Flat tire service!

   / Flat tire service! #1  

texbaylea

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2004
Messages
1,903
Location
Brazos County Texas 77808
Tractor
Kubota L3130HST w/LA723 loader
For the second time I popped a front tire bead loose by not realizing it was low and making a hard turn. Lifted the tractor with the FEL but could not get air into the tire, an R4, fast enough to reseat the tire. I called a road service company to take care of the tire. The operated put a solution around the tire bead and then unscrewed the inner part of the valve assembly and replaced it with an adapter that had a male QD half. Took the hose from his big compressor and hooked up to the adapter and that was all it took to seat the tire. I will be putting slime into that tire today since I don't know what caused it to lose air.

2 years ago it cost me $25.00 for the service, this year it cost $45.00 with almost $10.00 of that as a fuel surcharge. Still worth it in not having to wrestle that tire off and into the back of the Suburban for a trip to a service dealer. The service truck was here within an half hour of my call. Hard to beat.

Vernon
 
   / Flat tire service! #2  
Next time put a rope or cable around the circumference of the tire and tighten it with the loader or a come-along. The tension will squeeze the bead into the rim enough to get the air started. The reason he got it started was because the air volume was very high. I've stuffed a dog bed and towels into the gap a few times to get the air leakage down to where the bead wil tighten. The tire seats the best when its completely unloaded so lift it off the ground with the loader for best results. My theory is that you can never have too much air in a set of loader tires. If the bead breaks while cornering at speed with a heavy load, you risk a tripped rollover when the rim digs into the road or ground, etc.
 
   / Flat tire service! #3  
Vernon,

As zz said put a rope around the tire. I usually twist the rope with a crow bar in it to tighten by hand. Get it as tight as you can an the tire will snug right up to the rim. You don't even have to take it off the tractor if you loader is on just lift up.

And stop turning so sharp:D :D I can laugh cause I did it last winter.

murph
 
   / Flat tire service! #4  
I've used these ratchet tie downs from Harbor Freight that I wrapped arount the tire, racheted it down, remove the valve stem from the tire and aired the tire up. Worked pretty good.
 

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   / Flat tire service! #5  
The air leaked out of the front tire of my L2800 and it sat there getting unshapeir and unshapeir. Yesterday after a couple of weeks I decided to air it back up. Of course it wouldn't hold air. So I tried everything I've ever tried or heard about except I was too nervous about the fire thing. But I did try the rachet strap around it and lubracate the bead and laying it in the sun to make it softer. It was cool yeaterday. I took the tire off the rim and cleaned the rim with a buffer and also the bead of the tire. put it back on and it still wouldn't hold air. I happened to notice a spray can of that glue you spray to replace headliner. Well I sprayed it all around the bead and low and behold I now have air in my tire and not a bubble of a leak.
 
   / Flat tire service!
  • Thread Starter
#6  
I had used the loader to pick up the front end. In the past, with the tire unloaded and relaxed a few raps with a hammer around the circumference will seat the bead enough. Not this time!! If I hadn't had something else to do that day more important I would have tried to squeeze the tire like suggested but wimped out and let someone else take care of it. Easier on the back but harder on the pocket book!!

If it had been a rear tire I would not even thought about fighting it myself as my back is too fragile with all the years on it.

Vernon
 
   / Flat tire service! #7  
An old trick from my days changing heavy truck tires. Remove valve from valve stem. With no weight on tire.... have helper ready with air chuck to blast a little air into the valve stem ( high volume air chuck.... the kind that clips onto the stem). Squirt a small amount of starting fluid (i said SMALL!) into tire through the area of the bead which is un-seated. Ignite the SMALL amount of starting fluid with a lighter as your helper puts air into the stem. It has worked every time. Warning: it does make a bit of a "POP" when the starting fluid ignites.
 
   / Flat tire service! #8  
I used the same technique woodchuckie used except I used WD-40 for a lube, I saw a tire tech a few years ago use gasoline as a lube to get a bead on after changing the tire off one rim to another. I thought he was a crazy was using gasoline, but it did work.
 
   / Flat tire service! #9  
Ductape said:
An old trick from my days changing heavy truck tires. Remove valve from valve stem. With no weight on tire.... have helper ready with air chuck to blast a little air into the valve stem ( high volume air chuck.... the kind that clips onto the stem). Squirt a small amount of starting fluid (i said SMALL!) into tire through the area of the bead which is un-seated. Ignite the SMALL amount of starting fluid with a lighter as your helper puts air into the stem. It has worked every time. Warning: it does make a bit of a "POP" when the starting fluid ignites.

Thats exactly the way I done it before I had a compressor. To make sure you have the right starting fluid it has to read on the can: "DO NOT USE IT FOR TIRE BEAD SEATING!":))
 
   / Flat tire service! #10  
I had flat tire service a couple years ago on the ford rear tire and felt bad for the poor guy... brand new service truck and he tore all the nice new lights off the top of the truck when he drove under a large oak tree.

mark
 
 
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