BALANCING BEADS

[dieseldave]

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS / OPINIONS on WHEEL WEIGHTS BALANCING BEADS ?

 

[muddy12]

I’ve been using air soft BB’s in my 35’s for the last two years, and am planning to put them in the tires on my wife’s jeep as soon as I get some free time.

I went with the air soft beads originally as an experiment, just to see if they would work. Local shops couldn’t balance the 35’s I put on my truck.
They worked so well, that when one of the jeep wheels threw a weight last week, I just picked up a bulk pack of BB’s, rather than having to deal with a tire shop.

I’m running approximately 1 ounce of bb’s for every 13 pounds of tire and wheel(found that ratio online someplace), and it seems to be just right.


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[GTyankee]

If you are talking about your Ram.
If you follow the instructions, they tell you to put the beads into the valve stem.

If you have TPMS valve stems, i caution against this method
Chances are very good that you will screw up the TPMS valve stem

You should let all of the air out of the tire & break the tire away from the rim, then pour the beads in.
The tire guys can't balance a tire that have beads in them

One persons comment caught my eye

'Does better than no balancing, but is not as good as dynamic balancing. That said, I only used them in very worn used tires, so take this with a grain of salt.

I recommend them for trailers, off-road vehicles that don't see a lot of street use, or cars you don't care about.

Definitely not for something that sees a ton of highway miles '

 

[muddy12]

......................

One persons comment caught my eye

'Does better than no balancing, but is not as good as dynamic balancing. That said, I only used them in very worn used tires, so take this with a grain of salt.

I recommend them for trailers, off-road vehicles that don't see a lot of street use, or cars you don't care about.

Definitely not for something that sees a ton of highway miles '

Technically, using beads or the powder stuff(think it's called equal) is "dynamic" balancing.
the trucking industry has been using balancing powders and beads for quite a while with great success.
My truck is my daily driver, about 90% of my driving is on highways at around 60mph. Even at 80mph+ on the interstate, it's perfectly smooth.
At low speeds, you do hear the beads moving inside the tires, but at about 15mph, they settle into position and stop moving around.

 

[dieseldave]

My problem with the beads is that I get a shimmering / vibration at 75 mph. The dealer put them in. I am going back to the dealership tomorrow. I will post what the results are.

 

[muddy12]

My problem with the beads is that I get a shimmering / vibration at 75 mph. The dealer put them in. I am going back to the dealership tomorrow. I will post what the results are.

It could be a situation where they either put to much, or not enough beads in the tires. In my research, I found that in order for the beads to work well, you have to have just the right amount.
Not enough weight/beads can be just as bad as too much weight/beads. Also, the orientation of the tire on the rim can play a part as well. New tires should have yellow and/or red dots on the side wall. general guideline is if it only has a yellow dot, it is placed opposite of the valve stem. If it has both, or just red, the red is placed at the valve stem.
If they have the equipment to do so, it might not hurt to have them check for an "out of round" tire.

 

[xtremeroller]

They used dyna beads in the tires on my motorcycle and it rides completely smooth no matter what speed I'm riding at.

 

[caulk04]

I've also been using Dyna beads (brand name) in my Harley for a couple years, I'm a fan.

Wife's explorer also has beads in it's tires and there's no vibration from it, even with it's advance odometer status (307,000 miles).

 

[dieseldave]

Looks like the shimmying/vibration has subsided just by driving down the highway. It appears that driving 350 miles on the new tires got broken in. Thanks for all of your reply’s.