How to break a tire bead and then reset it...

[HereWeGoAgain]

...at home without special tools...

(Assuming you have an air compressor...but I doubt you'd try anything tire related without one)


The back tire on the pickup had a slow leak so I pulled it off and sprayed it with soapy water to find the leak...and...unfortunately it was leaking from the inside bead.

The bead needs broken and the inside of the rim requires cleaning and then reset the bead.

No sweat.

I don't have a bead breaker...but I do have a landscape timber and another vehicle...the wife's buick.

You can use a 4x4 ... And I have many times...but the landscape timber has rounded edges.

Put the edge of the timber as close to the edge of rim as possible. Then drive a tire up the timber.

I usually do this with the pickup and forego the stop-block...but the wife's buick doesn't have the clearance and has a lot of plastic/fiberglass back there...so caution is the order of the day.

Ran up on this one once and it rolled down but didn't quite release...pulled off and gave the rim a quarter turn...reset the timber and voila...ready for clean up...

View attachment 398785

"How to break a tire bead and then reset it..."

OK........That's how you "break the bead" ....... unless I am missing something, I don't see any advice on how to "reset it" and that can sometimes be trickier than breaking it. I know how to do it from watching my Dad, but others may not have a clue. I fear you are leaving a lot of people out there with flat tires they can't inflate.

Patience...I still workin' man. I was out of bead sealer. :eusa-wink:

grease works just as good as bead sealer,,,

Yeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhh .....I'm not so sure about that. A little to much torque from the engine combined with a little too much grip from the tire and I could see the wheel just spinning inside the tire. I'm gonna stick with bead sealer or nothing. grease is for lubricating.

Nah...it works.

 

[Missourian]

I set the bead ON with oxy acetlylene. Dont do this at home

Yep..
Any flammable gas will work.
As an off roader we always run low tire pressure for better grip and you occasionally break a bead. Ideally you should run beadlocks but not everyone wants the expense.
Spay a little brake cleaner in it and toss a match.
On occasion you'll get unlucky and the match will get caught between the the rim and the tire but it's rare.

We used to use ether based starting fluid.

 

[Dick Foster]

I set the bead ON with oxy acetlylene. Dont do this at home

I've used rachet straps to get tire beads seated too. Wrap a rachet strap all around the center of the tread and tighten it up, this helps force the tire bead out against the wheel rim. Add air to set the bead.

That's exactly how I do it...

Lube it up, wrap a ratcheting strap down the middle, tighten it up some and put the air to it.

Then lift and squeeze from the bottom side until it catches. Pop pop.

View attachment 398806View attachment 398807View attachment 398811View attachment 398812

Yup, exactly how its done.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

I set the bead ON with oxy acetlylene. Dont do this at home

Yep..
Any flammable gas will work.
As an off roader we always run low tire pressure for better grip and you occasionally break a bead. Ideally you should run beadlocks but not everyone wants the expense.
Spay a little brake cleaner in it and toss a match.
On occasion you'll get unlucky and the match will get caught between the the rim and the tire but it's rare.

Ether works best.

We used brake cleaner because it was dual purpose.
Great for washing parts on the trail and reseating a tire.
We changed many a CV joint on the trail.
We were lucky enough to have a Toyota certified mechanic in my group and he had a tool box from hell and he'd bring a shitload of spare parts.
We could swap out a CV in under an hour.

 

[TheHardTruth]

I set the bead ON with oxy acetlylene. Dont do this at home

I've used rachet straps to get tire beads seated too. Wrap a rachet strap all around the center of the tread and tighten it up, this helps force the tire bead out against the wheel rim. Add air to set the bead.

That's exactly how I do it...

Lube it up, wrap a ratcheting strap down the middle, tighten it up some and put the air to it.

Then lift and squeeze from the bottom side until it catches. Pop pop.

View attachment 398806View attachment 398807View attachment 398811View attachment 398812

Yup...That's basically the way my Dad did it.....but he used a heavy rope and short piece of pipe to twist the rope and tighten down on the tread.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Then you have this method....

Used mainly by tire shops to avoid insurance issues.

 

[Likkmee]

I set the bead ON with oxy acetlylene. Dont do this at home

I've used rachet straps to get tire beads seated too. Wrap a rachet strap all around the center of the tread and tighten it up, this helps force the tire bead out against the wheel rim. Add air to set the bead.

That's exactly how I do it...

Lube it up, wrap a ratcheting strap down the middle, tighten it up some and put the air to it.

Then lift and squeeze from the bottom side until it catches. Pop pop.

