The old reseating a tire bead with lighter fluid trick. Bad idea?

[emmodg]

I certainly don't doubt your experience but like I said - introduction of air "right after" or the next day for that matter has no bearing on whether the ether "trick" works or doesn't. Combustion of ether is volatile and produces tremendous pressure in an instant - more pressure than a large 2-stage shop compressor could produce. With that said I can't ever imagine the tire bead "de-seating" after combustion. I've just never sen that happen.

Have you seen people introduce air BEFORE they light the ether? I can't imagine what the thought there would be. If the tire actually accepts air why would one NEED to re-seat the bead?

I have always had it work best when I could introduce air right after the 'pop'. I wasn't trying to infer that you needed it for combustion, just timing...

I start SMALL on the starter fluid. I don't think you need 'extra' to fully pop the bead on the rim....only enough to get it to grab with the introduction of compressed air at the right time.
Introducing air before you light it tends to get the eyebrows crispy....or you just displace the chemicals and don't get anything to happen.

My remarks ARE experience based, Everything from ATV tires to skidder tires while working for a tire shop in my younger dumber years. Sometimes you just HAVE to find a way to make something work. I don't teach classes but have used the technique more than I would like over the last 15 or so years.

[Metcalf]

I have had more than one tire fail to seat without the introduction of air at the proper time.
More starting fluid could have provided a bigger 'pop' but I have always had really good luck with just a small shot and adding air right after.

I have seen people try and introduce the air too early displacing the starting fluid vapors generally toward their face...

Just my take on things....not saying right or wrong.

[grizzlyj]

With that said I can't ever imagine the tire bead "de-seating" after combustion. I've just never sen that happen.

Look at the vid clip I posted last page?

[emmodg]

Look at the vid clip I posted last page?

Silicone spray? The bead never seated in the first place. The bead would have to seat first to actually then become "un-seated"

It looked like your boy squirted something all over the top of the inside of the rim surface and NOT along the cavity between the rim and tire. There was flame-up but no actual explosion. I've done truck and tractor tires that size laying them on the ground. I would no more stand where that guy was than fly to the moon! Your boy didn't look like he knew what he was doing in the first place. If you squirted as much "fuel" as he did and you STILL didn't get explosion you're using the wrong fluid. That much starter fluid/ether would have seated 2 tires.

[off-roader]

A word of caution when doing this kind of bead reseating... you should do your best to stand as far away from the tire as possible (at least arms length if not longer). Even though the guy lighting the starter fluid stood arms length away (we even poured/sprayed the fluid out from the rim to the to the outer edge (tread) of the tire), he still lightly singed his eyebrows and forearm hairs from the blast.

[grizzlyj]

Silicone spray? The bead never seated in the first place. The bead would have to seat first to actually then become "un-seated"

It looked like your boy squirted something all over the top of the inside of the rim surface and NOT along the cavity between the rim and tire. There was flame-up but no actual explosion. I've done truck and tractor tires that size laying them on the ground. I would no more stand where that guy was than fly to the moon! Your boy didn't look like he knew what he was doing in the first place. If you squirted as much "fuel" as he did and you STILL didn't get explosion you're using the wrong fluid. That much starter fluid/ether would have seated 2 tires.

So what would you say has happened later on in the clip then, using the same spray? Seated with a pop, then safely inflated perhaps? It seated in the first place but the airline came off!

"Your boy"? Did you read that post? Do you know what the profile of a Unimog wheel looks like, to know where the spray is actually going? Obviously not. "Overland Expert"? If you say so

[emmodg]

Relax there son.

I do know what a 'Mog Wheel looks like - I've handled them before. Again - I use ether. I've NEVER had one de-seat, NEVER. I've had one not seat beacuase I either didn't use enough fluid or I was too late with the flame. Maybe some have had that problem, I'm just trying to figure out why.

That "pop" you speak of was a flame up and not an explosion. You can see in the first attempt that it never seated. Don't get bent out of shape.

As an aside - try and not immediately attack a man's knowledge of his livelihood. It's somewhat immature and "common". Learn to take some advise and critique. (I'm "expert" enough to know that that was 3 or 4 bad attempts at that exercise and you or your boy were standing too damn close to a combustive process.)

[grizzlyj]

Relax there son.

I do know what a 'Mog Wheel looks like - I've handled them before. Again - I use ether. I've NEVER had one de-seat, NEVER. I've had one not seat beacuase I either didn't use enough fluid or I was too late with the flame. Maybe some have had that problem, I'm just trying to figure out why.

That "pop" you speak of was a flame up and not an explosion. You can see in the first attempt that it never seated. Don't get bent out of shape.

As an aside - try and not immediately attack a man's knowledge of his livelihood. It's somewhat immature and "common". Learn to take some advise and critique. (I'm "expert" enough to know that that was 3 or 4 bad attempts at that exercise and you or your boy were standing too damn close to a combustive process.)

If you'd read what I said you would see that I too use ether. The first time I did it though I used the spray that someone who does it for a living had just successfully used himself.

If it wasn't an explosion then why did the tyre seat? If it didn't seat then why did it take air normally (hissed air out of the valve only until the airline went on) until I let the airline off? How you can say you can see it didn't seat, when a) it did, b) you weren't there and c) in your comprehensive list so far in this thread of what you have seated, you have never actually done that size radial on those rims?

Having done that size tyre and wheel many times (but only them, so I won't presume to know anything about how any others go on), I know that they will fall straight off again unless you give it air within a few seconds. If I stood further away I wouldn't be able to get the air on quickly enough. Thank you for your concern though.

If you still insist that I'm not seating it or it wouldn't fall off, then there would be subsequent movement of the tyre toward the wheel rim as the tyre pressure rises, but there isn't. So, if you are correct, every time I've done it, and all the driving I've done on those tyres since, they must have been unseated all the time. The only thing you could accurately say is perhaps the tyre is too narrow for the rim, but both are a suitable match according to Merc.

Attacking? I'm strongly disagreeing with you, when telling me my experience is somehow wrong. So, thats my experience, take the advice, those tyres fall straight off those rims unless you act quickly.

[emmodg]

You've seen it happen in your experience. I've NEVER seen it happen in mine. Let's end it at that.

[youwillforget]

I re-read this thread last night and wouldn’t you know it today at work I go in the garage and there is a tire for an off road fork lift on the floor with a strap around it and the air hose next to it. I asked if they had any starting fluid they said no so I set it up on a 5 gallon bucket pushed down to set the rear bead then put on the air hose. Of course it was leaking around the bead just enough to not set. I took a large hammer and started hitting the tire on the tread with hard blows in 3, 12, 9 and 6 o’clock positions. I hit the tire about 6 times total with the air flowing. The bead set so we opened the strap and added air up to 60 PSI. I have found this works with tires that have been off the bead long enough to cause the tire to be miss-shaped from the vehicle or trailer sitting on it and the strap alone wont set the bead.