Beads in your tire

[Dagny]

Heard about this a few years ago then forgot about it. saw it again and thought I would run it by the garage. To me a bunch of beads in a spinning tire would distribute themselves evenly around the tire as far as they could get from the axis. Seems a little dumber than buying nitrogen for them.

 

[bwringer]

Oh boy, now you're gonna trigger the Beadlievers.

 

[Steiger9]

Looked into them a long time ago for a heavy truck that had balancing issues. I was cheap and wasn't about to take it to a proper shop. It was split rim/tubed and as small as the beads were I couldn't get them through the valve stem. At the time I had also read of off raiders putting bb's in their swampers.

The beads i bought were sold at a legit heavy truck shop...i figured they must work or they wouldn't sell them?

 

[manwithtools]

Popular with the RV crowd in the bigger Class A units. I have no experience with them, but some folks swear by them.

 

[dledinger]

Personally never saw the allure.

Always wondered - Do TPMS sensors render this obsolete?

 

[Farmall450]

Seems everyone you see using them on YT keeps using them down the road, and monitors fleet wear pretty closely.

 

[J.C.]

I have done that on motorcycles before, worked well and meant I didn't need to bother balancing the wheel/tyre with weights. Never bothered with the car, but then I don't do my own tyre changes on the car but do the motorcycle.

 

[plinker]

beads are common on large trucks (class 8), mainly for steer tires. The issues I've seen with smaller light truck tires (usually aftermarket wheels & heavy mud type tires) is the beads can static cling to the tire and really throw it off. Not sure on the difference as to why they work or dont, could be different brands of beads. Apparently airsoft beads for balance are a thing now too.

 

[Dagny]

Any amateur scientist here with any theories on why spinning beads would go to the lightest part of the tire. What forces of nature would overcome the centrifugal force. I think none.

 

[Arkansas COB]

I use them on the motorcycle with mag wheels but not on the one with spoke wheels.
Yes I noticed a difference when I put them in.
Never on a car or truck though.

COB

 

[Farmall450]

There have been aftermarket balancers for semis that are essentially a tube of sand/beads you bolt in between the rims. These have been available for years and are well received.

 

[Farmall450]

Any amateur scientist here with any theories on why spinning beads would go to the lightest part of the tire. What forces of nature would overcome the centrifugal force. I think none.

They don't go to the lightest part; they go away from the heaviest as it rotates. https://www.rideapart.com/articles/254107/dyna-beads-miracle-balancing-cure-or-tire-snake-oil/

 

[gungatim]

All I use. never had a problem, been about 7 years now on maybe 7 or 8 daily drivers and several of my bikes.

only issue I had was with the really old large TPMS units that were the size of a couple matchbox cars strapped to the middle of the rim. could occasionally get stuck there but extra beads compensated until I yanked them all out (vette).

I use the hardest air soft pellets, much cheaper than actual branded beads and just as effective.

 

[highland512]

I run them in my one ton pickup. There work great and are worth every dime when I think about having to go to the tire shop and let those mouth breathers cover the inside of my truck with brake dust and greasy hand prints.

 

[cherrybomb]

Not sure on cars,but these have been used in Class 8,semi trucks for many years.One of the xm radio trucker hosts,who also had them in his rigs,swears that they are the best.He was approached by other manufacturers, here try these,let us know how they work out.So I believe I would not be afraid to try.

 

[ovilla]

I’ve used beads on my motorcycle wheels with great success. Always had a very smooth ride. For cars and trucks I use sticky weights since I like to balance them every other oil change and look at the condition of my tires, brakes, and suspension. I have a tire changer and balancer at home, which is very convenient.

 

[PelicanPines]

Use of beads inside your tires confirms the earth is flat and PVC airlines are the work of the devil.

 

[muduck18]

I run them in my one ton pickup. There work great and are worth every dime when I think about having to go to the tire shop and let those mouth breathers cover the inside of my truck with brake dust and greasy hand prints.

I keep meaning to put them in my 1ton to try them, every time I have had a shop “balance” the wheels the wheel weights contact the brake caliper and no one seems to notice or care.

All I use. never had a problem, been about 7 years now on maybe 7 or 8 daily drivers and several of my bikes.

only issue I had was with the really old large TPMS units that were the size of a couple matchbox cars strapped to the middle of the rim. could occasionally get stuck there but extra beads compensated until I yanked them all out (vette).

I use the hardest air soft pellets, much cheaper than actual branded beads and just as effective.

:ditto:

I’ve been running them in my Jeep for 7-8years. Airsoft black

The only issue I have is if I hit a large bump when I’m just taking off from a stop sign something gets stuck and I’ll get a small vibration, I have to slow back down to under 5mph to get it back. Then it’s fine. Strangest thing.

But no wheel weights and the thing is smooth 80+mph no issues.

 

[Movover]

I have them in 2 of my cars. Work just fine, but are not a cure all. If you drive on the highway a lot they are great, In town they won't self balance till about 20-30mph and you might get some shaking

 

[WunTon]

I run air soft bbs in my off-road truck with 40s and bead locks and they worked great. I was too cheap to buy the real thing for something that seldom sees road use but for the handful of times I have driven it on the road they balance out very well for big heavy biased ply tires on often hard to balance rims.

