It sounds like these were really a challenge. The toughest ones I ever had were on my wife's old Envoy- sloppy sidewalls and just could not get the bead set. Two were set with a match and starting fluid. The other two I did with the bike tube trick. At one point I was jumping on the tire while it was mounted on the tire machine table trying to get the inside bead set so I could lift it to seal the outer bead. I was ready to kill someone or something.

I wonder if the Firestone/Discount guys were mounting the rim upside down to the tire machine- sometimes they do this to prevent damage to the finished side from prying with the tools. I could see where that could be a problem since the double bead is on the inside, and that would have been on top.

Glad you finally got them installed.

It was years ago, but I never used a bicycle tube. We had a commercial product that was similar in concept, just like in this photo. Lots of lube, apply the ring, seat one side, remove the ring, seat the other side, with a rope or strap if necessary. Never a used a match, but wanted to more than once. I thnk people just assume that it is all automatic, that all beads are the same size and tires just mount themselves. Wish it was so.

Interesting thread. I also have a tire mounting machine and balancer and occasionally I have a tire that doesn't seat but applying a bit of "goop" just inboard of the humps normally cures it.

I stopped going to tire stores for mounting, in my area they are clueless and completely careless for the most part. Like this story, they have an endless list of trick to try and sell you tires. It wastes huge amounts of time and they always go out of their way to scratch the rims. The one place that has a good reputation I still found very dodgy and some people go there and sit around for three hours to get it done.

Tire chains like Discount and Firestone are normally the worst offenders but I have also been disappointed at independents. I once brought a rear wheel of my 993TT in and the idiot promptly laid it down on its face, i told him not to bother and went elsewhere...

Exactly the same reason I bought mine. If you factor in the time to travel to the store and the wait time and the "unknown", I find it easier to handle myself. I can also buy from Tire Rack or Discount direct and save a few $$$. In addition I swap winters and summers on 3 vehicles- machine paid for itself a few years ago.