Bead Balancing

rizzo20

Original poster
Member
Anyone here have any tires bead balanced or know much about it? I love the thought of not having wheel weights put on my wheels. The last time I had a tire shop put sticky weights on the inside (opposite the tire tread) of the wheel but they look like crap in my opinion, and the old fashion way of hammering them on the bead tends to cause corrosion.
 
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xavierny25

Member
Mar 16, 2014
6,323
Staten Island, N.Y
I'd like to know more about this too.

My brother will be offering full wheel service at his shop and as of now all he's going to be offering is the hammered and the inner stick on's.
20180323_103707.jpg
 
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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,262
Ottawa, ON
From what I gathered before, those beads are only for very large truck tires, not for.anything we drive here AFAIK.
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
I have balancing beads in the tires of my Silverado, and they aren't that much bigger than what some people run. Heck, some people run bigger tires on their lifted offroad GMT360 rigs than I do on my truck. My truck has 285/70/17 BFG tires on it.
 
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littleblazer

Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
You dump beads inside the tire, the natural out of roundness inside the tire causes the beads to bounce at the uneven spot in the tire or collect there and the weight of the beads is going to offset the imbalance in the tire.

Weather or not they actually work? IDK. Most of the time guys who run them are also running relatively knobby tires where if there is a slight imbalance you won't notice it as much. IIRC the plastic ones could fall apart inside the rim and are a mess when you swap the tire. As in a few hundred beads all over your shop floor when you pop the bead. (Not my problem but it usually pisses off the guy doing the job) Theory of operation seems sound. Let us know.
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
They seem to work well on my truck from what I can tell. I do get some vibrations sometimes but it seems to be more driveline than tires. Given I have a bad CV axle that might be part of it lol.
 
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littleblazer

Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
They seem to work well on my truck from what I can tell. I do get some vibrations sometimes but it seems to be more driveline than tires. Given I have a bad CV axle that might be part of it lol.
More than likely lol. I don't doubt their effectiveness. I have heard people say in slow moving traffic they don't work as well, guess the centrifugal forces aren't great enough for them to be effective yet I suppose. You experience anything like that or no?
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
If by slow traffic you mean like 5 mph then yeah I may feel a little something and there is some funny swishing sounds if you have your windows down, but, at that low of a speed, balance means nothing, really. Sometimes if I take off rather fast there is a little more off-balance vibration from the sudden throw of the beads to one side until they even out (and occasionally they don't fully) but we're talking pedal to the metal from a standstill takeoff. I wouldn't recommend them in a drag car for that reason.
 
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rizzo20

Original poster
Member
The only negative thing Ive found so far is a video of a guy breaking down a tire and finding that the beads have caked up or globbed together and stuck to the rubber. There could be numerous underlying factors to cause that.
That would suck if it happened though and probably wouldnt be correctable without having to break down the tire again .
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
If someone used fix a flat that would make an absolute mess. Well, fix a flat is a mess anyway, but adding beads into it just makes it worse.
 

NJTB

Member
Aug 27, 2012
612
Flemington, NJ
I've used them on my motorcycle for the last 10 years - they work like a charm.
On the bike, they have to be poured in through the valve stem, which is a pain. It takes 2oz. per tire.
I understand they now have plastic bags (weighted with the beads in them) that you put in the tire when it's being mounted, and then the bags disintegrate, leaving the beads.
 

Redbeard

Member
Jan 26, 2013
3,466
Another option is just have the tires "trued". The tires are left on the vehicle and machined perfectly round. One doesn't know what a smooth ride is until one has a good running vehicle with all four tires trued.
Just my 2¢
redbeard
 
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dlebroad

Member
Apr 12, 2018
1
toronto
The beads work well with anything with a stiff suspension. Half ton trucks and up, motorcycles, atv, tractor trailer, jeeps. The problem is smaller passenger vehicle tires have ridges on the inside that do not allow the bead to roll freely, along with the soft suspension which gives internal balancing agents a false balance. another issue is that most passenger vehicle tire needs a dynamic balance which most balancing beads cant do. Although i do hear that Counteract balancing uses tempered glass beads to hold an electrostatic charge that holds the beads in place at lower speeds which which would provide a dynamic balance as well as static.

these are commonly used mud terrain applications as 1. the readjust with mud and ice in the wheel end assembly, and 2. some mud terrain tires are impossible to balance.

Pros:
readjust on the go to keep you balance
balances the complete wheel assembly
one time balance.

Cons
possible valve core leak
possible damage to the inner liner.

I suggest to look into different options as there are plenty out there, but personally, I use Counteract and have had no issues and I like how they remain in the balanced position at lower speeds.

Dyna beads and checkered flags are ceramic beads
equal flexx is a granular compound.
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
Beads and powders work. Every type of balance has its plus and minus.
 
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