Beads, Internal Tire Balance

[Eugene]

http://www.checkeredflagtires.com/HowTheyWork.html

I'm still thinking this one over. Thinking at low, drive around town speed, the beads would just roll around at the bottom of the tire. Wonder what the speed/tire rpms would have to be to distribute the beads to balance the tire.

[Jim Becker]

JC Whitney used to sell disks with similar magic beans that fit between the wheel and brake drum. I assume these are about as effective.

[ricky racer]

I am currently using Dyna Beads in the tires on my motorcycle with no issues or complaints. Dyna Beads are small ceramic beads, I'm guessing 1/32" in diameter that are poured into the mounted tire. Dyna Beads recommends 1-2 oz. in the front tire and 2-3 oz. in the rear for most motorcycles. Passenger cars or trucks will require more.

How well do they work? You've got me. The tires on my BMW are Michelin's which are very good tires. Motorcycle tires seem to be held to a higher standard than passenger car tires as far as quality and balance goes. I can't really verify that but it has always been my feeling. I've never had to add much weight to balance motorcycle tires unlike car tires that I've balanced.

One nice thing about the Dyna Beads is you can transfer them from your old tires to the new ones if you are careful not to spill them when you remove the old tire. At least that's what I do because I'm cheap!

Installing them through the valve stem is a pain. You have to pour them in REAL SLOW or they will back up and you have to tap the valve stem to get them to drop into the tire.



It is easier to pour them into the tire before you seat the beads on the rims.

[Yogie]

We use them here at the shop about every day in large truck tires and in most of the pickups used by gas well tenders in the area ( 10.5 oz bags). These well tenders go through a lot of mud filling the wheels full of mud that sticks to the rims so this works better then a regular wheel ballance. They all seemed to be really pleased with the product, I just shake my head and pour it in...
The beads are kind of dangerous once a hand full falls on the floor it's like walking on ice or worse. We use a sweeper to suck them out of the changed tires, not checked the sweeper lately, might be a gallon in there. You can reuse them if you want to with no problem.

[RaymondDurban]

Like Ricky, I've used these before except on a 1 ton dually. They worked great, and I had them installed with new tires. The package that was used contained a little less than a handful of the little beads of different sizes (and weights I would imagine) and colors. I was skeptical at first, until after the first tire was installed with the beads and put on the tire balancing machine. It was perfect right off the bat and I told them to finish the rest up. I've never had any vibration or uneven wear issues out of any of the tires for going on 5 years now.

[Don McCombs]

What does it cost to install these beads in a typical SUV or pickup truck tire?

[ricky racer]

What does it cost to install these beads in a typical SUV or pickup truck tire?

You should be able to find out here:

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/index.php

[Yogie]

What does it cost to install these beads in a typical SUV or pickup truck tire?

Don, we charge around $10 for a 10.5 oz bag for each tire while mounting them be it a large truck or 4x4 pickup.
10.5 oz adds up in size to about 1/2 of a soda can or a little less.
That price is about half of the web site Ricky shows.
If you want to give them a try, I'll sell you some new at cost or sift you a bunch out of my sweeper for free.

[Don McCombs]

Yogie,

Let's talk at David's.

[Gary Dotson]

Even though we tested the beads, at the research center, I could never really decide if they were effective, or not. At the time, I had a Buick Riviera that I was having balance issues with so I decided to give them a try. I really couldn't tell much difference, maybe a slight improvement. One issue I had with them, is that they can get caught in the valve core and when you check tire pressure, you end up with a flat tire. That happened two times.