Quote:
Originally Posted by Stevens10
How do you recommend the tire shop get the tire to seal to the rim, they all use some form of bead blaster, even if a pipe with lots of holes. I have used the starting fluid many times, the key is the amount of fluid you use, the "blast" is less loud than the sound made when a tire pops over the ridge on the rim and seats during inflation. Have your ever watched the contortions that the beads go through when installed on the rim using the tire machine, far more stress on the wire than the small explosive force created by seating with either.
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@Stevens10 - Thank you for your comment on the destruction that can arise from mishandling on a tire machine. It helps furthers the point of "Bad things arise when you do the wrong things right and the right things wrong".
There are dozens of ways to damage tires during the act of mounting if the installer uses force versus coercion and heck yeah, if a person uses the tire machine's brawn instead of the operator's brain, bead tension
will absolutely be compromised.
To further your point, changing "
the how" one does things wrong doesn't change their defense for doing it wrong.....
Again - A nominal tire bead
WILL be tough and quality beads are super-tough. That is exactly what you want. Hell, I want tires that will make me cuss, scream and moan as I know that is a HUGE contributor to the life expectancy of my tires. A tire that hops right onto the rim will index, self-deflate, cup, wobble and leave the the rim just as easily.
Bead-lock rims do a fair job of keeping the rubber attached to the rim but they are even worse. That doesn't mean they're bad, it means the owner is willing to accept the probability of elevated rim damage, sidewall damage and reduced longevity/durability for traction gains. Tire guys love those dudes, (even the honest ones) because they pay crazy amounts for the rims and rubber and then use the destruction as a badge of honor and testimony to the challenges they faced. I was once one of those "badged" guys, my bad.....
TLDR: My go-to tool of choice has always been to use a light amount of soap/bead lubricant to prevent scuffing of the bead lip on every mount and then ratchet straps as needed. Pneumatic bead expanders are "functional" and certainly worthy but I can feel the resistance to mount through ratchet straps better than anything else. Unlike the "Whoosh or Boom" approach, I'm providing just enough force through gradual transition to achieve the goal. It is not the easiest, nor the most entertaining but it creates the least risk of fraying.
Contrary to those who profit from "misinformation", there is no magical device that indiscriminately determines and directs the appropriate amount of force needed to overcome tension (adjusted for temperature, ply count/tension/vulcanization decay, wheel diameter, lip to seat ratio and sidewall stiffness of course).
Maybe there's a workshop on how to run the calculations in their head for the volumetric rate of expansion to determine the quantity and positioning of flammable liquid or bead blaster charge to achieve the desired rate of expansion thus delivering the optimal coercion without compromising the integrity of the bead. I'm skeptical.
Not to disparage anyone in any way but I don't know of a tire mounter who gravitated to such a career choice because it provides a chance to exercise their doctorates in geometry and mechanical engineering. Hell, maybe they are out there.
Likewise, the best tire mounters are not cheap and you would swear they are masochists who live to cuss but dammit man, it is a thing of beauty to watch them use mere patience, persistence and proper wheel/tire positioning to get to the appropriate quality outcome without compromising their customers.
If none of the afore mentioned gives pause, the typical price of an XZA 365/70R22.5 tire is roughly $1,200.
Who in their right mind wants to hand a shop ~$11K and say, "It's okay to risk damaging my purchase and cause me some serious frustration after I leave here if it means you burning fewer calories and brain cells to do it with optimizing my purchase in mind"?
Great conversation, thank you for the question and thank you if you didn't fall asleep before getting to this statement. We all have our passions....LOL
And stand back. 
Linear Mode
