mblaney
Full Access Member
I thought I would post some details of how I balance my own tires using tire beads (using off the shelf balancing beads and an alternative).
For those who are not familiar with tire balancing beads here is a good video that demonstrates how they work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq263AYgyYg
I have balanced several tires using beads and NO RIM WEIGHTS. It is important to note that beads are not recommended for low profile tires (less than 65 aspect ratio) because lower profile tires are more susceptible to lateral imbalances which beads are not able to counteract. Beads are very efficient because they balance at the outer diameter (inside, obviously) of the tire rather than at the rim like traditional weights. Also, no rim weights means you don't screw up the finish on your fancy aluminum or painted steel rims!
The cool thing about using beads is that they balance the rotating assembly, so your rubber, rim, rotor... mud or ice on the inside of your rim. I had a major issue with my wife's Caravan always out of balance; the rims are very flat on the inside and accumulate mud and ice that are always out of balance. After installing beads there is no vibration - ever!
I have used two products:
For our van I used Counteract glass beads from NAPA. To install, I did not attempt to feed them through the tire valve but poured them in before ******* the tire.
For my truck I used an alternative - Airsoft pellets! I use high quality (not biodegradable) bbs in the heaviest density available.
To determine the amount to add to each tire I used this chart from Innovative Balancing:
Note 1: Using too much beads means you are wasting beads but the tire will balance. Using too little means you will not have enough beads to balance your tire. If you have an out of balance try adding more beads.
Note 2: for guys running really ugly off road / howler / cheap tires do some research on how much you will need. Beads are very effective for balancing these tires if you use enough.
Note 3: Never take a bead-balanced tire to a shop to be balanced on a machine. It will not work! You can have a tire balanced traditionally and then add some beads (I would add only 25 - 50% of the recommended amount.
Note 4: Do not use tire slime! The beads need to be free to move around in the tire, adding a product like Slime will cause balancing problems.
I have run these in my truck for two years now and have the best balancing ever. The Airsoft pellets obviously will not fit through the valve stem so I poured the required amount into the tire before seating the bead.
Thanks for reading!
For those who are not familiar with tire balancing beads here is a good video that demonstrates how they work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq263AYgyYg
I have balanced several tires using beads and NO RIM WEIGHTS. It is important to note that beads are not recommended for low profile tires (less than 65 aspect ratio) because lower profile tires are more susceptible to lateral imbalances which beads are not able to counteract. Beads are very efficient because they balance at the outer diameter (inside, obviously) of the tire rather than at the rim like traditional weights. Also, no rim weights means you don't screw up the finish on your fancy aluminum or painted steel rims!
The cool thing about using beads is that they balance the rotating assembly, so your rubber, rim, rotor... mud or ice on the inside of your rim. I had a major issue with my wife's Caravan always out of balance; the rims are very flat on the inside and accumulate mud and ice that are always out of balance. After installing beads there is no vibration - ever!
I have used two products:
For our van I used Counteract glass beads from NAPA. To install, I did not attempt to feed them through the tire valve but poured them in before ******* the tire.
For my truck I used an alternative - Airsoft pellets! I use high quality (not biodegradable) bbs in the heaviest density available.
You must be registered for see images attach
To determine the amount to add to each tire I used this chart from Innovative Balancing:
You must be registered for see images attach
Note 1: Using too much beads means you are wasting beads but the tire will balance. Using too little means you will not have enough beads to balance your tire. If you have an out of balance try adding more beads.
Note 2: for guys running really ugly off road / howler / cheap tires do some research on how much you will need. Beads are very effective for balancing these tires if you use enough.
Note 3: Never take a bead-balanced tire to a shop to be balanced on a machine. It will not work! You can have a tire balanced traditionally and then add some beads (I would add only 25 - 50% of the recommended amount.
Note 4: Do not use tire slime! The beads need to be free to move around in the tire, adding a product like Slime will cause balancing problems.
I have run these in my truck for two years now and have the best balancing ever. The Airsoft pellets obviously will not fit through the valve stem so I poured the required amount into the tire before seating the bead.
Thanks for reading!
