- 207
- 82
- 28
- Location
- Austin, TX
I picked up some unused Goodyear AT-3A's at my local govplanet. Tires are good shape and less than 3-4 years old on average but they were stored flat on a pallet so the tires are collapsed some. When I try to mount them on my combat rims, there is 2-3" inches of space between the bead and rim so I can't get the bead to seat when airing up.
I've done all the usual stuff and researched what I could find here and on the web:
-removed schrader valve and even drilled out my clip-on inflator so it's max air volume
-liberally used undiluted murphy's tire soap
-tried laying tire flat on ground with rim supported by bucket (seats the bottom bead)
-tried tire standing up and floating the rim in/out to see if I can catch enough air to pop it closed
-used our front end load tractor and squashed the tire when standing up;
-was going the use the Hutchinson bead lock (the metal band with two rubber strips) that came out of some 395's but couldn't even get the tire spread open far enough to insert the bead lock.
Note: if you remove the rubber strips, the bead lock band is 6.7" wide. The GY AT-3A bead is 1.7" thick. 6.7 + 1.7 + 1.7= 10.1" which would be perfect for this but I couldn't even get bead lock inserted into the tire.
-I don't have a tire seating blast tank (but not sure it would work anyway since there is no hollow in the rim to insert the nozzle)
-I haven't used ether or propane or any other boom-spray (didn't have it available and ran out of time)
-I left the tires standing upright so maybe they'll spring open a bit when I head back down in a couple weeks.
In the meantime, any recommendations? Any try using a bead donut? Know where to get one?
On the way home, I thought about using a bicycle inner tube as a seater but I would have to relocate the stem to the outside of the tube.
Thoughts?
I've done all the usual stuff and researched what I could find here and on the web:
-removed schrader valve and even drilled out my clip-on inflator so it's max air volume
-liberally used undiluted murphy's tire soap
-tried laying tire flat on ground with rim supported by bucket (seats the bottom bead)
-tried tire standing up and floating the rim in/out to see if I can catch enough air to pop it closed
-used our front end load tractor and squashed the tire when standing up;
-was going the use the Hutchinson bead lock (the metal band with two rubber strips) that came out of some 395's but couldn't even get the tire spread open far enough to insert the bead lock.
Note: if you remove the rubber strips, the bead lock band is 6.7" wide. The GY AT-3A bead is 1.7" thick. 6.7 + 1.7 + 1.7= 10.1" which would be perfect for this but I couldn't even get bead lock inserted into the tire.
-I don't have a tire seating blast tank (but not sure it would work anyway since there is no hollow in the rim to insert the nozzle)
-I haven't used ether or propane or any other boom-spray (didn't have it available and ran out of time)
-I left the tires standing upright so maybe they'll spring open a bit when I head back down in a couple weeks.
In the meantime, any recommendations? Any try using a bead donut? Know where to get one?
On the way home, I thought about using a bicycle inner tube as a seater but I would have to relocate the stem to the outside of the tube.
Thoughts?