Sealing the bead on tubeless tires?

[crazy steve]

Let's see if the collective wisdom can figure this one out...

Finally got my new tires mounted on my freshly-polished rims, but the rear one insists on leaking around the bead. The sealing suface on the wheel is spotless, as I made sure that was thoroughly clean and free of gouges, nicks, etc. The tire mounted fairly easily, and the bead comes right up when putting air in. But it doesn't seem to want to come quite all the way up. I lubed it with some dish soap for the initial install, and have since tried various things (WD40, window cleaner) with no success. I've tried pressures of up to 60 PSI... no help.

What makes this particularly irritating is I purposely swapped to later tubeless rims to get rid of the tubes, so I don't want to put a tube in unless I absolutely have to. By the way, these are my first tubeless bike tires, as the '78 XS came stock with tubes and all my other bikes have laced wheels; I was hoping to have one bike that I didn't have to fight tubes on. I guess worst case, I can squeeze some silicon in there and do it that way, but I don't want to glue the tire to the wheel either

Any tricks or ideas?

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Steve,

Did you check the actual TIRE to make sure there wasn't any little ridges/bumps of extra rubber sticking out along the bead edge??

In my tire tech tips, I suggest the process of bouncing the tire on the ground with a small amount of air in it so that the tire can flex during the bouncing which can help walk/push the bead up onto the rim and into the proper position! Aside from what you've already tried with fluids and such, that's all I've got!
T.C.

[Rasputin]

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11700
Check this out and it will show you about half way down the page, the little bead indicator line and explain the indian tire dance. That may help. Nix on the silicone etc, as I think you will regret that later. Good Luck

[crazy steve]

Thanks guys, but the mystery is solved. After basically trying everything I knew and you said, it was still leaking slightly. Couldn't hear, see, or feel a leak, but the tire gauge doesn't lie... it's leaking somewhere

So I called a few neighbors until I found one that had a washtub I could submerge the tire/rim in (gonna have to buy one I see). Yep, there the little bastard is; leaking through my brand-new valve stem. The damn thing had a pinhole through the metal; what's the odds on that?? So, scrounged around and found one that would clean up nicely, installed that one, no leaks!

Leave it to me to get the one-bad-one-in-a-boxcar...

I'll add that this particular tire doesn't have any lines near the rim to tell if it's seated... grrr.

[MaximPhil]

Hi Steve,
TRy removing the valve stem. Breaking the bead again Inflate from a compressor with holding tank so you get a rush of air and the bead( should)jump into place.
Phil

[natemoen]

Just as another option instead of submerging the whole tire (or even large parts of it) just spray some soapy water on the tire. It will bubble where there is an air leak!

[crazy steve]

Just as another option instead of submerging the whole tire (or even large parts of it) just spray some soapy water on the tire. It will bubble where there is an air leak!

That worked on the bead, but didn't show up the valve; it ran off too quick. Hey, it's all good now...

[79XS11F]

When mounting tubeless tires one really should use tire mounting lube / sealant. First it helps the bead slid into it natural full seated position. Then it bonds the tire to the rim with enough holding power to prevent sudden full deflation if the pressure should be low.
This would not have helped in your case where the stem was faulty but in future and for others, consider using the lube / sealant.
Rob