Tire Balancing

[JJW_ND]

Just put on a new set of rubber (Yokohama Geolander 235/85R). Instead of using wheel weights I tried this stuff http://www.counteractbalancing.com/english.htm .



I put 4 oz in each tire (one little bag) with no wheel weights. This is on the factory steel rims (200K miles on them). The rims all check out OK. Just to see how bad they would be to balance, we spun each new tire on the rim with no weights and no "Counteract". Some would have required up to 3. 75 on a side. This is about what it took before.



The stuff must balance out pretty quick as I had about . 5 mile to the interestate and it was smooth as glass immediately.



So far so good. The stuff will constantly rebalance so winter time ice shoudl not cause the shakes like before.



I got the Counteract from Mikes Tire Supply in Mpls, MN 612-724-1518. He was very good to deal with.



jjw

ND

 

[C Schomer]

That sounds like neat stuff! I've known of those liquid balancers for about 25 years now. I worked for a contractor in the 70's who bought 1000 gallons of a liquid balancer(became a dealer) that looked just like Pepto Bismol. His son used it religiously in his old Blazer until it rusted out his rims so badly the air leaked out of all the pinholes. I hope your stuff is noncorrosive! Craig

 

[illflem]

Craig, I remember the pink stuff, the tire repair guys hated it. When they popped the tire off the rim their tire machines got painted pink. Didn't really help to warn them.

 

[Cooker]

I'm a little concerned about this stuff rolling around on the rim.



I know it works great. A friend put some in his 36" tires on his Jeep and the ride quality before and after was like night and day.

 

[.44 mag]

I'm running the product in a set of BFG mud tires on my truck. They have about 7k on them at the moment and are wearing fine. The balance seems fine driving at most speeds. Overall, I'm happy with the product.

I installed it in a customers '97 1500 2wd and he's not impressed with it. He says that a change in speed or a bump in the road causes it to shift about and gives a vibration for a bit untill it rebalances itself. Has anyone else had this experience?? Anyone know a fix??

The product seems like a good idea if it could be made to work consistantly.

 

[JJW_ND]

In reading the litature online it appears this stuff was test and primarly used by big trucks with big tires and stiff sidewalls. There was a mention of testing with passenger car tires and modifing the electrostatic properties to keep in stuck on a soft tire that flexes alot. Maybe 1/2T fall into this group. I think its application starts with tires used on our trucks and just gets better as the tires get bigger and heavier.



The "sand" is glass beads. That appear very uniform in size. No dust that I could see.



I think it would rarely touch the rim. It would stuck to the inside of the tire.



So what kinda of "G"s is their on the inside of a 235/85R16 at 70 mph? Should keep it stuck to to tires most of the time.



I'm sure in slow offroad, rough trail driving this stuff would be constantly falling off and trying to rebalance. DOES IT MATTER when off roading.



Roads in ND are pretty darn rough. Our DOT does not mark a "bump" unless it causes you to get airborn at highway speeds. The little driving I have done had been smooth as glass. Even intown under slower driving and rough city roads.



Looking forward to see how it does with rims full of ice or mud.



jjw

ND

 

[Beast2B]

after a few miles

JJW-ND,

After running these beads for a while, what do you think? I picked up some packages for my new tires/wheels, but I won't have it all mounted up for a week or so... I referred another thread to this one in regards to trouble with tire balancing, hope it helps!

Anyway, please let me know how the Counteract is working now

 

[JJW_ND]

So far...very smooth!

Have about 1500 miles since install. Very smooth at all times. Did some off road (mud) driving while deer hunting. Even driving the 300 miles home after this was smooth as glass.



I did check air once at home and developed a leak in the valve stem. To be safe I would always check tire presure when you have an air supply to give a little shot to each wheel to blow the valve stems clear or correct and "leaks"



I am going to check the presure (without) blowing them out several more times to make sure this was not related to the tire install. Might have been a onetime problem. In 200K miles the only reason I check air presure is to increase or decrease presure from what I usually run. I have NEVER had one be different from what it was previously set. Even going from 100+ to -30 air temps.



If one has to use caution check presure, it is still worth the smooth ride that will always be selve correcting and no ugly wheel weights to clean around or damage rims.



I really like it and this along with having the tires siped will be done on all my tires.



jjw

ND

 

[E7mack96]

Myers Tire supply sells valve cores with filters in the end so that the stuff does not clog a valve stem.