Might be a new record

I finally wore out my first car tire, so I bought another one to replace it. Bought the same size tire, from the same manufacturer, because I was more than satisfied the first time around. When I mounted the first tire, It took plenty of lube and air pressure to seat, so I figured it would be a simple matter of applying those two ingredients again. I ran this tire up to 140 psi and it wasn't even close to seating on either side. I deflated the tire and shifted it back and forth on the rim about a dozen times, adding more lube each try. Left the thing at 140 psi for two days, laid out in the sun, to no avail. I even sealed the rim and tried it without a tube; still didn't pop on. Just out of curiosity, I put the tire on a 15" car rim to see if it was physically possible to get the thing to seat. It only took 35 psi on that wheel.

So I'm running out of ideas. Has anybody ever had a tire that was unmountable? I don't know if I'd be willing to go over 140 psi, but my air compressor can't go any farther anyway.

If you cleaned the old tire off the rim good I'm not sure.
You could try to reposition the tire on the rim and see if its the same spot on the tire or the rim that refuses to seat. If its the rim you can add extra vegtable oil or whatever lubricant your using to that area. If its the tire you could try holding that section up when you start to inflate the tire and see if the rest of the tire seats. I dont advise grinding down the rim or the tire. I ended up going with a 70 series tire because I could not seat the 65 series. Good luck.

Jerry

Yeah, I tried seating different parts of the bead again and again with no luck. Today I even filled the wheel with ice and used a heat gun on the tire, .

What size tire are you running? Maybe I need to get one of those 165/80s. I really did love the feel of that last 195/65, but I don't think this particular tire can be installed.

what if you try polishing up the "seating area" where it's hanging and then try again with ample lube?

nodakbassmaster wrote:what if you try polishing up the "seating area" where it's hanging and then try again with ample lube?

Your avatar makes me want to polish something with ample lube. Seriously though, the chrome on the wheel seems smooth enough as is. What should I try polishing it with? I'm running out of options, so it's worth a shot.

Well, it took a lot of effort, and total desperation, but I finally got the tire mounted. At one point I had the wheel chained to the floor, and was using a sledge hammer to try and boost the pressure high enough to get the tire to seat, but ultimately, I had to cheat.

It was make it or break it time, so that tire was either going to burst under extreme pressure, or seat on the rim. I took my angle grinder to the old car tire, and cut down to the bead, to see how much rubber there was before I hit steel. There was a good quarter inch of material to cut into, so I started grinding down the mating surface of the new tire. At first I tapered the outside edge of the tire, and tried to seat it, but it still wouldn't go at 140 psi. I dismounted the tire again, and cut away a considerable depth of rubber, around the entire bead. After remounting, I inflated the tire, and at approximately 120 psi, the beads finally popped onto the rim.

After a couple celebratory shots of vodka, I balanced the tire and installed it on the bike. I haven't had a test ride yet, but tomorrow I suppose I'll get it out on the road.

so, while you are inflating the tire, where is the tire sitting and is it tied down incase the tire burst? where are you standing wrt to the tire?

Initially I just had the tire on the floor, and I don't have a locking air chuck, so I have to stand right there in the pocket. I've had wheels and tires come at me violently in the past, but have miraculously avoided injury by keeping my forearms between the wheel and my face. I know of people getting killed under the same circumstances.