BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 My neighbor had borrowed my forklift to move some stuff. While he had it the right front 18"-22.5" tire went flat, and broke the bead. I jacked it up with a pair of Simplex jacks to get the weight off , but the bead didn't slide over enough. The sidewalls are 12 ply, and very stiff, and my other efforts were in vain. Finally got an idea to use Henry's roof patch. Puttied it all around both beads, and let it set for a week. Went down this past Saturday, and it finally aired up after fighting it for 3 weekends. The Henry's was stiff enough to hold a few pounds to get the beads moving,but it stayed soft enough to squish out as the beads reseated. Now I can start moving my things out of the way to access the vertical milling machine I am trading for a Champion #1 power hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Neat idea, thanks. I have seen them inflate truck tires by applying air through the valve and at the same time dump 2 each 11 gallon tanks of air into opposite sides of the tire into the bead / rim gap through a ball valve. The delivery system looked like a duck bill and shot air into the tire. They said it was standard procedure for inflating the truck tires. For smaller tires I have seen a ratchet binder used to restrict the center section of the tire to encourage a seal on the rim. I will have to remember Henry's roof patch. Let us know the next tire change if there was any problems with the material used in that application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McPherson Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Nylon ratchet straps will work on smaller tires from wheelbarrows up to SUV's. Chain load binders will work on tractor and semi tires to get the bead to seat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 The air tank that glen is refering to is called a cheata bottle. An 11 galon air tank with a 2" ball valve mounted in the side. Remove the valve from the valve stim, and use a large diamater air hose, atleast 5/8". Beating the trad with a hammer will some times bump the side wall out enough. Grease some times works as dose dish soap and indead there is a runbery tar like rooffing cement used, usualy on damaged beads. The classic method, and NOT recommended, i repeat Not recomended, is to squirt a little starting fluid in and toss in a match. Two much and the resulting explosian will damage the tire, you, bystanders ect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notownkid Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 All the above works on one type of tire or another including the starting fluid which I've used many times when desperate and stupid, as Mr. Stevens said NOT RECOMMENDED. Now after 55+ years of doing them all I've discovered a better way , 1 800 fix my flat time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Yates Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 The air tank that glen is refering to is called a cheata bottle. An 11 galon air tank with a 2" ball valve mounted in the side. Remove the valve from the valve stim, and use a large diamater air hose, atleast 5/8". Beating the trad with a hammer will some times bump the side wall out enough. Grease some times works as dose dish soap and indead there is a runbery tar like rooffing cement used, usualy on damaged beads. The classic method, and NOT recommended, i repeat Not recomended, is to squirt a little starting fluid in and toss in a match. Two much and the resulting explosian will damage the tire, you, bystanders ect. AMAN ! done it a Many time in combat ! it will lift a 5 ton & 10 ton truck off the ground out of the sand in Iraq and seat the bead in one "BLAST/ BOOM" with a half a bucket of GP 40 grease applied to the bead . while it is "NOT RECOMMENDED AT ALL" for common folks to do sometimes to save your "6" when folks are shooting at you you do what you need to do to get out of Dodge and it works ! the Truck air system will kick in and inflate the tire and you can drive on to safety . Been there done this and Yes even have the "T-Shirt" <Grinning like a Possum " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted May 23, 2014 Author Share Posted May 23, 2014 Got it up to my place now, and have 50# of air in the tires. The beads have fully seated, and squished out most of the excess Henry's. Glenn, hopefully it will be a few years before I have to replace these tires. I haven't priced new ones yet, but I imagine that they are going to be pricey. The starting fluid trick was an option I did not use due to the bead being almost closed, but open enough to let too much air escape. Even with pulling the valve stem core I couldn't get the air in fast enough with what I had available in the way of portable air- tanks. As with most things there are many ways to do something, this is just one option that happened to work in my situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yahoo2 Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 IMO over time any bituminous roof sealant inside the tire will rot the bead. Seeing that it is a good tire with a lot of life in it, I think it would be worth taking it to someone with a heavy duty tire changer to get it cleaned, serviced and re-seated. The only problem is working out what will remove the sealant. orange hand cleaner, acetone, mineral spirits, engine de-greaser or perhaps it will just peel off???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted May 24, 2014 Author Share Posted May 24, 2014 These tires are getting low on tread,most would have changed them, but they work on my property. The sun may rot these tires faster than anything else down here. Everything rubber needs to be covered up in some way. I will check into how this sealer may affect the rubber. At least now I can drive it down to get it serviced if need be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 The air tank is called a Cheata Bead Sealer. Fill the tank with air and as you inflate the tire through the valve stem, you put this at the rim, turn the ball valve, and IMMEDIATELY DUMP the contents of the tank into the tire. This fills the tire with air and then some, causing the rubber to hit the rim and seal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 Slightly off topic but it somewhat relates to heat and tires.... Many guys don't know how dangerous applying heat to rims can be, whether with a torch to loosen stuck bolts or welding like the videos show. Take a few minutes to watch how fast things can really go bad when pyrolysis gets going when you apply heat to a tire assembly. Your life may depend on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 DSW Thank you for looking up the videos. We should push tire safety as hard as we push other types of safety on the site so more people are aware of the hazards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 We should also keep the dangers of closed containers on the hazards list. I was about to take home a 55 gallon drum clearly marked motor oil and noticed a slight expansion or roundness in the lid. I opened the bung hole and was met with air rushing out to release the pressure and the distinct smell of gasoline . I ask the shop foreman about it and he said, oh that one, we used it to transport racing fuel to the track last weekend. Do not mean to hijack the thread but we MUST push safety and tell others about the hazards they may encounter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 You are right Glenn. I copied my post and started a separate thread in the Safety section on the exploding tire subject so we won't loose track of it or high jack this one too much. Your video on drum safety probably could use it's own thread in Safety as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted May 27, 2014 Author Share Posted May 27, 2014 I'll pass those vids along to my gearhead friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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