damn tires
 

im trying to strech 215s on a set of jeep grand cherokee rims.
i HAVE put 205s on them but i know they fit because theyve been on another cars rims and the sidewalls are stretched i guess.

i bought 5 new tires at tirerack, 215 75 15 and i cannot get the sidewalls wide enough apart. this is because these are new tires. i crammed lawn edging in between and they only stretch a wee bit after 4 days.

there is a huge gap between the beads, id say at least 1.5inches. any ideas?
i tried rope and stick to torniquet it, and doesnt help. i tried brake cleaner and just caught my hand on fire.

What size rims are you trying to put the tires on?

According to my book, Grand Cherokee's with 15" rims were 7" wide. A P215/75R15 has an allowable rim width of 5 1/2" to 7". That should mean the tire would be at the limit of its stretching ability.

Try a 2 X4 wedged sideways about 3 around the circumference ought to do it. BTW, you want to store these where it is warm while the 2X4's are in there.

I'd say those are too narrow to run on the ZJ rims. Another way is to get a ratcheting tie down strap around it and squish the tire down to bow it out. Can you get atleast one bead set?

i got one to fit.
they stretch fine, its just when they come from tirerack, they're \ / way too much to get a seal. not to mention im just storing them in my garage, which doesn't help expand the sidewalls. I hope me mashing on one of the tires wont cause tire failure down the line, ill probably use that one as a spare.
i got one tire on and had to call it quits because i cant get it all done in time where i wont be disturbing the neighbors.

what i did was went out and got 2 12.5inch bike inner tubes and did it that way. i just hope these inner tubes don't pop when my face is a few inches away.


edit: oh yea, heres an example of how bald my tires are haha :-X
the 5th rim i got mounted with the 215s. i rolled it next to my wheels and its the exact same size, height wise.

This is one of those times where it just might be worth it to pay the guys with the right equiptment to do it. Your time has to worth the cost--not to mention keeping your hand.

I agree. One trip to the doc or the emergency room blows all the money you saved by buying from tirerack.

Won't you need someone to balance them anyways? Make one trip and be done with it.

Or you could just buy some narrower (and lighter?) rims...

im a cheap guy, i wont wanna get 5 rims. thats gonna be 500 bucks
and im trying out the dynabeads.

i use to be a tire tech / still sorta am i guess... so i take this you are doing it at home and you do not have a tire machine ? okay heres a redneck way i guess you could call it. what ill tell you is what will basicly work for you because you do not have the equipment.

1. stretch both beads. you said the tires from tirerack the beads are probably close together. get some pieces of 2X4 or whatever else you have like large thick books and put them inbetween the two beads to stretch them out. let them sit like that for a day

2. try to expose them to heat if you could because rubber stretches out if given heat.

3. remove the valve core inside the valve stem. there a is a little tab and if you do not have the tool ( you can get it at k-mart for like 2 bucks) use a small pair of needle nose pliers to take the core out, the core comes out by turning it counter clockwise. with the valve core out it will allow more air to enter the tire quicker. (NOTICE: SOME air chucks wont let air come out unless there is a valve core on the stem)

4. Lube both beads up with soapy water.

5. compress both sides of the tread of the tire and blast away at the air.

6. if the beads still wont catch the air get a ratchet tie strap and start ratcheting away. note that when the air flow is going into the tire its pushing down on the bottom bead before the top. you want to get air to hit both of the beads at the same time to make it easier. most tire machines have a bead blaster equipped to them so it gives an additional air shot toward the top bead when you give it air. so if you hear where the air is coming out just push in on that side and give it your best shot.

good luck, keep an eye on your fingers. i couldnt imagine how painful it would be if your finger got caught while a bead popped.

got them mounted. heating them up helped a boat load. dropped in 3oz of BB pellets each. At 65mph, smooth. no other weights on the rims otherwise.

I usually mount my own tires, then I take them to wally world to get them balanced... it's only $5 each... I NEVER stick anything inside the tire to balance it... having something bouncing around inside my tire kinda gives me a weird feeling inside..

I don't that there is any reason not to put stuff in your tires, but I prefer stationary weight... I never allow weights on the outside lip of my rims either. (They look like crap.)

dude, i thought this forum was about saving as much weight as possible. thats way too much weight for 3 ozs . if your putting 3 oz's in thats because you have one hell of a bent wheel. some need that much but the majority dont.

and if you dont like the hammer on wheel weights cause you think they look like ****, just ask the tire guy you would prefer if it was balanced using stick on wheel weights.

Yep, I get them as close to zero balance as possible, if they're w/in a .25oz, I don't worry about them... if they need more than .25oz, It gets sticky weights.

The only problem with sticky weights is that they fall off sometimes.

clean the rim with a solvent then dry the rim. then apply the stick on wheel weights then tap on them with a small hammer to make sure they are on there good. but on very few wheels the adhesive wont stick so you have to scuff up the surface so the wheel weight can stick.

I've never had them fall off immediately after putting them on.. I used to be a tire-tech at Sears.

The only time we had a problem was with lifetime balance service, sometimes we'd get people who would come back b/c they felt a vibration, and sure enough, the weights would be gone.

On one set of tires I put on my Escort, we actually tried putting sticky weights INSIDE the tire... stuck to the rims, of course. It worked out pretty well, and I sold those rims and tires to a friend, who promptly noted that "they're not balanced" (He couldn't see the weights...) when he took them to his shop to get the tires changed, he called me immediately to let me know that there were balance weights "stuck" inside my rims.... LOL.

I must note it was a PITA to get them balanced that way though.. we kept having to mark the rim, break one side of the bead, press the tire away from the rim's lip, and stick the weight on at the mark, then check the balance again.

One disgusting thing that I've found that many tire shops do is double balance... i.e. when you see two weights on one surface of the wheel, and they're more than 1/2 inch from each other. This is NOT the way to balance a tire... Sears would actually write up techs for doing this... it's plain laziness.

3oz is how much they dyna beads people say to put in 215 tires.

Truck tires can be balanced with a similar product called "Equal". Drop in a bag per tire and when you get rolling the bags break open and the small pellets do the rest.

I just bought some tires from tire rack & took 'em to Walmart. It cost me $3.50ea to mount. I drank that much of their coffee while waiting. $5 ea to balance. I just stayed away from all the other add ons. The $2 per tire fee for disposal. I'll either do the free recycling offered here or make a swing for my grandkids. The fee for new valve stems. Mine doesn't leak, so why replace them? Fees for lifetime balancing, nix that. And a few other odds & ends, all no's. So I ended up spending $34 for mount & balance. That's about a third of what it cost for me to fill up several months ago. I still have all my hands & eyes, & the coffee was good.

yea, see, i put 215s on rims that normally fit 235s or 225s at the smallest.
most tire mounting places do not do that.

i also got an increase of mpg of roughly 2mpg.
there was not a need to "fix" the odo, because believe it or not, my 235s were SOOO low on tread that new 215s were bigger than the 235s.

aren't 215 75R's gonna look odd on a ZJ? they came stock with 225's 75R. Not only is the tire going to be narrower but smaller as well. If I were you I would have gotten 215 80R's

Try this for Tire calculations.

if there were 215/80/15s on tirerack i would get them.
as for the tires, they dont look very out of place, I do ride lower than most ZJs and liberties, but i believe thats because its a 15 year old car on to my knowledge OEM springs and shocks.


I have put used 205s on there for fun, it is REALLY low. haha.

Ouch, you paid a lot there. Consider that WalMart charges a straight 9.63 (if memory serves, I do know it is under 10.00 per tire) for all the service of valve stem, disposal, lifetime balancing and road hazard coverage for tires purchased thru them. Having said that, some tire shops do charge upwards of 35.00 per tire to do all the same, so you did get a better day there. I happen to be lucky and live close to Tire Rack so when I do get my new tires I will just go there and get everything done at once.