T-Dub's Tire Bead Repair

So, My tire went flat last week.  I didn't know why.  I found out why when I took it apart though!  No mystery here...  The Previous owner must have used a pitch fork and a hammer to install this tire.  The bead is shredded and the metal bead wire has rusted and broken.

This would usually spell Death for a tire, but I'm way too cheap to let this one go to the bone yard without at least a good effort to save it.

Shredded Bead


Starting repair with Galvanized Steel wire.


Wired and ready to be gooped up.


Another pic of the stitch job.


Ooops!  There's a hole down at the opposite side that I didn't even notice!


And finally ready for the super secret tire repair goop lol.


I used vulcanizing tire repair cement for a first layer, then built it up with a thicker layer of Shoe Goo!


I hope this repair holds the bead together well enough to prevent further damage to the tire and not let the bead wire puncture the tube again.  I do plan on layering the Shoe Goo up until the repair is nice and smooth.  I'll report back on the performance of the repair in a couple weeks.

I have seen people use the conveyer belt staples to do that for forklift tires after I blew them out lifting a little more than they were rated for :p

I have used shoe goo and the dollar store brand called amazing GOOP. Both work well. When filling a tire with expanding foam (as Darin is fond of doing) a bead of shoe go as it seats will prevent the tire from slipping in the rim.

Wow- you SERIOUSLY do not want to throw out that tire!!! Good on ya man- keep us posted on how it turns out.

Maybe put some black RTV on so it matches. Thats what I use for light rubber repair.

Cool! I may have to do this on my ATV; The bead is busted on it. I repaired it by removing the loose wire and added caulk, but I think it popped the tube.

Well, so-far so-good!  I've taken the tractor out for some high speed runs and also de-thatched the lawn last night.  Still holding air and the bead hasn't disintegrated yet.    

B440: Don't cut the frayed bead wires! You need them to maintain the bead "hoop strength". Without wires going fully around the bead, there's nothing solid holding the bead in the rim and it could expand and work it's way off the rim.

That's why I left mine intact and just bound them up tight as possible to try and lock them back together with friction and adhesive.

The reason mine were all broken was somewhat because of the last installer breaking them, but also they did rust a lot. I think there were some intact on the last install, but they rusted away because they were exposed. That's where the shoe goo came into play!