Clare, Xeno.... did you ever have a batch of tires that just wouldn't seal after the final bead?

In keeping with American ingenuity, this guy uses "murphy's soap"

He calls the technique "beading up".

This guy uses the flamethrower method of lighting the aerosol:

Here's a tool review of the 10 gallon bazooka

What I love is that these tools eliminate the need for a helper!

What ever could go wrong?

I looked to see WHY but the article doesn't say WHY the accident occurred. "Authorities did not provide any additional information about the incident which is being investigated by a number of agencies including Cal/OSHA and the Los Angeles Port Police."

Since it occurred on MAY 15, 2019, we might be able to find something about HOW it happened (e.g., were they using the flame method?).

This is one thing that's a problem with news, which is that they don't bother to close the gap when they find out more, sometimes.

I searched for more information that was recent but haven't found it yet, so we really don't know what happened.

It does seem like those BIG tires do kill workers though... February 20, 2019 Worker Killed By Exploding Tire At John Wayne Airport "One worker was on top of the tire, and the other on the bottom, when it exploded."

In both cases, I'd expect a report somewhere from Cal OSHA.

Here is a list of their main risks:

No mention in that article of using a flammable liquid or vapor to seat the bead explosively. Plenty of stories about exploding tires on split rims from improper technique which have nothing to do with fire.

This is why large truck tires on split rims are inflated in safety cages.

Thank you for adding value to this discussion, as did Clare, and Amuzi, where I was unfamiliar with this "split rim" concept until I read the article you kindly referenced.

Apparently, from the safety alert at the bottom of your reference, these "split rim" mountings are used mainly for LARGE commercial tires, is that right?

If so, I wonder what's different about large commercial tires? o Obviously size is one thing - which could mean more energy o The pressure per unit area "might" also be different o Maybe mounting needs determined the reason for the split ring?

I don't know yet ... so I simply ask ... WHY ... they bother with split rims for these huge commercial tires?

Is it mounting considerations? Or some other reason that they use split rims for such huge tires?

I?m sure that with a bit of ingenuity, an old gas bottle, a full bore quarter turn ball valve and a few bits of pipe you could make yourself one... ;-)

Tim

Tyres have the potential to *create their own* flammable gas inside the tyre. It is why those truck tyres explode and why an inert gas (nitrogen) is used to fill them.

Changed plenty of them over the years - it's more about incompetent operators than it is about the split rims.

They are *huge*, to large and inflexible to work by hand. They also have a *flat base rim* and not the well base rim you would be familiar with. Think how well you would fare changing a tyre without that well in the rim.

Yes and more.

Xeno wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net:

so this part is not true, truck tires usually blow from underinflation so they get hot and fail,(read tire has a leak) or the carcus has a mechanical failure. they run hot and under high load so failure is not to be considered abnormal, but low considering the amount of total miles run by trucks, and also retreads from the not so quality retreaders using poor carcuses is a factor. KB

Luckily these are normal rims for passenger tires.

BTW, while a half dozen tools & techniques were proposed, it seems the best is the "bazooka", where here's one guy showing how he crafted one from a spare "truck" air tank.