Tire Balancing Powder

[steved]

I'm trying this again... wondering if anyone else ever tried it before (in a light truck tire)?? There are many brands... Equal, CounterAct, Magnum, etc. Did you have good results?

I used this in a set of Michelin LTX/AS on my 99 2500... had right near 100k on those tires when I traded, they still had 1/4 of the usable tread left. The balance was great with 3 ounces of [whatever] powder they used in each tire... the powder was installed when the tires were three months old. I had been having issues with the rims spinning inside the tires because of the metals strips at the PA turnpike booths. I remember the balancing being great, and the only weirdness was when you encountered a large "bump", you would lose the balance for a moment, and then it would smooth right back out.

I just had the tires on my 04. 5 conventionally balanced last Saturday and out of probably 12 wheel weights, I only had three left (on two tires) when I got home! Needless to say, I had a slight vibration for almost 1500 miles. Driving cross country, even a slight imbalance is very annoying and tiresome.

I have had about 32 ounces of Equal sitting here for around three years for another project. So I went to Cabelas and bought a powder funnel (the type used for reloading shells) and starting pulling tires from the truck today. I pulled the valve cores (one tire at a time), measured out three ounces of powder, and began trickling it into the tires through the valve stem... took about 4 hours from start to finish. I did have the filtered valve stems for use with the powder (that is a key element).

I ran out of time, and didn't even get the tires filled back up... so I wasn't able to take a test drive, but I don't expect anything bad. Although they don't list the smaller passenger tire sizes, I'm considering trying this in the tires on my Outback (just to experiment).

 

[dclassens]

Had balance beads(about the size of ground coffee) in my 315/75/16 Cooper ATR's and they worked okay. Unfortunately I forget the brand, but I never felt a huge difference. I had a different truck but same year and went without the beads an never had an issue. At this point in time I would pass on balance products.

Dave

PS ~ I put one bead on the tire and had one side broke. Just poured in the beads and reset the tire.

 

[steved]

Well, other than the initial shaking from the tires being flatspotted (they sat on the truck overnight with around 15psi), everything seems good. Within a few miles everything was smooth. Got fuel, and the return trip was even better... at better than typical highway speeds, everything is smooth.



Definitely worth the time... now I can take the leftover wheel weights and return them to the shop they came from...

 

[JKloppe]

I have Equal in My Toyo 35s on walkers and am happy. It is nice not having to worry about weights staying on, and weights make nice wheels look bad.

 

[Soot4Life]

Balance beads solved my balancing problems. I have Centramatics on my 454 Chevy and they make a lot of noise under 25 mph. The beads do their work silently and no more lost lead!

 

[MartyK]

This is what I'm using in my 35" Toyo M/T's. There are working good for me. No uneven wear. No vibration in the steering wheel. No weights on the wheels.



Tire Balancing Products



Marty

 

[WTBurke]

Steved,

I'm ditto with MartyK on the DynaBeads. My 37" Toyo MT's are smooth as glass up to 115 MPH. Also... . I took heat readings with an IR gun before and after the DynaBeads on a stable 80 degree day. A run down the highway for 30 minuets on the same road at 65 MPH showed a drop in temperature of 10 degrees F on all for corners. I like the effect, the looks of no weights and the feel. DynaBeads work very well for me. BTW... 115 MPH is not the top end but, I don't have the nerve for anymore speed on the I-5 north bound, south of Red Bluff California.



William

 

[PWirth]

I got tired of paying 50 bucks for each of 3 vehicles every winter and spring for the studded tire changeout so I got myself a manual tire changer from Harbor Freight and I use Airsoft BB's from Walmart to balance. I have found that it works great on the rear tires, but if the tires have a lateral imbalance then they will cause a shimmy on the front end. It has worked well on two sets of tires but badly on a third set. I swapped the tires around until I had the two best on the front, which did bring it down to an barely acceptable level. The problem tires were on a 2000 Ford Explorer, not a Dodge pickup. The Airsoft BBs on the pickup worked well. I installed the Airsoft BB's with the bead broken.

 

[steved]

Do any of you remember how much weight you used?? I used 3 ounces originally (based on equal's recommendation) and found I still had a little shimmy after driving a while.



I found another balancing powder's site that indicated 6 ounces in a 265... so I added enough to bring me up to 5. 5 ounces in the fronts, and that did the trick... I'm still getting a little vibration in the rear, so I need to add more to them. It only takes about an hour to do two tires, so its not that bad.



