Report: Tire balancing beads

[Hank]

I've had a problem getting my right front tire to balance. After 5 tries at 3 different shops, I got lucky and finally got it balanced. A year later I took it to have the brakes checked. After putting the tires an rims back on, and I drove off, I could tell it was out of balance again. I took it back and explained the problem, and the problem I had before with getting it balanced. They recommended "balancing beads". I did some research and didn't find any complaints and only a few naysayers that had never actually used them. Since it was my daughters boyfriends shop, I had nothing to lose.

They took the tire off, took the lead weights off and threw in a bad of these little tiny ceramic beads. The bag was about half the size of a cigarette pack (if you can remember cigarettes). :-)


I drove off expecting the tire to jump all over the road since they took off quite a bit of lead weights. To my surprise, it seemed very smooth with no vibration. So, they DO work.

Hank

[Pepperoni]

Hank <nineb...@aol.com> wrote in
news:d7b23443-54bd-4353...@googlegroups.com:

What does it sound like when you slow to a stop and those beads begin to
bounce off the steel wheel hub?????

[Hank]

The beads are not much bigger than a grain of sand.

Hank

[MR]

Was the tire balanced with beads on your RV or car?
MR

[Larry]

On Fri, 19 Oct 2012 23:57:11 -0400, stan....@hotmail.com wrote:

>>On Fri, 19 Oct 2012 14:57:15 -0700 (PDT), Hank <nineb...@aol.com> wrote:
>>
>>They took the tire off, took the lead weights off and threw in a bad of these little tiny ceramic beads. The bag was about half the size of a cigarette pack (if you can remember cigarettes). :-)
>>
>>I drove off expecting the tire to jump all over the road since they took off quite a bit of lead weights. To my surprise, it seemed very smooth with no vibration. So, they DO work.
>>
>>Hank
>

>Same here. Got beads with my tire replacements couple years ago, and couldn't be more pleased!

I also use them in my motorcycle tires. Never any problems and to
answer the other question no sound at all.

[Will Sill]

Recognizing that honest users will differ on the question, I don't
recall ever seeing Goodyear, Cooper, Michelin or the Tire & Rim Ass'n
endorsing beads, powders, etc as a means of correcting imbalance and/or
OOR (out of round) problems.

I recommend a) choosing fresh tires that are less than 1/8" OOR and
b)tires which require very little weight to achieve dynamic balance.

Will

[Hank]

The tires are on my RV. 225x75x16, if I remember correctly. I called a few different places that use them and none said they have had any complaints. The type I got were ceramic, there are other kins such as stainless steel and such. There is also a chart that tells which size bag goe in which size tire.

I was very doubtfull they would work, I was pleasantly surprised.

Hank

[Hank]

To each their own. I posted my results for a fix of a problem that I had. As you can see, others have had similar results. Besides, these balance not only the tire, but the rotors, hubs and etc, also.

I don't see where any manufacturers endorses " Will Sills recommendation" either.

Hank

[Hank]

On Saturday, October 20, 2012 9:28:01 AM UTC-4, Larry wrote:

>
> I also use them in my motorcycle tires. Never any problems and to
>
> answer the other question no sound at all.

I always use to balance my street motorcycle tires the old fashion way, with putting weights on the high side until the wheel stopped at different places. That way was great up to 110 MPH. :-) Never had a problem. But seeing how well these beads work, I would use them in a heart beat over the old fashion way.



Hank

[bill horne]

Will Sill wrote:
> On 10/20/12 9:28 AM, Larry wrote:
>> On Fri, 19 Oct 2012 23:57:11 -0400, stan....@hotmail.com wrote:
>>
>>>> On Fri, 19 Oct 2012 14:57:15 -0700 (PDT), Hank
>>>> <nineb...@aol.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> They took the tire off, took the lead weights off and threw in a
>>>> bad of these little tiny ceramic beads. The bag was about half the
>>>> size of a cigarette pack (if you can remember cigarettes). :-)
>>>>
>>>> I drove off expecting the tire to jump all over the road since
>>>> they took off quite a bit of lead weights. To my surprise, it
>>>> seemed very smooth with no vibration. So, they DO work.
>>>>
>>>> Hank
>>>
>>> Same here. Got beads with my tire replacements couple years ago,
>>> and couldn't be more pleased!
>>
>> I also use them in my motorcycle tires. Never any problems and to
>> answer the other question no sound at all.
>
> Recognizing that honest users will differ on the question, I don't
> recall ever seeing Goodyear, Cooper, Michelin or the Tire & Rim Ass'n
> endorsing beads, powders, etc as a means of correcting imbalance
> and/or OOR (out of round) problems.

They seem to work on water bottles - although not perfectly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq263AYgyYg

> I recommend a) choosing fresh tires that are less than 1/8" OOR and
> b)tires which require very little weight to achieve dynamic balance.
>
> Will
>

--
bill
Theory don't mean squat if it don't work.

[Will Sill]

On 10/20/12 1:52 PM, bill horne wrote:

> Will Sill wrote:
>> Recognizing that honest users will differ on the question, I don't
>> recall ever seeing Goodyear, Cooper, Michelin or the Tire & Rim Ass'n
>> endorsing beads, powders, etc as a means of correcting imbalance
>> and/or OOR (out of round) problems.

bh:

> They seem to work on water bottles - although not perfectly.
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq263AYgyYg

I can't say for sure because I haven't tried using water bottles as
tires. I've been successful using non-spinning Mason jars as a
container for the now-famous brake-fluid investigations. The most
important finding from that demonstration was the ease with which
self-appointed comedians could invent lame jokes about soaking nuts.

Will

[bill horne]

Being the foresighted geezer that I am, I avoided being a justifiable
object of those jokes by soaking nails instead.