Re-inflating a Tubeless Wheelbarrow or Hand Truck Tire (without Explosives)

I have simplified a way to re-inflate small tires on around the house devices such as wheelbarrows and hand trucks with tubeless tires.
I had a hand truck sitting under my deck for several years and the tires subsequently went flat. 

After trying unsuccessfully trying to wrap the tire with a rope and twisting with a screwdriver, I decided to try a simpler method.

Enjoy.  

Step 1: Tools You Will Need

You will need the following tools

Deflated tubeless tire
Side cutters
Half a dozen zip ties.
Air pump

Step 2: Clean the Tire Rim Seal of Debris.

Remove any dirt, grass, bugs, etc from within the tire and from the rim seal.
After sitting for two years, my tire had all of the above.

Step 3: Attach Several Zip Ties Together Then Attach to Tire.

Attach several zip ties 3/4 the circumference of the tire
Surround the tire with the zip ties.
Add additional zip tie (if needed)  to completely surround tire with zip ties.

Step 4: Attach Zip Ties Around Tire and Secure With Additional Zip Tie

Tighten BY HAND the zip ties. I found that if I tightened two zip ties opposite each other, it was easier to tighten an additional zip tie without risking completely tightening one zip tie into one of the other zip ties.

Step 5: Tighten Zip Ties and Inflate

Tighten the zip ties while stepping on tire. This will allow for addtional tightening of the zip ties.The goal is to force the sidewalls of the tire against the rim.

Inflate tire with compressor or bike pump.

Step 6: Once Seal Has Been Established, Remove Zip Ties With Side Cutters

Once seal has been established, remove zip ties with side cutters, being sure to only cut the zip tie, and not the tire.
Enflate to desired pressure.

Step 7: Additional Help

I found that one of my tires needed a little "encouragement". I stomped down on the tire while my son pumped air. This helped make a seal and I was in business.

I also was able to reuse all but one zip tie for the second tire on my hand truck. Remember you only need to cut one of the zip ties to release the tire.

Save the zip ties that are attached to each other for future use on a similar project.

I apologize for the mediocre photos. When I took the photos I handed the camera to my son and said "take some photos". I was not sure it would work. When it did, I wished I had taken better photos ;)

My first publised Instructable! "Long time listener, first time caller".

Comments

[harry514]

I had tried everything and was ready to just go buy another tire for my hand truck when I came across this. Great idea that works like a charm! Within 5 minutes the truck was ready for use again. Thanks!

[4u2c]

Good to hear, Harry. I added some of the green slime (slime.com) to the rim before applying the zip ties to increase the life of the seal. Some older tires suffer from aging in the elements, such is the case with mine.

[WandaT]

What is the tire pressure range?

[bollojr]

The amazing zip tie. Great idea. Works like a champ. Thanks so much.

[Ryzone 1]

Thank you for the tip. I like another member here, used a tie down strap that ratcheted and it worked too. Thanks again for the road signs to this solution !

[johnsmorrellphd]

This worked. Genius. Thank you.

[4u2c]

To be honest, zip ties were all I had laying around when this originally happened. I found a way to make it work ;)

[4u2c]

Great! ☺️

[StephenM302]

Thank you so much for this. Both stems went out on me. Easily replaced but I could not get a bead on the rim until I saw your suggestions. Worked like a charm and quickly I might add. Thank you.

[4u2c]

Glad you found it useful, Stephen. Sometimes a simple solution is the best solution.

[jackandsimpson]

Brilliant can use my wheelbarrow again!!!

[4u2c]

Still comes in handy years later 🤙🏾

[dennycriss818]

Ingenious. I couldn’t get my snow thrower tires to seal to rim and hold air. This did the trick and very quickly. Thanks for sharing your solution.

[4u2c]

Excellent. I still use this method, years later.

[calimann21]

This is great. I cleaned the tire wall and rim but since I didn’t have enough zip ties I used nylon rope, wrapped it around once, twisted the rope together tightly and did it a second time, then had my kids put pressure in and bam! Tires full. Thanks for the great idea. Much appreciated.

[aWintersTale]

Thank you for the tip! I needed to take my hand truck to the post office to retrieve a heavy package containing a weighted vest, and my dolly had duo flats. The zip tie method worked first time, on both tires! My dolly is functional again. And I was just about to search Amazon for "inner tube for handtruck," to convert my tubeless tires to the tubed type!

[4u2c]

Excellent! I still have the same hand truck from when I wrote this many years ago and just used it again a few weeks ago. Glad it helped.

[JoshuaV59]

A good (perhaps better) alternative to the zip ties is a tie-down (ratchet) strap used in the same fashion - wrapped around the circumference of the tire.

Thanks so much for this instructable. It got me out of trouble yesterday with my ride-on lawnmower tire.

[4u2c]

Hello Josh. Many alternatives exist. We recently moved and ran into this problem again when we had packed away all of our tools and straps. I had a few zip ties, and sure enough it worked like magic again. The downside of using a ratchet strap I found was releasing the strap once the bead was re-seated. If you put to much air in before releasing the strap, when released the strap can slam back into your hand. Thanks for the comment :)

[OneHundredYen]

Awesome. Worked great! Thank you.