Balancing Beads

[fjtent]

What do people think about using beads in beadlock tires to balance them? Has anyone had any experience with beads? From the Expedition Exchange website "Just drop the bag into your new tire before mounting. The drop-in bag will break apart after a few miles and release the Equal into your tire and your tire will be balanced for its useful life."

[Muttle]

balancing bead/ powder works well when you get the tire up to speed, but at slower speeds you will have the unbalanced wheel hop. I know with my big tires (38.5's) the powder doesn't really start to balance out till 60-70 kph. It should be a little better with a smaller tire.

[canadian bum]

All I use are beads. My buddy uses them in his 35's with no problem.

[marco88]

i use beads and i have no problems, i like them

[oriontaco]

I had a balancing beads for all of 5km. If felt like one of my wheels was falling off the balance was soooooooo bad.

Hey thats just my $0.02, 33" ATZ+balancing beads=Bad times(for me)

[Zman2k2]

When I first got mine installed about 2 years ago, the balance was great. Over the past 6 months, the balance has gotten worse. I'm getting a shimmey in the steering wheel from 90 to 100. I'm thinking of getting the beads removed and getting my wheels road-force balanced.

[Winch]

Yeah, the opnions on beads very greatly. From everything I've read, about half the people who use them swear by them, and the other half says they have issues like not balancing when going around conrners, not balancing at low speeds, not balancing at high speeds, etc. So, I think it's going to be trail and error - you won't know if it'll work for you unless you try it. Once they are in there,you can't take them out unless you break a bead, though. You should look into this system: http://www.centramatic.com/Home.aspx

[freeze]

wow... neato magneeto!

skY6qvzpNXI

[Zman2k2]

The beads in the tire work the same way, but they aren't contained in anything. They are riding around free, inside the tire. I'm not sure what to do, as for me, the balancing isn't always a problem. Sometimes it's fine, other times it's out. It's not repeatable, and it's a little frustrating. But I don't want to spend the money to get the tires cleaned out and re-balanced. I'm cheap! haha.

[freeze]

David E. if you're wanting to balance the Hutchinson's it only took 4oz to balance.

[canadian bum]

I'm on my third set of tires on the Taco running beads and no complaints at all. When I have a little snow or some junk in the rims they still remain balanced to a point. So I will continue to use mine. How slow are you driving and not balancing. School zones and stuff seem fine. Only vibrations I get are when my pos wheel bearings crap out.

[874runnersr5]

i just rebalanced my tires at work tonight and it turned out really good.. who woulda knew

[CalgaryRider]

Man the things I learn on this forum!!! I have to do a bunch more research but I really need to go with one of these systems either the beads or Centramatic system. I struggle all winter with crap building up in my rims and making my truck drive like crap.

[the_kernel114]

How much does it cost to put this stuff in all 4 tires, had my tires balanced 3 times and still no luck

[Zman2k2]

Cost me an extra $5 a tire. All they do is drop a bag in , and seal it up. Like I said, it worked great for a long time. It's only recently, last couple months, that I've had a shimmey in my steering wheel. But even then, it's not consistent. It comes and goes.

[the_kernel114]

hmm maybe i should get some

[Zman2k2]

So now, I'm starting to think that my steering wheel vibe HAS to do with the beads. I took a drive with the family out to Banff on the weekend, and the truck was smooth as glass. No shimmy or shake in the wheel whatsoever. I'm trying to decide what would have been a factor that was consistent in the cases of my wheel vibe, and I think it's the cold. In cold weather, I seem to get vibes in my wheel at highway speed, but in warmer weather, like this past weekend, not a problem at all. Weird.

[canadian bum]

Maybe you got moisture in the tire and the beads are freezing together.

[874runnersr5]

i would think the ideal way of using balancing beads would be, throw your tire on the balancer and see what it needs and go from there on every tire.. when i balanced my km2s, some i used a total of 2oz or 5ozs..

[freeze]

Maybe you got moisture in the tire and the beads are freezing together.

I can see that being an issue, never ran beads but this is a theory that keeps me from using them. Especially if you air up/down lots and you get that little bit of moisture in there from the hot air going in and cooling rapidly.

[canadian bum]

Mine seem to be fine and I got water in my one tire not to long ago. But yes I guess if your really picky on every little shake in the truck there could be potential problems. Me I'm not picky I just try to keep the thing from falling apart haha.

[Winch]

Me I'm not picky I just try to keep the thing from falling apart haha.

Hey John, do you get the Toyota 4WD magazine? I think you'd get a kick out of how Peter Parks knocks the 2nd gens and newer Toys in this months issue. But if it's any concelation to you newer model Toyota fans, he does knock the newer Jeeps too. Ha ha. Go 1st gens!!!

[Zman2k2]

Mine seem to be fine and I got water in my one tire not to long ago. But yes I guess if your really picky on every little shake in the truck there could be potential problems. Me I'm not picky I just try to keep the thing from falling apart haha.

Well, reading about all your wheel-bearing failures doesn't help my confidence! haha. But yeah, I was concerned that there was a problem with the steering rack or a wheel-bearing or something. I'm hoping now, that it's just a little moisture in the tire. I can live with that.