fourfa
Active Member
- Thread starter
- #1
I've got a set of new 37" ATs, and Icon Rebound Pro wheels I'd like to mount up myself.
(Skip ahead if you don't want the whole saga...)
Interesting about the wheels - they use threaded pins to hold the outer bead in place, so they're meant to be one-piece beadlocks with DOT approval that any shop can handle. Sounds great, right? Well, someone forgot to tell the tire install shops that these are DOT approved and no big deal. They see exposed bolt heads and say nope, can't do it. I gave America's Tire a shot, seeing how they literally sell the exact same wheels... but no, couldn't convince a manager that these are OK. Local 4 Wheel Parts says "sure, we've done some of those. About an hour each, so... that'll be $900" (I couldn't help but rudely laugh out loud at that).
Fine, I'll do it myself. I always heard this is easier than you think. Soaped up the rim, jumping up and down on them with a tiny bit of help from a tire iron, and got them mounted loose on the rim, no problem. Installed new Mopar TPMS, no problem. Take out the valve core, hook up the trail air compressor, and as expected they don't budge. I set a ratchet strap around the perimeter as often recommended - lol, maybe that works on paper-thin little passenger tires, but it doesn't budge these massive treads a millimeter.
Took 'em to work where there's a machine shop with a large 95psi house air system, soap 'em up, screw the blowgun on the Schrader valve and hit the first one - the back bead seats right away, the front bead seats about 75% of the way around, and stops. The last little bit, I can hear air escaping right where the tire bead transitions from on the bead seat to behind it, and a bit from each of the threaded pins (Icon calls out you might need more than the usual flow rate because of that extra leakdown). I suspect the flow rate in the house air has chokes in strategic places - or maybe just from the miles of pipes and distribution manifolds and 1/4" hose. Anyway, it hit steady state inflating and deflating before popping that last bit. It's not my shop, I'm not looking to go around modifying the air system after hours for my personal job, so looks like that's out.
TL;DR: I figure I can rent or borrow or buy a home-grade air tank and compressor combo (don't own one) and with a short high-flow hose and a ball valve, hit the tires with enough sudden 40 psi air to pop that last bit of the bead. Question for the group here is, how much tank volume am I looking for? More is better I'm sure, but if 5 or 10 or 15 gallons will do the job, then I don't want to hump around a 30 gallon beast unnecessarily. At this point I'd really like to finish this job DIY, not take it to a shop with the job 80% done
(I will finish up taking them to a shop for balancing though, I guess)
(Skip ahead if you don't want the whole saga...)
Interesting about the wheels - they use threaded pins to hold the outer bead in place, so they're meant to be one-piece beadlocks with DOT approval that any shop can handle. Sounds great, right? Well, someone forgot to tell the tire install shops that these are DOT approved and no big deal. They see exposed bolt heads and say nope, can't do it. I gave America's Tire a shot, seeing how they literally sell the exact same wheels... but no, couldn't convince a manager that these are OK. Local 4 Wheel Parts says "sure, we've done some of those. About an hour each, so... that'll be $900" (I couldn't help but rudely laugh out loud at that).
Fine, I'll do it myself. I always heard this is easier than you think. Soaped up the rim, jumping up and down on them with a tiny bit of help from a tire iron, and got them mounted loose on the rim, no problem. Installed new Mopar TPMS, no problem. Take out the valve core, hook up the trail air compressor, and as expected they don't budge. I set a ratchet strap around the perimeter as often recommended - lol, maybe that works on paper-thin little passenger tires, but it doesn't budge these massive treads a millimeter.
Took 'em to work where there's a machine shop with a large 95psi house air system, soap 'em up, screw the blowgun on the Schrader valve and hit the first one - the back bead seats right away, the front bead seats about 75% of the way around, and stops. The last little bit, I can hear air escaping right where the tire bead transitions from on the bead seat to behind it, and a bit from each of the threaded pins (Icon calls out you might need more than the usual flow rate because of that extra leakdown). I suspect the flow rate in the house air has chokes in strategic places - or maybe just from the miles of pipes and distribution manifolds and 1/4" hose. Anyway, it hit steady state inflating and deflating before popping that last bit. It's not my shop, I'm not looking to go around modifying the air system after hours for my personal job, so looks like that's out.
TL;DR: I figure I can rent or borrow or buy a home-grade air tank and compressor combo (don't own one) and with a short high-flow hose and a ball valve, hit the tires with enough sudden 40 psi air to pop that last bit of the bead. Question for the group here is, how much tank volume am I looking for? More is better I'm sure, but if 5 or 10 or 15 gallons will do the job, then I don't want to hump around a 30 gallon beast unnecessarily. At this point I'd really like to finish this job DIY, not take it to a shop with the job 80% done
(I will finish up taking them to a shop for balancing though, I guess)
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