Balancing Beads?

[Glennman]

I was watching a YouTube video the other day on how to change a tire on a rim, and in lieu of balancing tires the person put 6 or 8 ounces of "balancing beads" inside the tire. Anyone here have any experience with that?

[Nova Eona]

I was watching a YouTube video the other day on how to change a tire on a rim, and in lieu of balancing tires the person put 6 or 8 ounces of "balancing beads" inside the tire. Anyone here have any experience with that?

I've got them in my drive tires, and have used them on light vehicles before with good experiences too.  I think the Centramatic balancers might be the coolest option out there, but I like the beads more than the weights generally - they'll adjust dynamically and can't fall off.

[Iceni John]

I'm very curious  -  how exactly do they work?

John

[luvrbus]

Beads have been around for a long time and work,your better bus tires come with a balancing dot you line the dot with the valve stem and need nothing, I haven't used beads or weights on Toyo tires mounted on Alcoa wheels in over 30 years just the dot,85% of the time it's the brake drum that is out of balance

[dtcerrato]

We run Centramatic on the rear duals for a long time.

[Glennman]

I think I'll give them a try. Thanks everyone for your input.

[luvrbus]

If you tire monitors (TPMS) sensors are inside the tires you cannot use the beads

[Glennman]

If you tire monitors (TPMS) sensors are inside the tires you cannot use the beads

Good point luvrbus. I was thinking about adding TPMS, but not if adding balancing beads! Now I have to make a decision. I was hoping to avoid that!

[Nova Eona]

Could just do beads with valve-mounted TPMS

[dtcerrato]

The Centramatic is nice because it is independent to the tires and can serve any tire change at it's location.

[luvrbus]

The Centramatic is nice because it is independent to the tires and can serve any tire change at it's location.

Those won't fit or work all on buses,they block the air flow for cooling on the brake drums or disks pads ,you won't see those on many buses.I have set of take offs in the shop because of the heating problem caused by Centramatics,but if they work for you go for it 

[Jim Blackwood]

OK I just can't understand how these could possibly work. Wouldn't they tend to roll to the most off center location and make it worse? Or if they just keep rolling to the bottom how does that make any difference in the balance? Maybe they act as a damper? In which case they really aren't doing anything at all to affect the actual balance. Just seems like snake oil to me.

Jim

[bobofthenorth]

OK I just can't understand how these could possibly work. Wouldn't they tend to roll to the most off center location and make it worse?

I don't understand the science either but my son has a fleet of trucks and he swears they work. He's pretty careful with his cash so I trust his word. They'll fly out by centrifugal force and spend their life immediately inside the tread, but why that would make an out of balance tire not out of balance is beyond me. I bought a pickup once that had been sitting for a long time. It had balance beads in the tires and it about leaped off the road when I first got it up to speed but it very quickly smoothed out.  I assume the beads started in a lump at the bottom of the tire and then figured it out once I got moving but I don't know why they would do that.

[dtcerrato]

https://youtu.be/_7CghNsdGbk

[lostagain]

A good tire doesn't need balancing, especially on the drive axle.