Counteract Wheel Balancing Beads

[Dieselnerd]

A question for those of you that are using the Counteract balancing beads. I went to the local distributor today and purchased enough balancing beads for both my truck and fifth wheel. Now that I'm home and have opened the box I am wondering how you got the beads in your tires? Is there some special applicator I should have purchased or did you just use a very small funnel?

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Dieselnerd



I think you are supposed to put them in the tire before you mount it on the wheel?

 

[Cooker]

As far as I know, tt the shop they remove the valve core and inject the beads into the tires.

 

[fest3er]

Originally posted by Cooker
As far as I know, tt the shop they remove the valve core and inject the beads into the tires.

Yes. Rickson have a special 'jig' to do this. They open a canister, pour in the proper amount of 'Equal' (what they are using), connect the jig to the valve stem, and connect the air supply to the jig. By the time the tire is full, all the stuff has been blown into the tire.

In Dieselnerd's case, he could deflate the tire, break one bead, pour the proper amount into the tire, reseal the seat and re-inflate the tire. Might be easier to got to a tire shop if he doesn't have the tools to break the bead, though.

Dan and Matt at Rickson are putting Equal into my tires. At my second 25K 'checkup', I needed the tires re-aligned and balanced, and one wheel did need to be straightened. (Good thing I still had the OEM tires and wheels. *Never* throw anything away; you might need it later on!) They say the difference between a matched and balanced tire with and without Equal is *very* noticeable. If true, I won't need another checkup for 50K miles!

Fest3er

 

[JJW_ND]

Dieselnerd:



I put the counteract in my new Yokohamas when they were installed. It should come prepacked 4 oz for our 16" tires. Just drop the bag inside the tire (must break the bead) and air up. The bags are designed to desinagrate quickly and release to glass beads. Counteract is not Equal.



I would also get the special valve stems or valve coors that keep the "beads" from getting in the valve (and they will). If not, just make sure you have an air supply to always blow the valve clear first.



I have been running it for about 10K miles now and am very impressed how smooth the tires run. Absolutely no wheel weights added. We spun the new tires mounted prior to adding the counteract and like the previous 4 sets of rubber at least two tires required 3 to 4 oz to balance out.



Mikes Tire in the Minneapolis area is a good source.



jjw

ND

 

[Dieselnerd]

Thanks for the replies guys. I was afraid that the tires needed to have the bead broken and the little 4 ounce bag dropped inside. I've added balancer to motorcycles through the valve stems in the past and just assumed this was done in the same way using beads instead of liquid. The beads are quite small so I think I will rig up some kind of injector using my air compressor and blow them in through the valve stem. If it works for me I'll let you know how it went. If it doesn't work I'll be making a trip to the tire shop.

 

[Dieselnerd]

Just an update, I made up a little nozzle that fits inside the valve stem, added a rubber hose that I could fill with 4 ounces of beads and blew them into the tires with my air compressor. I might add, they work fine and the truck is really smooth cruising at 70 MPH.

 

[yogibear]

Is there a site where you can buy this on line? TIA

Larry

 

[Dieselnerd]

Yogibear, here's a place to start:



http://www.counteractbalancing.com/