Counter Act Balancing Beads

[EScott]

Anybody have any experience with these little gems...



http://www.counteractbalancing.com



If I can spend four dollars a tire and not have to spend an hour every week at my tire store getting balanced it would be money well spent.

 

[Dieselnerd]

Very interesting. I would think it's worth a try at those low prices. Looks like you wouldn't lose your balance when parked like the wheel balancer fluid you can get now for inside the tires. I seem to lose my wheel weights from time to time and this would cure the problem. Might work good in my fifth wheel too. I may just give it a try.

 

[SLang]

This is a very common practice in trucks (not to be confused with our pick-ups). Most truck tires are not balanced, just mount them (usually manually), air them up, and go. Many over the road guys use non-porus sands, ceramics, and such or even water to help reduce vibrations at 70+MPH. The main problem always was finding a material that does not eat tires. If this company found it then it's worth a try!

 

[Cooker]

Equal is a brand of balancing material that goes inside the tire.

http://www.valvolinehd.com/onroad/equal.html

A few guys I know run this on their auto (pick-ups too) tires after having great luck with it on their big rigs.



I've heard that it will coagulate and form a single mass inside the tire, rendering it ineffective. I'm not sure about that though. Maybe there is better quality and lesser quality products???



-Ryan

 

[moparguy]

Just got off the phone with a local distributer for Counterbalancing glass beads. Looks like the price is based on $1. 00 per oz. . He said he had 2, 1 tons and a 3/4 ton running it as well as several customers trucks and the product worked as promoted. Of course, that's what I'd expect to hear. He also stated that on hard to balance tires, the company recommended 2 extra ozs. of product per tire.



I may give this a try, will report results if I do.

 

[Cooker]

I spoke with someone else on this product. He tried a similar product in his Class A motorhome and ended up buying six new wheels becasue the product damaged them. Again, I'm sure it depends on the wheels you are using.



I was originally very excited about these products, but now I'm rather skeptical.



-Ryan

 

[EScott]

Originally posted by Cooker

... ended up buying six new wheels becasue the product damaged them. Again, I'm sure it depends on the wheels you are using.



-Ryan

Any idea what kind of damage resulted?

 

[Cooker]

Sorry, I don't know the extent of the damage.



Like I said I know many big rigs using this type of balancing material and have never heard anyone complain there, but I also never asked.



I'm very curious about this method of balancing. Hopefully there is someone out there very knowledgeable about this topic.

 

[EScott]

Originally posted by Cooker



... I'm very curious about this method of balancing. Hopefully there is someone out there very knowledgeable about this topic.

I'll let every one know since I ordered a set for all four tires. I figure I'll be getting new meats at the end of summer anyway, so if they don't work out no biggie.

 

[Dieselnerd]

EScott, I'll be looking for your report because I'm eager to try this stuff but I have a set of brand new Michelins so I'll wait to see what you experience.

 

[.44 mag]

I talked to a place that uses / sells this stuff and ordered enough to try out on my truck. The fellow I spoke with was no salesman. He told me that his business had been useing the product for a while now with good results.

I just put a set of BFG mud treads on my truck and was unhappy with the amount of weight it took to balance them. I'll know if this stuff works like they say when I pull the lead off.

I'll put up a post after I get the stuff and try it out for a few days.



Hank

 

[pcorssmit]

I tried some Equal in my Swampers on the Blazer a couple years ago. They are 15/39. 5-15 bias plys. There really is no way to balance these tires. The Equal didn't seem to make much of a difference, the other thing I didn't like was having to run valve stem extensions with filters in them so the stuff wouldn't blow out. Took forever to air down the tires. These things hold a lot of air, and when four wheeling I take them down to about 6-7 psi (I run 30 on the street). I basically gave up on the stuff, and a lot of it has probably blown out the stems when airing down. I didn't expect a perfect balance with it, but I was hoping to make it a little better on the street.



Pete

 

[Scollins]

Centramatics?

Has anybody tried the Centramatic wheel balancers? www.centramatic.com

The look like they would be very effective, but at $200/pair, NOT CHEAP! The price is what has kept me from picking up a set to try.

 

[DBaker]

I have the 19. 5 Alcoa Dual Designs with Michellin Pilots. The setup came with the balancing beads. I have 50K miles on them and they are wearing perfectly so far. I don't get any unusual vibrations on the road. I'm sure if you contact Dual Designs they can give you more info. I've also seen the product advertised at Goodyear truck tire stores.



1998 3500 2x2 Quad cab with lots of goodies!

 

[tgbol]

Years ago I had a roommate that drove am 18 wheeler through out the western US. He would put about a 1/2 gallon of anti-freeze in each tire. Swore the tires ran cooler and truck was much smoother on the road.