fixing a tire with lighter fluid

[sleddogg]

I just saw an episode of Rock Solid (DIY) where they had a tire come away on a bobcat type end loader. They fixed it by strapping it in place, filling it with some type of accelerant, and upon igniting it....poof the tire instantly inflated from the heat expanding the air or something and made the tire seal around the rim. Seemed sort of Crazy/Cool. Anyone familiar or can explain how they did that? I found myself reaching for the magic rewind button. Didn't even watch from that point, just came straight here and posed the question.

I gotta do a search on that one, cool but probably very dangerous.

[JSCOOK]

This is quite a common pratice with truck shops and industrial equipment service, and I've seen it done several times on my fathers trucks.

[Thom2]

Fairly common practice around here with farm equipment and such, ussually starting fluid is used as the fuel. I absolutely do not recommend attempting this as it can be very dangerous.

[Russianwolf]

VERY common practice in off roading. When you pop a bead out in the rough you can't exactly get a tow truck to you. The trick is mainly used to reset the bead, then you may or may not need to air up more. Many off roaders carry tanks of air or compressors in the engine compartment.

If you are able to take the tire off the vehicle it's not too dangerous. It's a flash fire, so unless you are in dry grass the flame isn't sustained enough to really catch anything.

[25]

It's one of the few ways to get those rubber band tires on those huge rims.

[TheRic]

Seen it done around here on tractor tires and other large tires. The trick is the right amount of fluid.