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Balance Beads... counterintuitive?

cheavyk10

cheavyk10

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Can balance beads actually make a truck shake worse; as in make the tire more out of balance?
Here's my scenario: 84 K10, one tons, 37x14.50x15 Toyo MT's on 15x10 Bart Super Truckers 8lug, 3.75 backspacing. IMG_20220529_152215973.jpg
Everything suspension wise and axle wise is in great shape, I'm kinda OCD when it comes to maintenance.
I was running 6.5 OZ of some generic balance beads in all the tires, and it seemed to work OK for a couple thousand miles, and I drove 1000mi each way to Blazer Bash and it wasn't too terrible.
Now I have had Super Swamper LTB's on this truck at one time so I know what tire shake is like.
Recently I smashed down to Gladstone (Portland) Oregon to help @Cucv_M1008 work on some LS stuff, and the truck just beat me up. The rear locker isn't easy on tires, and with maybe 5000mi on the set, I thought the hell with balance beads, let me get these balanced for real. I want to be able to cruise down the highway without drama, at least around 65mph.
So the other day I stopped by my local tire shop run by my buddy, Andy's Radical Radials, to see what he could do for me. Luckily this guy is a wheeler, and owns a built Sami and used to own a '75 Jimmy on Boggers, and is the only tire shop in town that will touch my truck. You know, liability on a custom truck and whatever.
Some 54's Andy had at his shop:IMG_20210821_134031469.jpg

Here was our plan, knock the wheels and tires down, suck out the old balance beads, and try to actually balance these things. Well that didn't work out too well. The first tire we tried needed almost 2 lb of weight to be balanced.
IMG_20220527_135827025.jpg
At this point we had a really good laugh, agreed that Bart wheels are the best, and put the front tires back on the truck without the balance beads. We didn't even touch the rear, which I feared would be worse anyway. Andy ordered up some fancy balance beads, and said we will try 12oz a tire when they come in. Then he told me to get my junk off his property...:D.
Well today, I took a blast down the highway for S&G's, and the truck actually rode great. I even took it up to 85 mph and it shook way less than before. Also at the same PSI.
So, after my long-winded story, can balance beads actually have an adverse effect and make a out of round wheel worse? Is it some kind of science I don't understand? And will doubling the amount of beads actually work or turn the tires into squares? I'm thinking now I might pull the beads out of the back tires and experiment again.
And don't tell me to buy 17's...:pimp:
 
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If you use air without a drier on the line then the media can clump. But by physical laws of the centrifuge it will balance out.
 
I run somewhere close to 22 oz of airsoft BB's in my 42's. Can't say if there is a maximum limit but I can say that I don't measure to the exact and I've had no problems. Chunk a tire, its still smooth. No changes.

I like the Walmart airsoft BB's as they are cheap and have held up very well.
 

This is what the site says to run in that configuration of tire. It said 14 ounces.
That is also what I run in my 37/12.50/17's and they ride very well. It does seem to take a few miles for them to smooth out if the truck has been sitting a bit.

I like the way it rides, way better than weight balancing, this was the first time I used them and ran weights since 2006 on this rig. I did the bead balancing just before blazerbash 2021.

My tire guy also said he just throws the bags in on the one I had to have mounted. The others, I popped the weights off and used the kit to put them in through the valve stem. He said the bags will break up. No difference in the feel of the tires with beads or the one that the bags were thrown in.
 
70jimmy said:

This is what the site says to run in that configuration of tire. It said 14 ounces.
That is also what I run in my 37/12.50/17's and they ride very well. It does seem to take a few miles for them to smooth out if the truck has been sitting a bit.

I like the way it rides, way better than weight balancing, this was the first time I used them and ran weights since 2006 on this rig. I did the bead balancing just before blazerbash 2021.

My tire guy also said he just throws the bags in on the one I had to have mounted. The others, I popped the weights off and used the kit to put them in through the valve stem. He said the bags will break up. No difference in the feel of the tires with beads or the one that the bags were thrown in.
Click to expand...
Cool calculator!!
Now I'm thinking I wasn't using enough beads, and that led to them not getting to where they need to be in the tire.
 
I’m running 10 oz. of counteract brand beads in my 40” Nittos. I noticed they aren’t Perfect when I first get on the highway if it has been sitting for a couple weeks. It smooths out after a 1/5-1/2 mile it seems.
 
The further away from center the weight gets, the less it takes to balance it. That just means your shit is WAY out.
 
I always run the steel bb's and have had no gripes. 16oz seems to be the magic number for me, in any large/heavy tire. Even 11R22.5's with lots of road time.
 
I am running 10 oZ of Dyna Beads in each of my 385/70/R16 tires (37" tire). They work OK, but not perfect. I have run balancing beads in all my off road tires that are bigger than 35". You basically have no other choice for balancing with tires bigger than 35". Balancing beads is as good as it going to get with large off road tires. There are tire charts that will tell you how many oZ of beads to run in what tire size. I usually run about 2 oZ more than the chart says to run.

full
 
Fastereddie said:
I’m running 10 oz. of counteract brand beads in my 40” Nittos. I noticed they aren’t Perfect when I first get on the highway if it has been sitting for a couple weeks. It smooths out after a 1/5-1/2 mile it seems.
Click to expand...
My truck is the same. Since my rig is not a daily driver it may sit in the shop for up to 2 to 3 weeks at a time before I take it out for a drive. It takes up to 2 to 3 miles for mine to get round again, and start smoothing out.
 
I was running 37/14.5 bias swampers for a while on my blue truck. I used a full package of airsoft BBs in each tire.

At speed it was always smooth as ice.
But hit a pot hole under 30 and all hell would break loose.
Just like real death wobble at higher speeds.
Only did it when a tire was bumped at slower speeds.
I even went through the kingpins and front bearings thinking it WAS death wobble.
Swapped the tires for some 35" radials with the semi truck style ceramic beads that I had around, and it hasn't happened since. :dunno:
Fuggin sucked because I liked the other tires better.
I'm not sure if it was the difference in balance bead type or what. Sold the tires before I thought of the fact that I should have tried a different method.
 
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