Topic: Tire Bead Won't Seat Evenly

[sleutho]

I just got the front tire installed on my wheel, and when I inflate the tube, the bead is not seating properly.  You can tell by looking at a line on the tire which doesn't have an even gap with the edge of the rim edge.  The location of where it is not seating is directly across from the valve stem, and it is occurring on both sides of the tire. The tube did come with a little conical washer for the valve stem, so I used that instead of one of the valve stem nuts where the stem inserts into the hole in the wheel like most people do. Could that be a cause?  Pictures show the properly seated tire around the valve stem with gap between tire line and rim, and the other side of the tire, where the same line cannot be seen.

[antleo]

What pressure did you inflate it to? Did you use some form of lube on the tire bead?

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[JBMorse]

I had something like this happen once, and I wasn't sure what caused it so I dismounted the tire and reinstalled it, and it was fine. I think I may have pinched the tube in between the rim and tire on the first try. I would recommend dismounting and having a good look at everything before remounting.

[whitjonw]

If you haven't already, semi inflate the tire and bounce it around 360 degrees a few times to get the bead to set correctly to the rim. Then fully inflate and bounce a little more and check it.

[evanphi]

Inflate to just seat the bead most of the way around, just barely enough pressure. Then give the un-seated portion OF THE TIRE a good whallop with a rubber mallet. Lots of lube beforehand, too. Sometimes a slight over-inflation will do the trick.

[sleutho]

I did deflate and check around the bead, and did not see any places where the tube was under the bead, or not tucked into the tire correctly.  Then I re-inflated to 40psi with a liberal amount of lube all the way around the bead on both sides of the tire/wheel.  Still the same issue.  I will try the light inflation and bouncing/hammer hits to see if that works. Thanks!

[antleo]

I was always told to use 60psi, also do it with the valve core out, use a clip on chuck, set your regulator to 60, clip the chuck on, then bounce it as it inflates. Never had a problem seating it.

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[evanphi]

Yes that's also a great point. If you take your valve core out it will inflate much faster. Even with a small compressor. It'll all blast out when you unclip your chuck, but the bead will be seated.

[whitjonw]

I did deflate and check around the bead, and did not see any places where the tube was under the bead, or not tucked into the tire correctly.  Then I re-inflated to 40psi with a liberal amount of lube all the way around the bead on both sides of the tire/wheel.  Still the same issue.  I will try the light inflation and bouncing/hammer hits to see if that works. Thanks!

Hopefully you get it seated correctly. I use WD-40 for lube. Makes it a breeze. Try it if you haven't already.

[sleutho]

Got distracted on some other stuff, but want to get this done this weekend.  I tried relubing, inflating to about 15-20psi and beating the sh*t out of it with plastic hammer, and bouncing it.  This helped, and I've made some progress, but this thing is being really stubborn. 

I should add that I am only using a bicycle pump as I do not have shop air.  But since it's a tubed tire, the bead doesn't need to be seated in the traditional manor, right? I was thinking that enough pressure pushing out on it, combined with lube at the beat should be enough to push it over correctly.

Do I need to "seat" the bead with a quick hit of air like you would on a tubeless tire?  Also, wouldn't WD-40 be bad for the tire since it is composed of oil and solvents?

[jonda500]

When mine won't seat properly (or more often when I get home from the tyre shop and find they haven't seated it properly), I let the air out and thoroughly lube just the area where the line wasn't visible, then re-inflate. I think any thing slippery will work as lube, I don't like to use waterbased products like detergent (I have enough rust in there already!), so just I use ArmourAll.
John
I also suspect petroleum based products may be bad for the rubber?

[evanphi]

use liquid hand soap.

[Don R]

 Armor all or silicone spray lube

[Old Moe Toe]

My moto guzzi model is famous for this problem of not popping the bead out, and the solution is as follows....
Take out the valve from the inner tube stem, then pump up with compressed air (not hand pump etc).
By taking the valve out the tire should inflate much more rapidly and cause the bead to pop out. When it (hopefully, does) just put the valve back in and pump up as normal.
You can get valve removal tools dirt cheap from most auto shops.

[whitjonw]

Also, wouldn't WD-40 be bad for the tire since it is composed of oil and solvents?

I have been using it for at least 10 years now on multiple tires since I was given that tip. I know it is a petroleum product but also dissipates water/moisture and doesn't leave behind an oily film. One absolute is to not use dish soap as if your rim is not rusted it will be well on its way after you do. I have also been using  a rubber lube called P80 which is very good. However, I still prefer to use the WD-40 for changing tires. It really makes it a breeze to change.