View attachment 398806View attachment 398807View attachment 398811View attachment 398812

Yup...That's basically the way my Dad did it.....but he used a heavy rope and short piece of pipe to twist the rope and tighten down on the tread.

Works for a swamp buggy(tractor) tire in the glades...at 3 am.. drunk....with an illegal gator

 

[Likkmee]

Then you have this method....
View attachment 398830View attachment 398830
Used mainly by tire shops to avoid insurance issues.

MIGA !!!

 

[Dick Foster]

the best trail type tire repair I've seen was repairing a sidewall. The sidewall was slashed by sharp rocks with about a 4 or 5 inch long gash rendering the tire quite useless and beyond repair or so we thought at first. But you just never know until you try. We sewed the gash up with wire then filled the gash with tire plugs. Belive it or not it held air and got the rig off the trail. Then the fool tried to drive it all the way home from Arizona to Texas. Against our better advice of course. He got about 30 miles down the road before the tire finally gave up the ghost for good. Damned fool. Some people just don't know when to quit while they're ahead.

 

[Dick Foster]

I set the bead ON with oxy acetlylene. Dont do this at home

Yep..
Any flammable gas will work.
As an off roader we always run low tire pressure for better grip and you occasionally break a bead. Ideally you should run beadlocks but not everyone wants the expense.
Spay a little brake cleaner in it and toss a match.
On occasion you'll get unlucky and the match will get caught between the the rim and the tire but it's rare.

Ether works best.

We used brake cleaner because it was dual purpose.
Great for washing parts on the trail and reseating a tire.
We changed many a CV joint on the trail.
We were lucky enough to have a Toyota certified mechanic in my group and he had a tool box from hell and he'd bring a shitload of spare parts.
We could swap out a CV in under an hour.

Shit I had swapping out busted CV axles down to a 30 minute exercise on my own before I finally gave it up and swapped in a solid axle. Then I started busting up Toyota locking rears before I swapped it out for a Currie Rockjock Dana 60. Now I only bust hubs but those are free and easy to swap out.
I finally got too dammed old for rock crawling and camping.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

the best trail type tire repair I've seen was repairing a sidewall. The sidewall was slashed by sharp rocks with about a 4 or 5 inch long gash rendering the tire quite useless and beyond repair or so we thought at first. But you just never know until you try. We sewed the gash up with wire then filled the gash with tire plugs. Belive it or not it held air and got the rig off the trail. Then the fool tried to drive it all the way home from Arizona to Texas. Against or better advice of course. He got about 30 miles down the road before the tire finally gave up the ghost for good. Damned fool. Some people just don't know when to quit while they're ahead.

Some people are just stupid.

 

[Dick Foster]

the best trail type tire repair I've seen was repairing a sidewall. The sidewall was slashed by sharp rocks with about a 4 or 5 inch long gash rendering the tire quite useless and beyond repair or so we thought at first. But you just never know until you try. We sewed the gash up with wire then filled the gash with tire plugs. Belive it or not it held air and got the rig off the trail. Then the fool tried to drive it all the way home from Arizona to Texas. Against or better advice of course. He got about 30 miles down the road before the tire finally gave up the ghost for good. Damned fool. Some people just don't know when to quit while they're ahead.

Some people are just stupid.

Or crazy. Then again he was a Texan LOL. All rock crawlers are a little nuts to start with ya know or you just wouldn't be doing crazy shit like that.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

I set the bead ON with oxy acetlylene. Dont do this at home

Yep..
Any flammable gas will work.
As an off roader we always run low tire pressure for better grip and you occasionally break a bead. Ideally you should run beadlocks but not everyone wants the expense.
Spay a little brake cleaner in it and toss a match.
On occasion you'll get unlucky and the match will get caught between the the rim and the tire but it's rare.

Ether works best.

We used brake cleaner because it was dual purpose.
Great for washing parts on the trail and reseating a tire.
We changed many a CV joint on the trail.
We were lucky enough to have a Toyota certified mechanic in my group and he had a tool box from hell and he'd bring a shitload of spare parts.
We could swap out a CV in under an hour.

Shit I had swapping out busted CV axles down to a 30 minute exercise on my own before I finally gave it up and swapped in a solid axle. Then I started busting up Toyota locking rears before I swapped it out for a Currie Rockjock Dana 60. Now I only bust hubs but those are free and easy to swap out.
I finally got too dammed old for rock crawling and camping.

