BB balancing tires

[IsaacCarlson]

I don't know if this has been discussed or not, but here goes.

Big trucks have been using heavy beads inside the tire to balance them. This works very well and has been done for many years.

I had 2 tires this year that were so out of balance and out of round that they would rip the steering wheel from your hands at anything over 45 mph. The car lunged around at low speed like a carnival ride and it made our backs hurt. I didn't have the money for new tires, so I poured a few ounces of bb's in each tire just to see how it worked. I was not sure if it would help. All I had to say was WOW! It worked! You could hardly feel the vibration in the wheel and the car rode much better. It still hopped a bit at low speed, but it was much better. We finally put different tires on it and I put 4 oz of bb's in those too. It rides like glass. I am sold on it. I bought a tire changer just so I can give people a "lifetime" balance. The bb's continuously balance the tire as you drive. Pick up a rock? They balance out immediately. Lose the rock a mile later? They do it again.

Has anyone else tried this? I have noticed an improvement in mileage with them in the tires and it saves $$$ because you don't have to get your tires balanced and they wear better so they last longer.

[Cobb]

Interesting...

I know one of the final questions for my shop exam was a similar question. Driver has shimmys and vibrations when cold, but not when warm. Tires have been rotated, rebalanced, problem stull exists and its not drive line related. The answer was water in the tires. It freezes into lumps and makes the tire off balance, then melts and its ok.

[adam728]

I've always heard results are not-so-good in smaller car tires, the shorter radius means more speed is needed before a balance can be reached.


That said, I too had great results with it. Bought 34x10.50 Interco LTB's for my off road truck years ago. 2 shops in town wouldn't even try to balance them, both said that being so large (not that large now days) and being bias ply Swampers meant nothing could be done to help them. Truck was undrivable over 45, literally looked as though the dashboard would break, and felt like a wheel would be torn loose. I can't recall of I used 8 or 10 oz of BB per tire, but I also threw in about 1/2 cup of coolant to avoid the freezing/clumping issue (this was in the UP, and lots of year round wheeling and inflation/deflation, so I was bound to end up with some water or condensation in the tires eventually). I too was amazed at the results. Even at freeway speeds (which the truck could barely muster) it was as smooth as I'd ever expect gnarly mudders to be.

[Joggernot]

I used them in my motorcycle tires for several years. They seemed to work well. I only needed 3 oz for the m/c.

[roosterk0031]

I use counter act balance bead in all my car once I have to replace the tires. Occasionally they don't set up right, hit a bump while accelerating and I'll get a shake until I slow down again, but not that big of problem. I have Dyna beads in a couple tires and used in motorcycle first, but found I could get counteract at Oriely's next day. Either one can be installed thru the valve stem if you don't have TPMS.

My cars that have TPMS are the only ones that get the occasional shake, but I also drive them a whole lot more than the older 2. I should have left the wheel weight almost all of them had opposite the valve stem on, I will on KT's cobalt when I replace it's tires shortly.

I've read of people using air soft pellets for big swampper type tires, but went with beads instead since I only have to buy them once so not that big of deal. Scoop them out and reuse them forever.

[adam728]

Originally Posted by roosterk0031

I've read of people using air soft pellets for big swampper type tires, but went with beads instead since I only have to buy them once so not that big of deal. Scoop them out and reuse them forever.

Some guys have even used golf balls.

Guy in our club back in college did it, running 40 or 42" Swampers. It was hilarious as he slowed down and all those golf balls in there started dropping and clinking off the wheels. I don't think that truck ever saw more than a few hundred road miles, so longevity wasn't a concern.

[IsaacCarlson]

I don't like the tiny balance beads because they have a hard time rolling over the inner liner texture. The bb's balance out at about 12mph and hold until about 5 mph. I have reused them at least once now. They sound really cool when you stop because they pour down on the rim.

[roosterk0031]

Maybe that's what's causing my occasional shake. The Ecopia's I have on front right now do it once a week or 2, one gas station I bet I could get it to do it half the time just the right speed and bump when re-entering the hwy.

I'll have to compare tires so see if a correlation between inner texture and not balancing a well. The Ecopias seem to be by far the ones that do it the most. I had a set Nokian WRG2s and never had a problem with them on 2 different cars and still have 2 of those and one oem goodyear in the garage yet to compare and a few others.

[Xist]

Oh good. We are getting rattles for our toys now?

[chumly]

Are there any drawbacks to using bb's ?