Balancing Beads for Tires.

[Darrin Tosh]

It was time to swap out my tires to another set that I had for the truck, Size 315-70r-17 BF Goodrich All Terrain TA's.

When Seth was visiting a while back, He suggested that I used Balance Beads, instead of the usual tire balancing. I had never heard of this before, but he runs themin his Dually and has had them for quite some time.

So I did some research on them and decided to give them a try. So I bought some Air Soft Pellets from Wall Mart, (Cheaper than the Beads) and according to the tire chart needed to use 8oz of pellets in each tire.

I have to say that I am IMPRESSED, The truck has NEVER driven so smooth, even up to 85 MPH. The difference is truly amazing so far. Now I have only put on about 40 miles so far, but am very happy with the decision.

Just wanted to Share, and say Thanks to Seth for the tip!

 

[flareside_thun]

Yes, balancing beads are definitely awesome and if you run an aggressive tread, truing them can make the ride so much the better. There is a guy locally that specializes in truing tires and he sells/installs the balancing beads for you. Definitely worth the time and the money.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

If those beads impressed you, a set of genuine Centramatics will absolutely amaze you.

Besides being ever so much smoother, the Centramatics are a one-and-done permanent fix.

Being a life-time in the tire business, I have dumped just about everything inside tires in an attempt to achieve balance; golf-balls, tennis-balls, ping-pong balls, ball-bearings, BBs, marbles, purpose-made bags of silica(sand) and plain old river sand, to name a few.

I have also many many times poured in a gallon of anti-freeze at the request of truck-drivers.

One heads-up warning, NEVER mix any of the loose stuff inside the tire methods with Centramatics, as they will work against each other.


Also, when balancing LT-type of larger tires, BUBBLE or GRAVITY balance them with nail-on lead weights along with either the beads or the Centramatics for optimum results.


We have a TRUE-ER capable of shaving anything from a push-dolly tire to the biggest float truck-tire; trimming away the high spots does make a huge difference in ride quality, but it sure makes the customer flinch to see the pile of rubber shavings falling away from the spinning blade.

 

[flareside_thun]

How do the centramatics work?

 

[cbarm]

I would like to know the explanation of how a centramatic will work better then the beads? The closer you can get to the outside of the rotatin surface to ballance the better, but the centramatics dont even come to the outside edge of the wheel. I have experimented this on 2 of my trucks with 11R24.5 tires and so far nobody has been able to convince me that centramatics are better...

 

[Matrix37495]

One thing i learned though, if you're going to use any in-tire media, make sure your tires are spotless and dry inside...

My front tires weren't....worst vibration ever.....

 

[Dave Barbieri]

Darrin -

I've heard of this, but never tried it. The idea that the tire balances itself perfectly each time is pretty interesting. And the balance is spot on regardless of how much tread has worn off over time. No periodic trips back to Sams. Where did you find your info and your weight list? I'm looking at new tires later this summer when I get my truck back on the road, so this is something to seriously check out.

 

[93cc7.3]

Ya ive probably ran close to maybe 10k miles on bead balance and it really is the smoothest ride ive ever had i cant see a single sign of wear either i towed an ex- rv hauler that did the centeramics on his 06 f350 dually and i saw his tires they looked old but no odd wear at all then he told me that they at that very moment had over 100k miles on them

 

[Hoss6.9]

I put 7 oz of air soft in my 315-16's and it works great. Where did you find your spec list Darrin?

 

[93cc7.3]

http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83345

This is what i used and the links within this thread i put 1 extra once in as suggested i showed darrin this and im pretty sure thats what he used

 

[Darrin Tosh]

Correct, Seth,

Here is the link to the chart:

http://innovativebalancing.com/BigTirechart.htm

 

[Darrin Tosh]

Thanks for all of the info Midnight!

I had a set of Centramatics quite a few years ago but they didn't work for me, so I took them off. They were an old set and may have not been working anymore, but the Beads are Awesome so far!

 

[93turbo_animal]

heres a link it working in action http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq263AYgyYg

I hear its also great in motorcycle tires Darrin

 

[Darrin Tosh]

I hear its also great in motorcycle tires Darrin

Yea I that Is what I read as well, I just got some new Whit Wall Avon Venoms Installed last fall, I wish I would have known about these then,.,..

 

[93cc7.3]

I will be doing this to every tire i get from now on thats for sure