When I say under and hour that was going to get the tools and parts from camp.
These days IFS is getting more popular. IFS keeps the tire flat on the terrain giving more traction. Of course back in the day IFS CV's weren't strong enough to take the abuse.
Now they're actually making rock bouncers using IFS.
But I will say I came close to doing a solid axle on my FJ.
Pisses me off they wont sell the Toyota Hilux in the US,you can get em but the price is outrageous!!!

Bring in the new Bronco....
It has more wheel travel than a jeep wrangler.

Why the Ford Bronco 2021 has independent front suspension | FR24 News English

www.fr24news.com

While the Wife loves Her new 4x4 Tacoma she hates not having a rear hatch for a grocery getter.
My 2016 Tundra will be paid off next month and we're considering the new Bronco with all the goodies as my Tundra is more for towing rather than off roading.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

the best trail type tire repair I've seen was repairing a sidewall. The sidewall was slashed by sharp rocks with about a 4 or 5 inch long gash rendering the tire quite useless and beyond repair or so we thought at first. But you just never know until you try. We sewed the gash up with wire then filled the gash with tire plugs. Belive it or not it held air and got the rig off the trail. Then the fool tried to drive it all the way home from Arizona to Texas. Against or better advice of course. He got about 30 miles down the road before the tire finally gave up the ghost for good. Damned fool. Some people just don't know when to quit while they're ahead.

Some people are just stupid.

Or crazy. Then again he was a Texan LOL. All rock crawlers are a little nuts to start with ya know or you just wouldn't be doing crazy shit like that.

There is that.
The Wife always got out of the vehicle when I did crazy shit and after rolling a few of em I cant really blame Her.

 

[Dick Foster]

I set the bead ON with oxy acetlylene. Dont do this at home

Yep..
Any flammable gas will work.
As an off roader we always run low tire pressure for better grip and you occasionally break a bead. Ideally you should run beadlocks but not everyone wants the expense.
Spay a little brake cleaner in it and toss a match.
On occasion you'll get unlucky and the match will get caught between the the rim and the tire but it's rare.

Ether works best.

We used brake cleaner because it was dual purpose.
Great for washing parts on the trail and reseating a tire.
We changed many a CV joint on the trail.
We were lucky enough to have a Toyota certified mechanic in my group and he had a tool box from hell and he'd bring a shitload of spare parts.
We could swap out a CV in under an hour.

Shit I had swapping out busted CV axles down to a 30 minute exercise on my own before I finally gave it up and swapped in a solid axle. Then I started busting up Toyota locking rears before I swapped it out for a Currie Rockjock Dana 60. Now I only bust hubs but those are free and easy to swap out.
I finally got too dammed old for rock crawling and camping.

When I say under and hour that was going to get the tools and parts from camp.
These days IFS is getting more popular. IFS keeps the tire flat on the terrain giving more traction. Of course back in the day IFS CV's weren't strong enough to take the abuse.
Now they're actually making rock bouncers using IFS.
But I will say I came close to doing a solid axle on my FJ.
Pisses me off they wont sell the Toyota Hilux in the US,you can get em but the price is outrageous!!!

Bring in the new Bronco....
It has more wheel travel than a jeep wrangler.

Why the Ford Bronco 2021 has independent front suspension | FR24 News English

www.fr24news.com

While the Wife loves Her new 4x4 Tacoma she hates not having a rear hatch for a grocery getter.
My 2016 Tundra will be paid off next month and we're considering the new Bronco with all the goodies as my Tundra is more for towing rather than off roading.
View attachment 398856

IFS just plain sucks off road for just about everything but desert racing. Ask me how I know. I watched as one stupid asshole took a brand spanking new Toyota Cruiser (the supposedly new rehash of the venerable Toyota FJ Landcruser a lot like the new Bronco) on the Rubicon trail and it was destroyed before he could get it off that trail inside of two days. I mean it was a worthless pice of junk and scrap metal inside of about 30 miles or so of rock crawling trail. BTW I've owned both an early Bronco and a Toyota FJ Landcruzer.
In the end eeal rigs are built not bought. I will put my truck (built by me) up against anything you can buy off of any new car lot today regardless of the make, heeps included on any rock crawling trail you choose.

 

[Dick Foster]

I set the bead ON with oxy acetlylene. Dont do this at home

Yep..
Any flammable gas will work.
As an off roader we always run low tire pressure for better grip and you occasionally break a bead. Ideally you should run beadlocks but not everyone wants the expense.
Spay a little brake cleaner in it and toss a match.
On occasion you'll get unlucky and the match will get caught between the the rim and the tire but it's rare.

