inner tube...

B

Beauford

Well-known member
Ok so these new tires come with the beads about 1/2 inch apart. I have the tire on wheel but there is no way to get tube in? Should I wait till it warms up out side and have tire in the sun to heat it up or any tricks to avoid waiting on mother nature?
 
A trick I saw somewhere was to partially inflate the tube inside the tire before installing the tire. I haven't tried it yet but it seems like it should work better than trying to force the flat tube in.
 
Only put the lower bead onto the rim. Install the tube with a small amount of air in it to keep it from deforming or bunching up. Use powder on the tube to help it slide into place. Then put the top bead onto the rim ..
A plastic trash bag helps the beads slide over the rim easier.
After inflating make sure both sides of the tire are even all the way around the rim lip
hope this makes sense.
 
I've done it two ways. You can put just a little air in the tube, then slip the stem through the hole as you tuck the tire into the rim recess, Then if you're lucky you can work the rest of the tire over the rim, both beads at the same time.

Most of the time I slip one bead over the rim, then insert the tube with the stem through the hole, then push the other bead over the rim. A little air in the tube helps to keep the tube from having folds.
 
Last edited:
I put the tubes in the tire first, then inflated them a little, ran my hand around between the tube and tire to make sure there were no folds....

Then with just a few pounds in the tube I first tilted the tire and fit the stem in then pushed the assembly onto a wheel while the wheel was mounted on the truck. I used a rear hub and cycled each wheel there to mount a tire.

You can rotate the tire/tube a little on the wheel once its on to straighten the stem if necessary.

Use plenty of lube!

There are many other methods!!
 
Put a zip tie on the valve stem to help keep it up right while you are tugging on the tube. Also HF has good chrome tire irons with nice spoons for around $4. Use your 20 % off coupon for a better deal. Good length on these irons makes the leverage for a quick easy job....
 
I use this tool to hold the stem in place. Fleet Farm sells them for about $2.
 

Attachments

  • Valve Core Tool.jpg
    Valve Core Tool.jpg
    8.1 KB · Views: 8
Last edited:
Great thank you all! I have it planned out in my head now! Yes, I have the HF tire iron and it is nice and long. Working this weekend but should have the fronts on monday. One more rim to blast and then I will prime and paint rears.
 
as Mitch says, easiest way when dealing with extra heavy duty tires.

keep one bead free- insert tube then finish.

shake and bake!
 
I also agree with not using the tire iron and use the plastic bag, power, one bead on, then tube in, method. I would like to hear comments on this when using the metal stem tubes. I would think this would change things. Jack
 
The HF tire iron is very very blunt with thick rounded edges. I was thinking just like the second video but wish I was as fast as Ford guy....
 
I believe the OP's problem is the same one I ran into with new tires. Mine were wrapped tightly with plastic which closed the beads. Probably to save space in transport and storage. With the plastic off, the beads were still almost touching. I had to put a few temporary 2" spacers between the beads in order to get the tube in the tire. No way I could do this with one bead already on the wheel.

Then you have the problem of trying to thread the valve stem into the hole in the rim with no room for you fingers to do that. Tom's tool would help if you could get it started in the hole. I had to tie a string on the valve stem, thread the string through the hole, then use it to pull the valve stem into position once the first bead was on the rim.

Used tires....no problem. It's as easy as shown in the video.

Any other tricks with stiff, new tires and closed beads?
 
Just too add, install the tube in the tire, inflate the tube as it will force the beads out. Set the tires in the sunshine for an hour, use Toms tool and remove the stem core letting the air out. Then install tires with tube on the wheel as others have stated. I put a moving blanket on the floor and wrestled the tire on, don't use any tools to keep from scratching the painted wheels! I think I put the hub cap side down and installed the tire.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top