You are compressing a big piece of rubber that doesn't want to be compressed. If anything breaks it can cause injury or death, so be careful. I've seen this done with smaller straps and the ratchet bent to the breaking point.

A word of caution to all who try to remove the runflats for the first time. I removed my first set almost three years ago and was a newbie to Hummers but not a stranger to working on vehicles. I ended up in the emergency room when the ratchet strap clamp let loose and the tool I was using to pry hit me in the face. I broke the orbital socket of my eye. Basically my eye fell down out of the socket behind my cheek and popped up again. Needless to say I wasn't lookin' pretty. I had nerve damage in my face for about 8 months before it healed properly. All in all everything is fine and no scars or damage done in anyway. But it made me think of one of my first shop teachers in High School. He yelled at us everytime he saw us using a tool for something other than what it was designed for. I laugh about it now and it's a big joke around here today but that night I wasn't laughing. So hey, today I run 1 piece beadlocks instead of runflats.

Ross