Ether works best.

We used brake cleaner because it was dual purpose.
Great for washing parts on the trail and reseating a tire.
We changed many a CV joint on the trail.
We were lucky enough to have a Toyota certified mechanic in my group and he had a tool box from hell and he'd bring a shitload of spare parts.
We could swap out a CV in under an hour.

Shit I had swapping out busted CV axles down to a 30 minute exercise on my own before I finally gave it up and swapped in a solid axle. Then I started busting up Toyota locking rears before I swapped it out for a Currie Rockjock Dana 60. Now I only bust hubs but those are free and easy to swap out.
I finally got too dammed old for rock crawling and camping.

When I say under and hour that was going to get the tools and parts from camp.
These days IFS is getting more popular. IFS keeps the tire flat on the terrain giving more traction. Of course back in the day IFS CV's weren't strong enough to take the abuse.
Now they're actually making rock bouncers using IFS.
But I will say I came close to doing a solid axle on my FJ.
Pisses me off they wont sell the Toyota Hilux in the US,you can get em but the price is outrageous!!!

Bring in the new Bronco....
It has more wheel travel than a jeep wrangler.

Why the Ford Bronco 2021 has independent front suspension | FR24 News English

www.fr24news.com

While the Wife loves Her new 4x4 Tacoma she hates not having a rear hatch for a grocery getter.
My 2016 Tundra will be paid off next month and we're considering the new Bronco with all the goodies as my Tundra is more for towing rather than off roading.
View attachment 398856

The Tacoma is what I stated with. The very first year a 1996 I have a 95.5 an early release. Assembled in Fremont CA. Today I think they're making them in Tijuana. The plant they used to make Tacomas in is the Tesla plant today. Now I think they're making them too big for the trail, even mine is a challenge on some trails because of its size.

 

[Natural Citizen]

...at home without special tools...

(Assuming you have an air compressor...but I doubt you'd try anything tire related without one)


The back tire on the pickup had a slow leak so I pulled it off and sprayed it with soapy water to find the leak...and...unfortunately it was leaking from the inside bead.

The bead needs broken and the inside of the rim requires cleaning and then reset the bead.

No sweat.

I don't have a bead breaker...but I do have a landscape timber and another vehicle...the wife's buick.

You can use a 4x4 ... And I have many times...but the landscape timber has rounded edges.

Put the edge of the timber as close to the edge of rim as possible. Then drive a tire up the timber.

I usually do this with the pickup and forego the stop-block...but the wife's buick doesn't have the clearance and has a lot of plastic/fiberglass back there...so caution is the order of the day.

Ran up on this one once and it rolled down but didn't quite release...pulled off and gave the rim a quarter turn...reset the timber and voila...ready for clean up...

View attachment 398785

Real Men of Genius salutes you, Mr. Break A Tire Bead With Rounded Landscape Timber Man!

Nominated...

Bud Light Salutes Real Men of Genius

Bud Light And WhipNet Technolgies bring you Real Men of Genius and Real American Heroes

budlight.whipnet.com

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

I set the bead ON with oxy acetlylene. Dont do this at home

Yep..
Any flammable gas will work.
As an off roader we always run low tire pressure for better grip and you occasionally break a bead. Ideally you should run beadlocks but not everyone wants the expense.
Spay a little brake cleaner in it and toss a match.
On occasion you'll get unlucky and the match will get caught between the the rim and the tire but it's rare.

Ether works best.

We used brake cleaner because it was dual purpose.
Great for washing parts on the trail and reseating a tire.
We changed many a CV joint on the trail.
We were lucky enough to have a Toyota certified mechanic in my group and he had a tool box from hell and he'd bring a shitload of spare parts.
We could swap out a CV in under an hour.

Shit I had swapping out busted CV axles down to a 30 minute exercise on my own before I finally gave it up and swapped in a solid axle. Then I started busting up Toyota locking rears before I swapped it out for a Currie Rockjock Dana 60. Now I only bust hubs but those are free and easy to swap out.
I finally got too dammed old for rock crawling and camping.

When I say under and hour that was going to get the tools and parts from camp.
These days IFS is getting more popular. IFS keeps the tire flat on the terrain giving more traction. Of course back in the day IFS CV's weren't strong enough to take the abuse.
Now they're actually making rock bouncers using IFS.
But I will say I came close to doing a solid axle on my FJ.
Pisses me off they wont sell the Toyota Hilux in the US,you can get em but the price is outrageous!!!