One thing to note, I was told (by equal) that I should use no more than 5 ounces in a 315x70r17... as you can see I'm over that already.

 

[MartyK]

I have 10 ounces in each one of my 35" Toyo M/T's. That's the amount Innovative reccomended.

 

[WTBurke]

I looked at the recommendation chart on the DynaBeads web site and then I called them on the phone. I spoke with a very knowledgeable young fellow who recommended 9 ounces for my Toyo 37's. I asked why so much and he informed me that over sized tires benefit from a bit more than the charts recommend. He then informed me that any excess bead-weight is evenly distributed by centrifugal force of rotating motion. Basically the ceramic beads migrate to the light-spot where needed and all extra bead weight distributes symmetrically. I know this sounds like "rubber-chicken voodoo" but, I must admit if it's good enough for the Space Shuttle landing gear it's good enough for my CTD. I'm very pleased with the performance of these magic beads.



Steved; in your previous post you sited many hours of labor getting the material into your tires. I used the little plastic bottle with the clear-plastic hose to directly dump into the valve stem. I then applied my little vibrating engraving tool to the stem and it allowed all the beads to "hour-glass" flow into the tire in less than 3 minuets on each corner. And yes, I too have the little "screen-covered" Schroeder valves to prevent valve malfunction during air-down procedures if needed.



I also use an auxiliary "dryer, water extractor" to assure dry air is entering my tires during any pressure adjustment. The DynaBeads being ceramic in composition are resistive to "clumping" in a moist invironment but, I would think a "bone dry" air environment would allow for quicker migration and distribution compared to a humid environment.



I have heard the "powder" materials work best in a Nitrogen gas charge for bone dry results.



Cheers,

William

 

[steved]

Well, this was my latest saga...

Added more powder to the front tires... that went fine. Got home the other night and the tires looked low... check, yep both fronts only have 30psi. I thought to myself that it was odd for me to have not pumped them up fully... turns out I had. I thought that maybe I didn't get the cores tight enough, so I got my core tool and started tightening, and tightening, and tightening... hmmm, this isn't right. Got my flashlight out and I'm not only turning the core, but I'm turning the entire valve stem!!! And its the valve stem that's leaking!

So I'm now convinced I'm going to buy a new set of tires, mount them on my steel wheels and sledge these aluminum alloys... yes, I was that torqued. I hate these aluminum wheels...

Took the truck up to the local tire shop, explained the deal to them... he took one look at the stems and stated those had a "class action lawsuit" and were termed "high pressure valve stems". These stems have a metal stem and rubber base. He went as far as telling me they quit using them two years ago, and that there were reports of the valve stem parting company with the wheel at speed!!! Mine had been installed for four years, at least.

So they simply replaced the valve stems, installed a new set of Bridgestone Revo 2s on my steel rims, and sent me on my way... so far so good.

I fully intend to dump the aluminum wheels once I wear the current rubber out... they have been nothing but trouble.

 

[steved]

Steved; in your previous post you sited many hours of labor getting the material into your tires. I used the little plastic bottle with the clear-plastic hose to directly dump into the valve stem. I then applied my little vibrating engraving tool to the stem and it allowed all the beads to "hour-glass" flow into the tire in less than 3 minuets on each corner. And yes, I too have the little "screen-covered" Schroeder valves to prevent valve malfunction during air-down procedures if needed.



I also use an auxiliary "dryer, water extractor" to assure dry air is entering my tires during any pressure adjustment. The DynaBeads being ceramic in composition are resistive to "clumping" in a moist invironment but, I would think a "bone dry" air environment would allow for quicker migration and distribution compared to a humid environment.





Cheers,

William

Good idea, using something to vibrate the beads in...



I actually got an inline drier... I just have a small pancake compressor (all my big tools are at my parents), so I need something. Bought this deal with a desiccant in it from Grainger... turns color as it gets used up.

 

[WTBurke]

I also had trouble with my previous valve stems (metal body style) leaking at the seal where it meets the rim. Troubled me for months before I figured out what was occurring due to the very small air leak.



Good on ya Steved, hope you find reliable performance after all that trouble.



William

 

[wcjp]

Good idea, using something to vibrate the beads in...



I actually got an inline drier... I just have a small pancake compressor (all my big tools are at my parents), so I need something. Bought this deal with a desiccant in it from Grainger... turns color as it gets used up.

Depending on the type of desiccant it can be redryed.