Fellas:
I grabbed some tires of of Ebay and the seller shipped them minus air. Now I can not get a bead on the tire. The seal keeps leaking. I even bought some bead sealer[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

 

take the core from the valve stem
get a can of starting fluid and spray inside the tire
then very quickly light a match and get it to the tire if you do it right it works everytime
ALWAYS THINK SAFETY GOGGLES GLOVES BE CAREFUL THE TIRE MAY LIFT OFF THE GROUND DURING THE LIGHTING PROCESS
good luck and god speed LOL

 

i like that aproach the best , it works well . lol i ve used it alot

 

I really hope you guys are joking.
That is a good way to hurt/kill yourself.
It is also likely to damage the inner skin of the tire so you will always have a slow leak.
If your tires are leaking at the bead.....
Check the bead area of the tire itself for damage and check the wheel for scratches and dirt.

Please don't kill yourself to save a couple of bucks on tires.

 

iv always heard of doing this, but how does it actually work?what does the fire / heat do? im only asking b/c i want to change my own tires and garages around herewant too much. i can get them off just not sure how to seal bead

 

yes it works --the best thing to do is go to a garage, have them pop the bead, use the tire spoons to get it off , then mount your tire to the rim
and get the starting fluid
if you do not take the core out of the valve stem it will explode from pressure and if your unsure of how much fluid to use try a little at a time to get a feel
how i got good was trying it on the tires i wanted off that way if you damage, it dont matter
everyone will say its RISKY, because how it sounds FLAMES, POPPING TIRES ,ETC if your careful it works fine done it on all my quads
1 lt500
2lt250r's
1 blaster
1warrior
and my prize 250r it works JUST DONT BE A RETARD AND STAND OVER THE TIRE
use a grill starter those long lighter to get it lit dont use a little bic
or get yourself some long matches

 

I have never tried the starter fluid method. Would you say a one second burst is sufficient? Where do you ignite it from? Do you hold the lighter at the valve stem? I am interested because out on the trail my little 12V compressor wont seat the bead.

In my garage I use a tie down around the middle of the tire to squeeze the bead into touching the rim and seating.

 

No, all you do is squirt the fluid into the tire go all the way around. Make sure that you have a good clean bead area. REMOVE the core from the valve stem and drop a match near where the bead will seat between the tire and rim. When the fluid explodes it forces the tire up on to the rim. Then you put the core back in and use your 12 volt pump to air it up to the right air pressure.

 

looks like I was beat to the ratchet strap method.
The starting fluid method works too, but I wouldn't get close enough for a match. I'd try a grill lighter or torch.

We used the starting fluid on my brother's 36" mud tire, but it was so derormed from sitting flat that it wasn't working. So the next step we took was me filling the tire (Through the open bead) with oxygen and acetolene and jumping out of the way while my brother sprayed the starting fluid through a lighter flame. We tried this a few times, and eventually we took the core out of the valve stem and clamped an air line to it. After I filled it with the gases and my brother touched it off with the starting fluid, my Dad hit the air valve on the tank. Perfect!!! The tire was hopping about 4 feet into the air though, so be careful. And I wouldn't recomend the oxy/acetolene for an atv tire. But dam that was fun!!

 

I've had pretty good luck getting beads to seat by using the ratcheting strap, and by taking out the valve core and clamping a piece of air hose over the valve (flows more than the schrader valve/chuck will).

I also keep a few old mountain bike tubes around, old ones with a few patches or slow leak. Air up a bike tube, soap it up, and wrap it around the rim to block air between the bead and rim.

Be sure to soap the tube, so you can pull it out of the bead once the tire seats.