Tire mounting with hairspray

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barnstormers

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Ok I know it sounds odd but hear me out. I’m getting new tires Saturday and the shop says because I’m airing down frequently they don’t want to use any tire soap so the tire will stick better. Ok. Back in the olden days we used to use mom’s hairspray to put our handlebar grips on, and I’ve used it on turbo Diesel engines with high boost to keep the boots on. Goes on slick then dries like glue but not so much it won’t come off. I think it might be great to help keep the tire beaded and help the tire stay in one spot so it doesn’t need rebalancing as often? Thoughts?
 

North American Sojourner

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You shouldn't lose a bead on a simple air down. Now if your rock crawling or some other crazy stuff maybe try it. I've dismounted hundreds of tires and any compound will probably cause some damage to the bead when removing it. Or worse yet if you have to do a patch on the trail, you may not be able to get the tire off. I'd get some others advice here first. I'm just a tire guy. LOL
Oh, and a can of lighter fluid in your tire repair kit will reseat the bead and remove most of your facial hair in the process. LMAO
Zim
 

barnstormers

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I’m sorry ? If a tire shop won’t use lube for fear of the tire coming off when airing down I question that shops knowledge of what keeps a tire on a bead
I guess i wasn't clear. Its not the fear of coming off, it the very real possibilty of the tire slipping on the bead and then having to be rebalanced. I camp and wheel with the gentleman that will be mounting my tires. We have marked the location of the valve stem with tire chalk before airing down for a day on the trails and have seen it move 2 inches by the end if the day. I was simplly looking for a solution.
 

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Wow- 2” of slippage? You must be airing way down. And torquing a whole lot as well. That must be one of the many reasons I never air down below 18lbs. If you have that much slippage maybe bead lock wheels are in your future, ( mostly illegal for street use ). the sticky hair spray might work, as well as some old fashioned stick-em. But I’d be cautious about using any kind of stickem products..
 

barnstormers

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this may be a moot conversation. I'm also installing a set of Method wheels with their new beadgrip tech. So hopefully everything will stay in place
 

bgenlvtex

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Their concern is valid to a degree, that degree being the occurrence of clocking in other applications.

In high torque, high traction, low inflation pressure applications clocking occurs with some regularity and is generally addressed in the design of the wheel/bead seat flange by using knurling (striations perpendicular to the direction of applied torque). It is a very common occurrence in logging applications, earth mover (loader dozer) and agricultural (pan scraper etc) , it is also the reason that drag slicks are sometimes screwed to the wheel and the entire purpose to bead lock design wheels. I have seen tires in agricultural and off road applications clock so severely that the bead flange of the wheel itself is eroded and must be replaced. Some off road wheels are configured with a stop block to combat rotation.

I have also seen tires over lubricated and clocking occurring as a result on all types of vehicles passenger,light truck,agricultural,industrial and off road. It happens, but it happens because the people mounting the tires are not doing their jobs correctly or there is some other mitigating circumstance. Generally speaking, the least amount of lubrication necessary should be used to successfully mount and correctly seat the bead. Vegetable oil soaps or animal oil soaps, in solution at the manufacturer recommended rate of dilution are the preferred materials for use as bead lubricants. Never use antifreeze, gasoline, ether, silicones, or any petroleum based lubricants.

All of that said, while I think they are overthinking things I highly recommend that the tires be carefully inspected at time of installation for concentricity with the rim flange as one of the principle purposes of mounting lubricant is the avoidance of eccentric mounting (which will bring misery and dissatisfaction) and that a minimal amount of correctly formulated lubricant be applied. Personally I also wait several days after installation to go "full send", specifically for the purpose of reducing the likelihood of clocking.
 
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Smileyshaun

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I guess i wasn't clear. Its not the fear of coming off, it the very real possibilty of the tire slipping on the bead and then having to be rebalanced. I camp and wheel with the gentleman that will be mounting my tires. We have marked the location of the valve stem with tire chalk before airing down for a day on the trails and have seen it move 2 inches by the end if the day. I was simplly looking for a solution.

What tires are you running ? I’m all my years of off-roading I’ve never heard of a tire spinning on the rim accept for ultra low psi rock crawling .
 
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barnstormers

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Low psi about 12, and yes there were rocks involved. One other time was a 500 mile trek and I think 15psi
 

grubworm

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this may be a moot conversation
i've been trying to find one on here that isn't....:grinning:

interesting reading, though. i initially thought your post was spraying hairspray in a tire that was off the bead and igniting the hairspray to blow up and seat the tire.
never thought about it being used as an adhesive....
but after thinking about what hairspray was able to accomplish in the 80s, i might need to keep a can handy on trips
that's some powerful stuff!

1642869999996.png
 

smritte

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Assuming his tire actually moved that far, raises the question of what was used to install the tire. There are quite a few products out there I would never use. Just because it works to seat a tire, doesn't mean it works outside of street use. Another point is, who trained the person installing the tires. Its possible the person was only shown one product and has used that product for years. "If" the same person has noticed tire slipping on their vehicle, they may not know the product itself is at fault.
Like others here I have run low pressure under torque without any noticeable slippage. What we experience is not the whole world. The OP asked for possible solutions to an issue he may have. He was cautioned by someone who he deems an expert. Just because our experience is diffrent doesn't mean everyone's is the same.

Beside beadlocks, I have had to dismount tires where the previous tech used a "tar like" bead sealer. Not sure who made it but, DAMN that tire was hard to unseat. Personally I wouldn't wish that stuff on any tech dismounting it later.

On the beadlock side of things, if your actually putting down enough torque to move the tire, don't settle on anything that "claims" better holding. Just buy a beadlock. On the legal side of it, there's so many lookalikes out there I doubt you would be cited. I have been around beadlocks for decades and I cant tell without looking hard at some whether or not their legal.

@grubworm. I think I may have dated that girl.....Ugh the fashion sense of the 80's. What were they thinking.
 

Smileyshaun

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Still weird it’s slipping , I’ve dismounted plenty of tires by hand and no matter who’s installed them and what was used they are always stuck on like glue . Is the tire shop using a oil based product ?