"Made-It-Myself" Tire Bead-Seater

"Made-It-Myself" Tire Bead-Seater TIRES/WHEELS Miscellaneous 28-5-39 Brian Maring of Eddyville, Nebraska, spent only $1.50 and about two hours of time to make a tool that would cost him $300 to $350 to buy at a tire shop. The main components of the tire bead seater consist of an 8-gal. air tank and a butterfly valve. "In the middle of the tank, I welded a 3-in. pipe nipple and screwed on a very large quarter turn ball valve," he explains. "It connects to an 18-in. long, 2 1/2-in. dia. piece of pipe, with the end squeezed to a flat oval shape. To the top side of that, I welded on a 3-in. piece of angle iron. A quick coupler on the tank hooks up to an air hose, and that's what cost $1.50." To seat a tire bead, you fill the tank with air and then rest the angle iron piece against the rim so the pipe points between the tire and the rim. A quick open of the valve blows the air into the tire so fast that it brings the tire up and seals it off. Then you can finish airing up the tire and check the pressure. "The biggest tire I've used it on was a 22-in. truck tire and it worked wonderfully," he says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Brian Maring, HC 2, Box 73, Eddyville, Neb. 68834 (ph 308 858-4637; email: maring_inc@gpcom.net).

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