Bring in the new Bronco....
It has more wheel travel than a jeep wrangler.

Why the Ford Bronco 2021 has independent front suspension | FR24 News English

www.fr24news.com

While the Wife loves Her new 4x4 Tacoma she hates not having a rear hatch for a grocery getter.
My 2016 Tundra will be paid off next month and we're considering the new Bronco with all the goodies as my Tundra is more for towing rather than off roading.
View attachment 398856

IFS just plain sucks off road for just about everything but desert racing. Ask me how I know. I watched as one stupid asshole took a brand spanking new Toyota Cruiser (the supposedly new rehash of the venerable Toyota FJ Landcruser a lot like the new Bronco) on the Rubicon trail and it was destroyed before he could get it off that trail inside of two days. I mean it was a worthless pice of junk and scrap metal inside of about 30 miles or so of rock crawling trail. BTW I've owned both an early Bronco and a Toyota FJ Landcruzer.
In the end eeal rigs are built not bought. I will put my truck (built by me) up against anything you can buy off of any new car lot today regardless of the make, heeps included on any rock crawling trail you choose.

Well sure.
I'm getting too old to be building a new truck and I'm not into hardcore wheeling anymore.
Never liked jeeps,they break too damn much. Love the concept though.
I'll take the new Bronco over a jeep at this point based on the off roading I'll be doing and the fact it doesnt ride like shit for everyday use.
IFS has made major inroads in the off road world these days though.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

I set the bead ON with oxy acetlylene. Dont do this at home

Yep..
Any flammable gas will work.
As an off roader we always run low tire pressure for better grip and you occasionally break a bead. Ideally you should run beadlocks but not everyone wants the expense.
Spay a little brake cleaner in it and toss a match.
On occasion you'll get unlucky and the match will get caught between the the rim and the tire but it's rare.

Ether works best.

We used brake cleaner because it was dual purpose.
Great for washing parts on the trail and reseating a tire.
We changed many a CV joint on the trail.
We were lucky enough to have a Toyota certified mechanic in my group and he had a tool box from hell and he'd bring a shitload of spare parts.
We could swap out a CV in under an hour.

Shit I had swapping out busted CV axles down to a 30 minute exercise on my own before I finally gave it up and swapped in a solid axle. Then I started busting up Toyota locking rears before I swapped it out for a Currie Rockjock Dana 60. Now I only bust hubs but those are free and easy to swap out.
I finally got too dammed old for rock crawling and camping.

When I say under and hour that was going to get the tools and parts from camp.
These days IFS is getting more popular. IFS keeps the tire flat on the terrain giving more traction. Of course back in the day IFS CV's weren't strong enough to take the abuse.
Now they're actually making rock bouncers using IFS.
But I will say I came close to doing a solid axle on my FJ.
Pisses me off they wont sell the Toyota Hilux in the US,you can get em but the price is outrageous!!!

Bring in the new Bronco....
It has more wheel travel than a jeep wrangler.

Why the Ford Bronco 2021 has independent front suspension | FR24 News English

www.fr24news.com

While the Wife loves Her new 4x4 Tacoma she hates not having a rear hatch for a grocery getter.
My 2016 Tundra will be paid off next month and we're considering the new Bronco with all the goodies as my Tundra is more for towing rather than off roading.
View attachment 398856

The Tacoma is what I stated with. The very first year a 1996 I have a 95.5 an early release. Assembled in Fremont CA. Today I think they're making them in Tijuana. The plant they used to make Tacomas in is the Tesla plant today. Now I think they're making them too big for the trail, even mine is a challenge on some trails because of its size.

Loved my 98 with the TRD blower.
It blew head gaskets on a regular basis though.
Had a 2001 and hated it. As you said they got to big to be an effective offroad vehicle.

 

[Shawnee_b]

We used to have contests to see how high we could make wheels jump by using starting fluid aka ether to set tire beads. It's an offroader trick for when you're out in the boondocks and need to get a tire reseated. Lay the tire and wheel flat on the ground then spray starting fluid all around the inside of the tire. Stand back and set it off to get the tire reseated. It sets off with a boom. Be sure to get some air in the tire before it can cool off too much.

They changed the composition of the old WD 40, that's how we blew beads out. Can't hardly light the stuff anymore.

Grease? Hmmmm Never tried. Never had much prob rubber spinning on a rim except some mowers. My zero turn will spin a tire and rip the tube valve stem off, after it gets tubed eventually. If a non tube tire doesn't much matter anyway. I can see where it would make a good seal.