When working on a wheel/tire (with both beads loosened), and an object accidentally falls inside the tire, what’s a good method to get it out? Assuming you don’t want to go to the bother of completely removing the tire from the wheel. My current go-to method is to stick a wad of duct tape on the rim inside the tire then maneuver the wheel until the object gets stuck to the duct tape. Is there a better way?
1 Like
Post removed by author
Just pull one bead over the wheel and easy to reach inside…
But you also never said what wheel/tire (size, type)…
Or how big the object is! There’s that old “monkey trap” legend (?) where the closed fist won’t come back out of the hole!
3 Likes
Easy way and a hard way.
Really? You already have the beads busted, isn’t that enough?
2 Likes
When the object to be re,pved is inside the tire, near the tread area, very difficult to reach your hand into that area. It has to be away from the tread, near the rim to reach it. You can completely remove the tire from the rim of course, that would work, or position one bead over the rim, but that’s a difficult job for a home diyer. Google some utubes on ‘how to remove a tire from the rim at home’ eg.
The method I happened upon as described in the OP appears to be the best method.
Ever heard of a tire shop?? they might even do it for free, or really cheap…
Yes, I’ve heard about them.
1 Like
Well like I said before, after having to correct the tire shop repair of my lawn mower tire, I just went to harbor freight and bought their tire mounting device. Then stopped at the farm store for an extra tube to have on hand. Spent less than $100 and I’m all set if I drop a hammer or something inside the tire.
- Move part of the bead outside the rim.
- Set the tire upright, with that part of the bead down and away from you. The object will fall to the bottom of the tire.
- Gently lay the tire flat by moving the top away from you. The object should now rest on the sidewall at the same angular position, by the open part of the bead.
- Gently reach under the tire where the object lies; pull the bead further away from the rim, maybe with both hands.
- Lift that part of the tire a bit. The object should fall out.
1 Like
For my next act, how do you retrieve your car keys when they fall between the bucket seat and console, and you can’t get your arm in there?
1 Like
Move the seat all the way forward, open the back door on the same side, seize a flashlight in your hand and direct its beam in generally the area where said item may have fallen whilst kneeling on the wet driveway with your hind quarters uppermost and your efforts may well be rewarded. If you wear bi-focals you may have to enlist the aid of a grandchild.
Sorry guys. I was just kidding but forceps or snow brush works, depending if you arevoffvsitevor not. 
1 Like
We were moving stuff into my daughter’s dorm room. It was in a high rise building and we used the elevator. She and I were moving a large item out of the elevator and she dropped the car keys. They dropped in the gap between the elevator and the floor (of course). They were our only set of keys with us and I had to call my wife to bring us a spare set. Who in the world holds keys loose in your hand while trying to grip something else? Yes, I did ask her that. Anyway, we got the keys back the following week when the mechanical staff returned to work and gained access to the floor in the elevator shaft.
When we assigned a new car to someone they would grumble that we only gave them one set of keys. Nope you get one set, the other stays right here locked up-just in case.
That’s also how our fleet does it . . . and most of the vehicle operators do eventually lose that set of keys
Thanks, you clearly understand the subtleties of the task, but positioning the bead outside the rim was something I was trying to avoid, hence the method I described. I tried to give you a “like” but it won’t register for some reason.