A few wees ago I had the pleasure of watching Alan try to stretch some Falken 512’s over some very nice, brand new Schmidt Modernlines.
Mounting the front tires to the 16×7.5 et25 went very well. They popped right on with the proper amount of air pushing against the sidewalls. Getting the same 205/40/16 Falken tire that was used on the front to stretch over the 16×9 et25 Schmidt’s for the back, well, that didn’t go as easily. After filling the tires with massive amounts of air once or twice and never getting the pop expected when the sidewalls give and the bead seals, the fire method was used. I’ve always heard of this but I have never witnessed it firsthand. With Cj’s ‘Okay’ Alan grabbed a can of what I believe was carburetor cleaner and started filling the tire with the gas. Once a undetermined amount of said gas was inside the tire, he then lit the thing on fire! To my surprise the tire popped and sealed to the rim with a burst of air from the compressor.
Needless to say, it was a learning experience for me. (I kind of feel like it was more of a “don’t try this at home” infomercial actually, but whatever) Now that the weather is getting warmer and the birds are chirping, look for a feature post of Cj’s 2.0t powered mk3 golf! Stay Tuned!