I am having trouble seating my extra wide tire back on my PL standard rim. The beads don't make enough contact with the rim for a bike pump to fill. I am tempted to try the lighter fluid method.

I don't have any straps to squeeze the tire, before anyone recommends that.

I initially had the same issue with my PL rims and the 18x8.50-8 Kendas..

Try to get one side manually seated enough to hold the bead and then flex the tire up towards the other side while pumping air.. By seating one side you make it so you only have to concentrate on one side while seating the bead..

I put the rim on a small stool and worked the bead down until it gripped the rime enough to let me flex the tire up to the top bead. I also used 3shot's suggestion of wd-40 to provide a wet-ish surface to work with..

Tire shop...?? Use a belt if u don't have straps.

Yeah, you probably need a strap, rope, belt or something to squeeze the center of the tire as well as some fast moving air. Isn't it worth a trip to a tire shop or gas station with a real compressor? Take the valve core out if you do it the flammable way. It will cool fast and suck the tire back off the bead.

Tire shop laughed me out of the place saying their machine would crush it... Not sure I care to go back to that place because they obviously are above hand mounting a tire that takes less than 5 minutes with two kite stakes. Yes I mounted the tire myself after they turned me down and didn't have a sleever bar or tire bar so I just used a pair of kite stakes and soapy water. Got the tire on in no time. I might wander and try to find a gas station or something with a pump.

FYI tried the lighter trick and no dice

The gas stations around here have air machines that don't dispense the air as quickly as a normal air compressor. Maybe someone at your work has a compressor you could use or maybe a lawnmower shop could help you out since they mount tires by hand anyway.

A golf cart store is already used to dealing with similar sized tires.

1. First of all make sure to get the rim and the tire really clean and free of dirt and debris.

2. Then get a ratchet strap or a belt like cheezy said and wrap it around the circumference in the center of the tire and pull it as tight as you can without getting the tire all deformed. This seals the gap between the bead on the tire and the hub as much as possible...

3. Hose the whole mess down with soapy water to lube the operation and help the tire pop onto the rim.

4. It's be best to inflate with a compressor, so if you don't have access to one, go to a gas station with a self serve air hose.

5. Once you start forcing the air in, it's only a matter of time before the bead pops on to the rim... Once it's set, spray it with the soapy water again and look for bubbles... If you see bubbles, deflate and start over.

I don't think you'll be able to do this with a bike pump, because the pressure of the air entering the tire has to overcome the pressure lost from any small gaps between the tire and rim

Its possible I heard the following piece of advice wrong but it might be worth further investigation.
I had similar troubles a while back. I gave my local tyre place the job. They told me to remove the valve stem core (valve core removal tool) next time as this allows a much quicker fill, beading the tyre to the rim (using a compressor).

I dislike those automatic garage air compressors but sometimes they have an option to fill a flat tyre which produces a continuous air feed.

Strap, higher volume air, and some soapy water.

When I had trouble my wife took it to a local bike shop who was happy to inflate my tires for free. That was last year. Just last week I had the same issue though and needed to reflate and reseat all tires. I decided to use slime. Tires set and haven't leaked. I'm a big fan now of using slime to seal things. And yes I used a bike pump to inflate.

I've had great service from the local motocross/ATV shop. I tried the car tire shop idea once and it was a complete disaster. Had to order a new rim after that ordeal.:evil: