*Emergency Tire Replacement And Remounting*
Every prudent vehicle owner always carries emergency tire repair gear. The gear may range from plugs for the tire, or multiple spare tires mounted on wheels. I have seen many people carry extra valve cores. This is a very good idea. There are some who throw in a couple extra tire valve stems into their repair kit. Stems are just as vunerable to damage and need for repair as any other part of the tire. Air compressors are part of a good repair kit.
The method of reseating the tire bead to the rim we will discuss here is to be consittered as an emergency application only. This method can be dangerous, but is effective.
Tires can seperate from the rim in different ways. Deflating a tire when requiring maximum tire traction. Blowouts demand a new tire. What if the only tire available is not mounted on a rim and the proper tools are not available to do this mounting ?
Temperature comes into play too. The colder the tire is the harder it is to mount on a rim.
Ok, here we are on a back road and the tires are underinflated on my truck for maximum traction I go over a good size rock an as the tire slides down the rock the bead breaks and the tire seperates from the wheel. There are three other vehicles with me. We all have loads of tire repair gear, air pumps and inflation devices but we are dealing with the reseating of a bead to the wheel. A simple trick will solve the problem.
A well prepared vehicle kit will always have starting fluid. This is your ace.
Leave the wheel on the vehicle. Reposition the tire on the wheel with your pry bar if necessary . Now spray two squirts of starter fluid inside the tire. Continue the " line " of spray out over the sidewall of the tire along the ground to a distance of say three feet. You want the stream of fluid over the sidewall and on the ground to act like a " fuse " to light the puddle of fluid inside the tire. Now, light the " fuse " .
Immediately the tire will POP and be seated on the rim. Partial inflation will have occurred too. Now simply finish the job by inflating the tire to the pressure desired.
Too much fluid sprayed into a tire will blow the tire out. Too little will not seat the bead. Better to use too little and try again than damage the tire or hurt yourself.
I run 31 x 10.50 x 15 tires. I use three QUICK sqiurts of starter fluid to do the job for me.
Use this method at your own risk, but on a cold dark evening on a back road
when no other help is around, this just might be your only salvation.
Samaritan
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