Balance tires with little beads?? Do they work?

[Gonzo 1066]

I have been having issues with my alloy wheels on the dually loosing balance weights. The stick on ones fall off and the clip on ones ruin the wheel. Do the "Balance beads" like Dynabead actually work? Has anyone here tired them with positive results? One of my motorcylcle buddies swears by them in his Harley

 

[S.Morris]

I have used these for years when I was running big mud tires on LandCruisers. Counteractbalancingbeads.com



I run them in my RV and in my motorcycles. They work and will keep tire balanced properly for its lifetime.



Not affiliated, just a product that works. Worth a look.

 

[Slow Six]

I like Centramatics, a little pricey upfront but they work. Mine are on the second truck and still going.

 

[Wingate]

we tried the beads in our 19. 5" Michelins on our service trucks,(both Ford and GM offerings) the crap doesnt work. We have steel wheels so we were able to find competent shops to spin balance them. I would opt for Centramatics or something similar in design. . just my . 02

 

[jelag]

I'm with Wingate... when tubeless tires first started to appear on the market, you'd have a really bad tire balance problem... . you just couldn't stop the bounce... You'd pull the tire off the wheel, and find a pound of loose rubber balls rolling around inside the tire... . where part of the tubeless lining had sluffed off...

 

[Shadrach]

My buddy runs them in his 93 W350 dually service truck and has had good results. As the tire wears they still stay in balance. He rotates his tire every 6k miles. David

 

[MChrist]

On one of the bead balancing website's FAQ section, they specifically say not to use their product for 19. 5 conversions on 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. Something to do with our suspensions not being made for those heavy wheels. I could find it again if you're interested.

 

[Wygate]

Yes run them, my vote

I use the "beads" in my hand cut mud tires and drive down the road @ speed. 37" on a CJ, not the most road friendly rig to start with.
MFG have spec sheet for tire/rim = amount of product so no guessing
I have run them w/ great luck for many years

 

[Bill Stockard]

I like Centramatics, a little pricey upfront but they work. Mine are on the second truck and still going.

I ran a set of Centramatics on my '92 D350 CTD dually. They worked better than any of the tire shop's spin balance machines could do using weights.

Bill

 

[Spooled-up]

I used them for years with great results on 33 and 35" tires. You may get a little wobble until the beads find their place on acceleration, but it's barely noticeable. You do have to have the right amount in the tire like Wygate said. Too little and they won't work.

 

[Wingate]

On one of the bead balancing website's FAQ section, they specifically say not to use their product for 19. 5 conversions on 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. Something to do with our suspensions not being made for those heavy wheels. I could find it again if you're interested.

They were being put into our Chevy 4500 service trucks and our F550 service trucks with factory 19. 5 wheels. .
For our application, they just didnt work.

 

[Gonzo 1066]

I ordered Centramatics for the rear axle, will give a full report on how they work. I have the front wheels balanced, I get just a bit of bounce at about 66mph. Over 70 it is fine under 59 and it is fine. Just happens that with the trailer I tow between 65 and 69MPH. . My local tire shop cant seem to make the weights stick on my rear wheels.

 

[GCroyle]

Guys, never tried any non rim weight balancing so no first hand info.



But here's what I don't get. We have possibly the finest tire balancing equipment available to us. Enter the correct info, operator does his job, tires get balanced to some specification. Job over. I don't know what a tire imbalance spec value is but the computer balancers easily deal with it.



Put your beads in, add the centras run the tire. What is the new imbalance value? Under or over the mfgr spec? Anybody know?



I've seen the videos and watched the demonstration, none that I saw were actual road tests, no values oz/in numbers just more like county fair demos. One video demo still showed its base was still wiggling, still out of balance?



I don't know if they (alternative methods) work but properly balanced with weights on inner and outer edge of rim is what I pay for. If I ever have a balance challenge, I'll look for a Hunter Road Force balance analyzer.

 

[Gonzo 1066]

BUT does anyone really know what the balance is on a vehicle on the road? I have always been kind of fussy about balancing wheels, both on the truck and my trailers. Does tire-wheel balancing take into account imbalanced hubs,brake discs and axles? One of my trucker friends with a couple of Kenworths has always run Centramatics, swears by them. Is the concept of the Centramatic any diffrent than how the FluidDamper harmonic balancer works? I do know there was a dramatic diffrence in engine harmonics-low RPM shake when I changed my 04 from the stock damper to the FluidDamper.

 

[Powder Extreme]

I ordered Centramatics for the rear axle, will give a full report on how they work. I have the front wheels balanced, I get just a bit of bounce at about 66mph. Over 70 it is fine under 59 and it is fine. Just happens that with the trailer I tow between 65 and 69MPH. . My local tire shop cant seem to make the weights stick on my rear wheels.

Have you tried having them Road Force balanced? Huge difference over standard tire balancing. I haven't had any issues at all with weights coming off my factory Alcoa's