 

[mikehaugen]

I've heard of this before and always wondered if there was a way to determine the "proper amount" to put in...


Sent from my SM-G930V using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[muduck18]

I've heard of this before and always wondered if there was a way to determine the "proper amount" to put in...


Sent from my SM-G930V using The Garage Journal mobile app

I just doubled the weight of typical wheel weights in beads. For example if I took 8oz of weights off I put 16 inside.
I don’t know if that’s proper. But it worked for my Jeep.

 

[gungatim]

I just doubled the weight of typical wheel weights in beads. For example if I took 8oz of weights off I put 16 inside.
I don’t know if that’s proper. But it worked for my Jeep.

That's pretty much what I do as well, when I pull the original weight I put the same amount of beads, then toss in an extra handful. I've only had one tire that seemed like it needed more, so when I got around to it, I pulled the wheel off, broke the bead, and tossed in another handful. it helps if you have your own tire machine, but supposedly you can add them through the valve stem though I've never tried.

 

[ticci]

Here is one calculator: https://www.counteractbalancing.com/application-calculator/.

They also claim to use 1oz of beads for 13oz of tyre as general rule.

 

[sberry]

I have seen pics where this stuff has worn out the inside of the casing. Not sure which ones or how much. Curious what the tire people say?

 

[gungatim]

I have seen pics where this stuff has worn out the inside of the casing. Not sure which ones or how much. Curious what the tire people say?

I haven't seen any wear in the casing from any of the tires I have changed; when moving faster than about 5mph the centrifugal force pins the beads in place. they don't really roll around in there except starting from a stop. And when they do, a bunch of plastic beads don't exert much force by themselves.

I suppose if you replaced beads with sand it would do a nifty job sanding a rusty rim clean.

I've always wondered if a liquid worked better than beads, like say a gallon of some sort of goop that doesn't harden, not too thin, not too thick. pump through the valve stem and smooth out a rough tire. could probably sell it on an infomercial with a free can of fancy fire proof paint preserver...

 

[muduck18]

I have seen pics where this stuff has worn out the inside of the casing. Not sure which ones or how much. Curious what the tire people say?

I’ve heard of guys using steel BB’s that ate or chewed the tire, but I’ve never seen it for myself.

 

[FTG-05]

All my on-road vehicles and my one trailer have dynamic balancers in their tires. However, instead of beads, I use antifreeze. In the past, I've used BB's.

Doesn't affect the tire and/or wheel, easier to install (don't need to remove the tire or the wheel) and it's cheap. I use the counteract chart in th elink provied above for recommendations on how much to add to each tire.

Before you use these however, make sure your tire will balance and is not out of round, same for the wheel. Hence, for new tires make the tire shop mount and balance them, then test test drive. Add the DB of your choice after that.

 

[FTG-05]

I’ve heard of guys using steel BB’s that ate or chewed the tire, but I’ve never seen it for myself.

Let's do some math shall we:

Four tires on a 4000 lb vehicle (we'll use simple math just to make the point); hence 1000 lbs on the outside surface of the tire 100% of the time and is being used/scrubbed/worn away each and every time the vehicle moves.

vs.

4 oz (for example) on the inside of each tire. That is exactly 1/4000 ratio of weight inside vs outside. Granted, the inside of a tire is not made as tough as the outside, but it's no where near 1/4000 times weaker.

Furthermore, any time the tire reaches 20-25 mph, the BB's are moved to where they need to be by centrifugal force and then pretty much stay there at higher speeds.

So the forces on the inside of the tire are 1/4000 as great and only act on the inside of the tire only a percentage of the time the vehicle is moving.

Hence, I call BS on wearing out the inside of the tire bit. And of course, it's entirely irrelevant when using antifreeze.

 

[muduck18]

Let's do some math shall we:



Four tires on a 4000 lb vehicle (we'll use simple math just to make the point); hence 1000 lbs on the outside surface of the tire 100% of the time and is being used/scrubbed/worn away each and every time the vehicle moves.



vs.



4 oz (for example) on the inside of each tire. That is exactly 1/4000 ratio of weight inside vs outside. Granted, the inside of a tire is not made as tough as the outside, but it's no where near 1/4000 times weaker.



Furthermore, any time the tire reaches 20-25 mph, the BB's are moved to where they need to be by centrifugal force and then pretty much stay there at higher speeds.



So the forces on the inside of the tire are 1/4000 as great and only act on the inside of the tire only a percentage of the time the vehicle is moving.



Hence, I call BS on wearing out the inside of the tire bit. And of course, it's entirely irrelevant when using antifreeze.

Yeah, like I said, I’ve heard it, but never seen it. I agree with your analysis, it is my suspicion be the user ran their tires under inflated or flat.
Let’s be honest. Why would someone be looking at the interior of their own tire unless they have a failure or their own tire machine.
[emoji2369]