Interesting Find

[Elk1111]

After several months of working on my truck and patiently waiting for the DMV appointment so I could register my truck so it is road legal I finally took her out on the interstate. I had a nasty bouncing in the front which I figured was from having a run flat on one side and a beadlock on the other on the steering axle. (Huge weight difference)
Well.....there was a huge weight difference but not from a run flat.
When I took off the left front tire and broke it down I found a strange and nasty surprise!!
The whole tire was filled with water???
I have no idea what the total weight was but it was ridiculous even trying to move it.
Needless to say but my truck drives great now!!! No more bouncy bouncy.
Anybody have any ideas how or why a 46 inch military tire would be completely filled with water???

 

[M35fan]

Many farmers add water to the rear tires on tractors to add counterweight/ballast. I can't imagine why someone put water in steer tires on a truck?

 

[NY Tom]

Did it sit around somewhere without air and perhaps laying flat on the ground for a length of time?

I bought a bunch of surplus 9 x 20 tires recently and probably 3 of them had a lot of water inside. I didn't break them down but the water pushed out when I aired up the tubes.

I don't see how this could happen on a tubeless tire unless the bead stayed seated and the water intruded thru the valve stem with core removed.

Strange surprise for you indeed!

 

[glcaines]

Did the truck come from the military via auction or did you receive it from a previous civilian owner? If from a previous owner, I would talk with them about what you found.

 

[Elk1111]

The tires were bought and put on by the previous owner but he said they were already mounted when he bought them. He just thought they had run flats which the right front did. This one had a beadlock and about 20-30 gallons of water in it. I can’t imagine that that much water could be in a tire without someone doing it on purpose. After changing it the truck rides like Cadillac now compared to before. Now I almost feel like not checking the rear tires is not an option. Breaking down and remounting tires beats the hell out of me but curiosity and not knowing would make me crazy.

 

[US6x4]

I had an 11.00-20 laying flat in the back of my truck to take to the tire shop and after a rainy afternoon the tire guy said there was about 3 gallons of water in it between the tube and tire.

 

[Elk1111]

Crazy...I guess with the shape of the tire could pool up that much water if the bead isn’t seated. We don’t get any rain here in Las Cruces so I really wouldn’t know. Down here we get crazy and dance in the streets when it rains because we haven’t seen any for several months