When I hear of guys popping a tire bead onto a rim by exploding gasoline or ether within, I run and hide! This is dangerous and unnecessary. Exploding a perfect gasoline/air mixture in a little (by most hard core guys standards) 31x10.5 tire is roughly equivalent to exploding six to eight sticks of dynamite. Tires and rims are not strong enough to withstand this force, period! The only thing that saves their reckless behinds is that the mixture is not a perfect 15:1 combination. Typically, it is very, very rich – too much gasoline. Fact: Rich mixtures burn slower than perfect mixtures. Slower means less explosive force. Regardless, I want to totally discourage all "explosion" tire mounting methods.  Here's how to safely mount a tire with literally any air compressor or air source.

Tubeless tires present an apparent reinflation problem when the bead has popped off. It appears difficult to reseat the bead because professionals use high volume air compressors and special tools for bead sealing. The big compressors can get ahead of temporary bead leaks. The special tools either pinch the tire tread in such a way to bring the tire bead and rim into intimate contact, or shower the open bead with air 360°. This leads us to believe, that lacking these tools, it can’t be done, but nothing is further from the truth. The trick is to take advantage of Mother Nature’s gravity and some minor rim construction differences.

After getting both tire beads on the rim, you support the rim, upside down (outside down), so the tire drops freely down to the outside of the rim at the rim’s bead hump, but does not touch the ground (A). You now seat the “short side” bead as best you can by walking entirely around the tire, forcing the outside bead onto the outside part of the rim as much as possible. Placing the rim (only) on an “elevator” block or rock, as illustrated, makes this possible.
Now, handling only the rim, carefully flip the rim-tire assembly 180°, maintaining full contact of the outside bead against the rim (B). This allows the inside bead to hang down toward the “long side” of the rim.

The reason it has to be done this way is that there is a longer approach to the rim’s bead hump on the inside (long side) than on the outside (short side). D shows what happens when you do it backwards. There is a giant air-leaking gap between the tire and the rim. In the proper direction, the inside bead naturally hangs down toward the longer “extension” that leads to the inside bead hump. It typically seals very easily and allows you to continue inflating and “snapping” the beads on. By the way, A, B and C are from the never published second edition of SHIFTING INTO 4WD. Thank you Harry Martin for the great graphics.

As you try to inflate, you may have to gently “adjust” the tire position to stop any leaks you hear or feel. I’ve yet to have this not work. Be sure to listen and/or inspect for the characteristic bead lock “snap,” and keep your fingers out of the gap! It’s bone-crushing powerful! The tire should be tight and flush to the wheel, 360° around, on both the inside and the outside. Now deflate or finish inflating to your desired pressure.

After the beads are seated, you should check what I call the tire’s concentricity mounting ring. These are the rings that are cast in the rubber just outside the bead to show if the tire is concentric with the rim (see C).

Many times, with only one bead off and the other securely on, it is possible to reseat the “off” bead without even taking the tire off the vehicle. It takes a little gentle adjustment as above, but 99+% of the time, I’m successful.