Tear from mounting, do I need a new tire

[Speedy3]

Got pirellis, and the tires are tight as hell. Using screw driver to get last bit over the rim, and this happens. From a damned round shaft screwdriver.

Do I need a new tire or will the head still seat? Thanks.

[Triple Jim]

It's hard to tell from that photo. Maybe use some rubber cement on it to seal the ripped chunk in before you try to mount it again. You'll know soon enough once it's on, if it's going to hold air.

I suspect you didn't have the tire bead fully into the "drop center" section of the rim everywhere except where your were working. If it's not, a tire can become almost impossible to get over the rim without damaging it.

[Motofool]

It will leak

No reason for discarding the tire, you can always use an inner tube if above Tim's advise does not work.

Always use proper tire irons and tons of patience and rubber lube.

[jkv45]

I would do as TJ suggested and add some type of adhesive to that area, and secure the flap, before mounting it.

[Zaph42]

I've used this stuff, it holds up even at race temperatures.

[MrAtom]

I'll do any work on my bike other than mounting tires. The $20 to the fellas at my local cycle store is well worth the headache prevention.

[Snake]

Originally Posted by Motofool

It will leak

No reason for discarding the tire, you can always use an inner tube if above Tim's advise does not work.

Always use proper tire irons and tons of patience and rubber lube.

I think this is the best advice to assure that the tire doesn't leak.

[dcj13]

I like Hernan's suggestions: innertube; proper tools; lubricant.

[SLOWn60]

That looks like a pretty deep rip! But hard to be difinitive based on one photo. Be damn sure the bead cords aren't damaged. Perhaps unlikely but it does look like there are cut chords to me. If it's a front tire I would scrap it if there is any indication of ripped bead strands. I would toss it if it is a rear tire too! Explosive failure could easily be fatal. Be sure!

[dcj13]

Those beads are steel-reinforced: really difficult to cut, even with power tools.

[Speedy3]

Don't hate me, but I didn't even want to deal with it .

I about threw that rim and tire through a wall by the time I got as far as I did. The rim was beat to heck anyways, so I got a new one and a new tire as well. I'd rather chalk this up to a lesson learned, and know I'm riding with a solid tire!

And I'll leave mounting and balancing to the pro's with proper tools that don't require my shady, shade-tree skills

[cadd]

I hate mounting tires as well! Without the proper tools, breaking the bead to get the old tire off is aways a bitch. 4 large C clamps and a small bead breaker does the trick.

Mounting new tire back on?? Without proper lube and a warm 80 degree day, it's a bitch as well.

I would bring it to a shop, but by the time I remove the wheel off the bike, drive to the shop, wait for them to do it, drive back home, and install wheel back on the bike, I would've been done doing it on my own. That's the only reason I do it myself. If I had a good shop close by, I would gladly pay someone to do it.

[Triple Jim]

Originally Posted by cadd

I would bring it to a shop, but by the time I remove the wheel off the bike, drive to the shop, wait for them to do it, drive back home, and install wheel back on the bike, I would've been done doing it on my own. That's the only reason I do it myself. If I had a good shop close by, I would gladly pay someone to do it.

That's the reason I started doing my own car tires, as well as my motorcycle tires. I hate sitting in a car tire shop waiting, or having to get someone to pick me up and take me back. Once my wife bought me a slide hammer bead breaker, I was able to get any tire off its rim, including the big ones on my Ford tractor.

[cadd]

Jim, that thing looks like it can be a nice weapon as well! How do you even use it?! Place it on the bead and strike the top with a hammer to vibrate the bead off?

I really hate mounting/dismounting tires. But I had a free day....

Put them out in the sun for an hour they say. The rubber gets softer and it'll be easier to mount & dismount....they say.

It's mid March and it's still snowing....

[Triple Jim]

Originally Posted by cadd

Jim, that thing looks like it can be a nice weapon as well! How do you even use it?! Place it on the bead and strike the top with a hammer to vibrate the bead off?

It's a slide hammer. The silver part is almost as long as the yellow part, and slides up and down in the yellow tube, and it's quite heavy. You lube up the bead and put the black curved and round-edged blade between the rim and tire bead. Then you raise up the silver bar and slam it down a couple times. That's usually all it takes, but there are a couple things to remember to do, like with motorcycle rims you have to put some wood blocks on the floor so the rim rests securely on them and not a brake disk, for example. Also the rim can't be supported by the tire or the rim bounces around and the blade doesn't do its job, so with a car wheel sometimes you have to stand on the rim to push it down against the floor.

It's the only way I know of to break the bead on big tires like the rear tires on my Ford tractor, but it works quickly on any size wheels. For really big tires, you can use the whole thing as a tire iron too. The local 80+ year old tire guy loaned me his a couple years ago, and I knew I had to get my own.

[Motofool]

Heat we always have in sunny Florida, all I have to add is rubber lubricant.
My favorite methods are more rudimentary:

http://www.cog-online.org/clubportal...enuoptID=36400

[Triple Jim]

Looks good, Hernan. I used to use my bench vise to do motorcycle tires too. My OEM type car bumper jacks have a curved edge on the base that's made to fit the curve of a rim, so you can jack up the car and break a bead. It works pretty well, but not for big tractor tires, I found.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by Triple Jim

Looks good, Hernan. I used to use my bench vise to do motorcycle tires too. My OEM type car bumper jacks have a curved edge on the base that's made to fit the curve of a rim, so you can jack up the car and break a bead. It works pretty well, but not for big tractor tires, I found.

I have never done it and cannot imagine working with a big tractor tire.
Do those have a removable ring like 18-wheeler tires have?

[Triple Jim]

Mine do not. The rims are just like car rims, but bigger. The biggest pain is draining about 30 gallons of antifreeze and saving it before you start dismounting the tire, and putting it back in after the tire is patched or changed.