Compressors & Tire Removers

Tell me more Truckster I have an arb and think its a bit slow when filling 6 tyres ( camper) but filling the tank b4 u stop would be quicker. I have thought of a normal 25 lt compressor and a gen set (mine is 1kva) but compressors are about 1.1-1.3 kva. Have seen an air con set up with tank but with no air con in cab. Also seen endless air all up posibly $500.

yea the tank can be setup so its always full if you like with pressure relief valves....


Endless air is the premium.. but costs Lots,

Dependin on car, the GQ TD42 can run an extra air compressor! So :p

The air compressor way is good but manufacturing the mounts is a job not worth undertaking unless your a genius!

My hot tips for reseating the bead are:
1. Leave the valve core out (as PhilG suggest) when first reinflating and only screw it back in after the bead has popped on both sides. The valve core tends to slow down airflow into the tyre and you want as much air going in as possible.
2. Keep it clean. Even little bits of sand or grit between the bead and rim can stop the two from sealing so if the output of the compressor isn't high, you'll never get it to seal.
3. Lubricate the bead, ideally with a goop of sloppy soap, or just water which can help to form a bit of a seal between the tyre and rim. All you need is to create a seal for a fraction of a second and the pressure will then progressively build until the bead pops back. Just keep your eyes closed when it is about to pop or you'll cop it in the eyes.
4. Look after the bead at all costs when breaking the bead in the first place. Taking nicks or tears out with your bead breaker will make it 10 times harder to reseat, and if you start to hear a tearing sound when breaking the bead, stop or you'll probably bugger the bead.

Oh yeah, and practice in the driveway. Impress the neighbours!

MikeyS

A tip I read about in a 4x4 mag was to use a cargo tiedown ratchet strap aroud the tread to put pressure on the beads. Never tried it, but maybe someone can comment from experience.

Keith,

I've used that method in the past with 10R15 tyres (rope + tyre iron version anyway). Tried it more recently on newer tyres like BFG ATKOs and it doesn't seem to work - as soon as you apply tension, part of the tyre will buckle (?softer rubber). The other trick is to carry a 16 inch bike tube and inflate it and use it to wipe out the extra distance between the bead and rim. as the tyre inflates, pull the bike tube out of the way.

Phil

Phil.. explain that a little better could you?

Voxson, perhaps I can explain although I think this is a technique for advanced players. In my student days when I used to work at a service station - yes SERVICE station (we used to pump your petrol, check your oil & wipe your windscreen) and we had a rubber ring of about 15" diameter and about 2" in cross section. If a tubeless tyre was being stubborn in reseating, with the tyre already on the rim we'd also stretch this "donut" onto the rim so it fitted between the flange of the rim (the bit the bead usually abuts ) and the bead/sidewall of the tyre. It was like mounting an inflated 16" bike tube on the rim next to the tyre. The donut fitted snugly around the rim and pressed up against the sidewall of the tyre, and when done properly, formed a seal between the tyre and rim. This also helped push the inner bead onto the inner flange of the rim. Pumping air in first sealed the inner bead and as pressure built up the outer sidewall started to squish the donut onto the flange. The tricky bit was to stop inflation before the donut got so completely squashed between tyre and rim that it couldn't be removed without letting air out of the tyre. However, if you pulled the donut out before the outer bead had seated properly you just broke the seal but at least by that stage you would have had the inner bead seated. It's harder to get both sides of the tyre to seal at the same time, hence the need for the "whoosh" of air so if you sealed only one side that was still a help.
Had to be bloody careful when pulling out the donut to avoid getting the fingers stuck betwen the bead and flange.
The donut technique was useful when trying to reseat narrowish tyres on wide rims because the tyre beads wouldn't naturally span the rim to form a seal.
Hope this explains it.
MikeyS

yep mikey..... got it.. thanks...