I was changing out my tires yesterday and noticed it, while dismounting them. It’s got a self-sealer/puncture prevention layer on the inside of the tire, it’s a tacky/soft brown material there. Quite neat. I’m a cheap ass (hence why I mount/balance my tires at home) so I drive around with a patch kit and a pump/jump starter combo kit. But it was interesting to see.
I had a nail in one. It worked great. Slow leak that took maybe 40 miles to lose 10lbs of air. Gave me plenty of time to notice it and get it fixed without it being a roadside emergency. But agreed. I don’t usually buy them when I do tires, $$$$
Changing car tires at home is next level. I do it for motorcycle tires because I’m also a cheap-ass but can’t imagine wrangling a car tire. Are you using tire irons or do you have a tire changing machine?
@Shan
I have a bead breaker stand I bought at harbor freight (welded in an extra plate to make it stronger). I can get a tire off a rim in about 5 minutes. Getting a tire back on a pretty easy with tire irons. Mounting grease helps a ton. From there I use a compressor to get the tire to seal (usually like 5~10psi), but it won’t fully seat at that pressure so I take it to the side yard, and use a battery powered pump to take it up to pressure. I start it and walk away (grab the next tire). This way if something is wrong it doesn’t explode in my face. I have a bubble balancer to check balance. And some stick on weights (gorilla tape over the weights). I can usually get a wheel off the car, new tire on, and wheel back on the car in about 20min each. But it’s a workout in and of itself for sure. It was like 95f yesterday so I was drenched afterwards. I originally got this for doing my race car tires, so it’s come in super handy. I’ve probably done at least 10 sets of wheels with this now.
@Jamie
I saw a truck driver inflating one of those big tires in his shop. He wrapped chains around it for safety. One of them blew while he was inflating it. It flew up, hit the ceiling, then back to the floor, pulling him off his feet in the process. (He still had ahold of one end of the chain.) Scary stuff.
@Paden
Yeah. The popping noise is absolutely unnerving. I’ve had tubeless mountain bike tires go off in my face before (spent years in a bike shop. Did a lot of tires, and occasionally something would be outa spec), and I have no desire to deal with that much expansion from all the air compressed into a car tire. I don’t have those safety bars at home, so my next safest option is using the electric pump, set the psi, and inflating them around the corner.
@Jamie
Those truck tires are big, heavy, and inflated to 90ish? PSI. They are like a bomb.
@Jamie
Grease on the bead can cause the tire to slip on the rim.
Wynne said:
@Jamie
Grease on the bead can cause the tire to slip on the rim.
Yeah. The directions say “use a brush and apply liberally” but I just put a super thin layer on with a finger, and only on the outer side of the rim, which is the side that’s usually more resistant to seating.
@Jamie
I pay $80. In all seriousness, don’t have all that equipment, etc. etc. or space for it.
Sam said:
@Jamie
I pay $80. In all seriousness, don’t have all that equipment, etc. etc. or space for it.
I wish. Sf Bay Area. Mount and balance for all 4 around me is double that. For $40/tire to mount and balance, Id much rather just do them myself. When it was $20 a tire I had the shops do it but a few years ago they started charging $40 per, that’s when decided I’ll just buy the tools. It may sound kinda crazy, but disconnecting from my day to day, and swapping some tires from time to time is oddly satisfying.
@Jamie
Static balancing is ok for motorcycle wheels but on cars with wide tires you’re better off with dynamic balancing.
Sam said:
@Jamie
Static balancing is ok for motorcycle wheels but on cars with wide tires you’re better off with dynamic balancing.
Maybe. I took these up to 80 today and they were nice and smooth. We also use this for our race car, that is running a 275 width tire. Those have hit 120mph on the track, smooth as glass. Maybe that’s just our luck, but nascar used bubble balancers for the longest time too.
@Shan
For real. Only way I do it myself is if I had a machine. Was probably easier back in the day with small wheels and big sidewalls but breaking the bead manually on 17" wheels is a no for me unless I had to.
@Clove
Tbh it’s not too bad either way. I have a bead breaker stand so it makes it pretty easy. That said, I also have a 1958 Volvo with 15” wheels and something like a 185/75 profile on the tire. Those are super easy.
@Shan
My father used to use a sledgehammer to break the bead, and a tire iron to mount and unmount them.
I bought a plug kit. I don’t trust that self sealing stuff. Especially when you don’t get a spare. Definitely won’t be replacing with OE tires when they are worn out.
Emory said:
I bought a plug kit. I don’t trust that self sealing stuff. Especially when you don’t get a spare. Definitely won’t be replacing with OE tires when they are worn out.
Usually only meant to get you to the tire shop, not meant to be left with sealant only permanently
Emory said:
I bought a plug kit. I don’t trust that self sealing stuff. Especially when you don’t get a spare. Definitely won’t be replacing with OE tires when they are worn out.
I used a plug kit on some other tire only to find my local tire place refuses to work on tires that have had plugs out in them. 
@Shiloh
Sounds like you need a new tire shop