slippery than soapy water. Giver Roger Kraus a call for advice. I've seen tire mounting take a good 20 minutes of profanity and sweat, liberal doses of spray lube, and prayer. Roger: 510-582-5031

warren chamberlain
Registered User
Posts: 19
(1/14/02 6:52:54 pm)

ezSupporter
Re: Tire Bead Seating
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Thanks for the Comments / Suggestions! I'll look into finding a better lube. Also, I'm going to try strapping a wide tie down around the tread to redirect the expansion... flashback from my karting days.

Rainman,

I got the tool from Harbor freight ($69.99). You'll need to install some threaded inserts in your garage floor. I've only used it twice, once to remove a tire and once to install. Both were fairly easy (once I figured out you have to hold the bar at an angle for the mounting operation). Also, as with all HF tools, a bit of finish grinding where the ends of the bar contact the rim would be a good idea to ensure minimal rim wear.

Here are links to the tire tool and the bubble balancer they sell (also $69.99):
[url="http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=34542"]www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=34542[/url]
[url="http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=39741"]www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=39741[/url]

PS Keep and eye out because HF puts these items on sale fairly regularly for $10-20 off list.

Warren

Rodger Hess
Registered User
Posts: 384
(1/14/02 11:13:00 pm)
Re: Tire Bead Seating
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One other thing.....
You want to keep the amount of lube that actually ends up in the
tire to a minimum. It causes the pressure to rise faster with heat.

--Rodger

dsGoodyearCTE
Unregistered User
(1/21/02 10:41:45 am)
bead seating
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It is usual for the pressure to seat the beads to be around 70-90 PSI. Goodyear is aware of this and is working to reduce that whilee not having tire 'slip' occur on the wheel. Fine line to walk for them. I personally am not happy about it but we'll see what they come up with. One thing to remember is do not stand over the wheel/tire assembly when inflating and if possible use a Michelen gage or something similar to inflate the tire so you do not have your hand in the wheel and so you can stand away from the assembly. These are safety measures you can take if you do not have a cage to inflate in. If you have any other questions feel free to contact me direct at [email]ds@competitiontire.com[/email] or by phone at 610/375-6191. Thanks, Dennis...

hottellm
Registered User
Posts: 13
(1/21/02 6:36:04 pm)
Tire Mounting
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Something that works for this old farm boy. Wrap a 5/8 to 3/4 rope around the rim when mounting. This keeps the bead closer to the shoulder for less total diameter. After it comes across the shoulder, let out the air, remove the rope, air the tire up and go race.
Max

ctjahn
Registered User
Posts: 96
(1/21/02 8:06:06 pm)
Re: Tire Mounting
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FYI:

The Tire changer and balancer are on sale right now for $44 and 49 each respectively.

Courtney Jahn

Richard Pare
Registered User
Posts: 81
(1/23/02 8:51:35 am)
Re: Tire Mounting
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Dennis:

The problem actually lies in the design of the lead-in to the safety bead, not the tires themselves.

Note that the seating problem always is with the outer bead, not the inner. The inner bead has a long lead-in to the safety bead, and the outer none. As the wheel manufacturers have pushed the drop center closer and closer to the outer bead, the outer lead-in has become non-existant - all that is left is a very small radius from the drop center to the safety bead. Te wheel manufacturers have tried to counter the problem somwhat by decreasing the od of the safety bead, but it seems to have limited success.

I did a bunch of experimenting (accompanied by a lot of sweating and swearing) with different outer lead-in configurations while prototyping our new 2-piece wheels. What seems to happen is that the tire bead climbs the outer wheel bead wall a bit just opposite of that last part of the tire bead that is still in the drop center, which pulls that unseated portion of the tire bead even further down into the drop center. The only solution to this is to incorporate a short lead-in "shelf" to the outer safety bead (which we have done) or to eliminate the safety bead altogether (which I would be loath to do). Some rim designs still have a large enough radius from the drop center to the safety bead that acts adequately as the needed lead-in. The tire manufacturers won't be able to cure the problem by making the bead any larger in diameter.

DSCTEGoodyear
Unregistered User
(1/24/02 8:59:41 am)
rims
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You are quite correct Mr. Pare about that but on the FF front tire the bead diameter was found to be slightly smaller than wanted. Still within the tolerence, but it only made the problem worse. The engineers tell me that generally the wheel will let go before the tire but I don't want to find out. This could start a whole new thread on these ever increasingly expensive light wieght wheels that do nothing but fold up when you try to mount on them. What exactly are you the racer beniffitting from these ultra lite weight wheels besides weight control? Dennis...