Abstract: A tire building drum having radially expandable shoulder forming means and radially expandable bead seating means. The drum includes an independently operable pair of annular pistons associated respectively with the shoulder forming means and the bead setting means such that the shoulder forming means can be operated independently in time, in radial extent and in force applied, of the bead seating means. The latter is in like manner operable independently in time, in radial extent, and in force applied at the bead setting means. The foregoing abstract is not to be taken as limiting the invention of this application, and in order to understand the full nature and extent of the technical disclosure of this application, reference must be made to the accompanying drawing and the following detailed description.