Is the Tyre Trick with Fire Real?

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SUMMARY

The "tyre trick with fire" is a legitimate technique used to reseat a tire bead without a high-volume compressor. This method involves spraying a flammable aerosol into the tire and igniting it, resulting in a rapid expansion that inflates the tire and sets the bead. While it can produce dramatic effects, such as the tire jumping off the ground, it poses significant safety risks, especially with larger tires. Off-roaders frequently utilize this method, confirming its authenticity and effectiveness.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of tire bead seating techniques
  • Knowledge of flammable aerosol properties
  • Familiarity with combustion principles
  • Awareness of safety protocols when handling flammable materials
NEXT STEPS
  • Research "tire bead seating techniques" for alternative methods
  • Learn about "flammable aerosol safety" to mitigate risks
  • Investigate "combustion dynamics" to understand the science behind the expansion
  • Explore "off-road tire maintenance" for practical applications of this technique
USEFUL FOR

Automotive enthusiasts, off-road vehicle owners, and anyone interested in unconventional tire inflation methods will benefit from this discussion.

jostpuur
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I once saw a video, where some guys in the Iceland put a car tyre back on the rim using fire. It looked so unreal, I started thinking it could be a hoax of somekind. Unfortunately I cannot find the video anymore in the internet. :frown: Does anyone know something about this?

All I can find is this: But that is not the same video. They do the same trick here, but it doesn't look so unreal now. The video I saw earlier showed the trick from different angle, and the tyre jumped a lot longer distance than in this one. It was so long distance, it was difficult to imagine air pressure or something like that causing it.

edit: Oh.. dammit. I should have googled also without the key word "iceland". Keywords "tyre rim fire" only give more videos of this. I guess its real then.
 
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Huh? What is inflating the tire?
 
This is a common technique used by people that don't have access to a high-volume compressor, but need to reseat the bead on a tire before it can be inflated. Spraying a flammable aerosol into the tire and then igniting it causes a violent expansion and pressure spike that inflates the tire and sets the bead; sometimes with dangerous results.

Off-roaders do it all the time, heck even I have done it before with a friend. There's nothing to debunk.
 
So the tricks is to spray some liquid fuel/solvent into the tyre and then burning that creates the presurised gas. In the video it looked like he just heated the air in the tyre with some sort of torch.
 
Mech_Engineer said:
This is a common technique used by people that don't have access to a high-volume compressor, but need to reseat the bead on a tire before it can be inflated. Spraying a flammable aerosol into the tire and then igniting it causes a violent expansion and pressure spike that inflates the tire and sets the bead; sometimes with dangerous results.

Off-roaders do it all the time, heck even I have done it before with a friend. There's nothing to debunk.

Okey. Unfortunately I cannot find that one video I saw once. It looked really amazing. Lot more amazing than those videos one can spot easily now in youtube. If somebody finds it (or believes he found, I cannot desribe the video in full detail), it would be nice if he posted here a link to it anyway. Even though the OP is settled, I assume.
 
mgb_phys said:
So the tricks is to spray some liquid fuel/solvent into the tyre and then burning that creates the presurised gas. In the video it looked like he just heated the air in the tyre with some sort of torch.

It is probable that he lit the air/fuel mixture that was in the tire with the torch, and the resulting combustion was contained within the tire and difficult to see.

As for the jumping in the air part of the OP, this can happen if the tire is wider than the rim on which it is to be mounted. The rim is sitting on the ground while the tire is deflated sitting on it's side, but as soon as the internal combustion takes place, the tire violently expands in both directions. If the tire sticks out farther than the rim, liftoff. This can obviously be quite dangerous depending on the size of the tire and the amount of fuel inside it; i have heard stories of semi-truck tires jumping 10-15 ft. off the ground.
 

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