Inflating a tire with lighter fluid...???

Question

I was just watching an old Clarksons motor world when he was in Iceland, they got a puncture on a glacier and the locals used lighter fuel to fill the tire and then ignited it, and BANG in a split second it was fully inflated again.....how does this work??!! Can it be done with any tire???

Answer 1

yes it can work with any tyre

Answer 2

I've never seen it used to actually inflate the tire. but this is a common way to seat the bead on large tubeless tires.  Sometimes it is the only way. It explodes the tire on the rim and then you can service it with air.  

Answer 3

as above NOT lighter fluid you can use starting fluid (ethanol) from spray can to do it, yes works on any tire, unless you are very good or lucky it will not "fully inflate" a tire however, it will set the bead making it very easy to inflate the rest of the way.

Answer 4

I think this is a case of don't try it at home.  

Answer 5

that is a movie - the theatrics are just that - this is REALLY not a good idea!  Lighter Fluid can blow your car up!  All you need to do is blow up your car just by driving over a bump in the road.

Answer 6

Like this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jVxRaFtl...

no idea how it works.....cool though

Answer 7

DON'T try this at home folks- Extremely dangerous

I've seen people do this to seat Quad tyres. I've also seen people set fire to them .

The vehicle on the Clarkson clip ran on low pressure tyres so they could have got away with it

For the application you might need to use You could try something called a cheetah.

http://www.fieldens.co.uk/wheels_tyres/b...

That should give you some idea

Same principal more control

Answer 8

Once the burned gasses inside the tire cool down, the tire will have lower pressure.  The steam (combustion by-product) will condense and no longer contribute to pressure.  It could very easily over-inflate the tire (explode it), causing death to a bystander.  

Also, if there are any flammable gasses or fluids in it, tire shops really don't like a flame-surprise when changing tires.  

The reason the pressure stays higher than before ignition is because the large molecules of the lighter fuel turn into a bunch of smaller molecules of H2O and CO2.  Remember Chemistry 101?  Balance the chemical equation and then figure out how many moles of each gas you have before and after.  Then you can use the ideal gas law to approximate how much fluid it would take to get the right pressure.  Also figure out what the maximum pressure would be before the water vapor condenses.  

Answer 9

It can be done because air pressure increases with heat.  In a situation like the one you describe given the prevailing temperatures it is the only way to inflate the tire.  An air compressor just won't work in extreme cold.

It is also hugely dangerous.  I watched a mechanic use this technique to seat the beads on a cheap entry level tire that just would not bead using normal means.

He burned himself rather badly and lost his eyelashes too.  

Answer 10

That was liquid propane. A very flammable gas. They sprayed enough inside the tire to cause a small explosion when it was ignited. The explosion of course expanded the tire enough to reseat it on the rim. Small tire shops do the same thing when dealing with large tires.

Answer 11

When you are driving in deep snow it is advisable to reduce the tire pressure to a couple of PSI as this spreads the weight of the car over a wider area preventing the car from sinking into the snow.

With the tires so lowly pressurised its fairly easy for the tire to come of the rim. The easy way to re-inflate the tire you pour lighter fluid onto the rim and light it. The lighter fluid ignites causing the gasses in the tire to expand, effectively inflating the tire.

Ja.