[RatPin]

I have them in the tires on my harley to eliminate ugly wheel weights. They have worked good so far. Worst part was getting them down the damn valve stem.

[Jgzwrecker]

The counteract beads stay in place and do not move around causing damage to the tire. Here is the info if you would like to read it.

http://www.tirebalancingbeads.com/ca...l-Information/

[turbowner]

old thread and same old story. everybody has a negative opinion, but nobody man's up and tries them. I have a wheel balancer i can try them on, and i'll try them on the car. if i can find a newer post, i'll forward the results.

[matts37chev]

I dont know how I missed this, but..

I have used both commercial brands, Equal and Counteract on big and little trucks and also cars

I have my own tire machine but my spin balancer died, so I used the counteract
in my f250s' 305/70r16 on 10x16 alum wheels when I put them on and they work great

sometimes you will get what feels like a flat spot at first but it goes away very quickly

[ForceFed86]

I tried 4 oz of airsoft rounds in my 28x10 slicks. Worked great, smoothest the car has ever been at 137mph.

[Irelands child]

The guys pulling RV's with 1 ton and up pick ups swear by the balance beads. Also the big Class A motor home owners think they are great. They are also convinced that the Hunter Road Force balance is great too.

[hduff]

Thanks, guys, for keeping this thread alive and reporting your experiences.

[cobalt327]

Originally Posted by turbowner

old thread and same old story. everybody has a negative opinion, but nobody man's up and tries them.

Did you read the whole thread? A few negatives is all I saw. And a couple w/healthy skepticism. The majority either like them or are interested in them.

[eloc431962]

Originally Posted by sbchevfreak

Have you ever tried to balance a 37x12.50 on a spin machine? Nearly impossible. the CBB beads are VERY effective.

I alway's used a bubble balancer. now this is back when we was running 17x40s and 18x44 gumbo mudders though.
I have 35s on my truck now but it rides pretty good has some shake to it i might have to try some beads to see just how they do work.


Cole

[eloc431962]

Originally Posted by turbowner

old thread and same old story. everybody has a negative opinion, but nobody man's up and tries them. I have a wheel balancer i can try them on, and i'll try them on the car. if i can find a newer post, i'll forward the results.

Hummmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by cobalt327

Did you read the whole thread? A few negatives is all I saw. And a couple w/healthy skepticism. The majority either like them or are interested in them.

Heck of a first post huh!!!!!!!!!!!



Cole

[JusttCruzn]

Well I for one am using them in three trucks. Two of my dual work trucks 225/70R19.5 and my personnel Excursion with 33x12.50x17 muds.

They work great....NO external weights.

And you NEVER have to re-balance....that is big for me. I hate having to take time and MONEY every 5-7 thousand miles to re-balance.

For all that claim they are nonsense - Do not make claims about a product unless you have tried it and it failed for YOU.

I would hazard to guess all the guys claiming they are a joke have NEVER tried them.

I did alot of research on the net and phone to make a choice. Did not want steel beads because of rust ( they all rust sooner or later), did not want glass beads (obviously because they break apart), did not want the static beads because because I talked to guys that did not like them, did not want the powder/ sandy stuff as I have seen it in a muddy consistency when it came out of tires. The moisture in the tires turns it to a paste and it quits working.

The ONLY one I wanted to try was the white ceramic type beads. They do not rust or break apart and moisture will not affect them. A couple of places sell them but the best price I found was on Ebay. Search "Tire Balance Beads" on Ebay. They are white and if I remember correctly they were under $2 an ounce with free shipping.

Anyway... MTCW

[Old Fool]

Take a baton, it has a heavy and light end. place it on a finger. When it is balanced the light end is farther from your finger and the heavy end is closer. That demonstrates the center of Rotational balance, not the physical center of the baton. The beads will travel to the greatest distance from the Rotational balance center which will then move the center of rotational balance closer to the center of rotation. The beads acting as a fluid will continue to adjust as long as a rotational force greater than their individual mass is present. That is a simple explanation of how it works.

Someone said their memory of physics say it won't work,

After some Googling I came across the physics formula that explains why it does work:

Think about it like this:

x = \alpha \cos \frac{s}{\alpha} \ ;   y=\alpha \sin\frac{s}{\alpha} \ .

Then:

x^2+y^2 = \alpha^2 \ ,

which can be recognized as a circular path around the origin with radius α. The position s = 0 corresponds to [α, 0], or 3 o'clock. To use the above formalism the derivatives are needed:

y'(s) = \cos \frac{s}{\alpha}\ ; \ x'(s) = -\sin \frac{s}{\alpha} \
y''(s) = -\frac{1}{\alpha}\sin\frac{s}{\alpha} \ ; \ x''(s) = -\frac{1}{\alpha}\cos \frac{s}{\alpha} \ .

With these results one can verify that:

x'(s)^2 + y'(s)^2 = 1 \  ;  \frac{1}{\rho} = y''(s)x'(s)-y''(s)x''(s) = \frac{1}{\alpha}\ .

The unit vectors also can be found:

\mathbf{u}_t(s) = \left[-\sin\frac{s}{\alpha},\ \cos\frac{s}{\alpha} \right]\  ;  \mathbf{u}_n(s) = \left[\cos\frac{s}{\alpha},\ \sin\frac{s}{\alpha} \right] \ ,

which serve to show that s = 0 is located at position [ρ, 0] and s = ρπ/2 at [0, ρ], which agrees with the original expressions for x and y. In other words, s is measured counterclockwise around the circle from 3 o'clock. Also, the derivatives of these vectors can be found:

\frac{d}{ds}\mathbf{u}_t(s) = -\frac{1}{\alpha} \left[\cos\frac{s}{\alpha},\ \sin\frac{s}{\alpha} \right]\   = -\frac{1}{\alpha}\mathbf{u}_n(s) \ ;

\ \frac{d}{ds}\mathbf{u}_n(s)   = \frac{1}{\alpha} \left[-\sin\frac{s}{\alpha},\ \cos\frac{s}{\alpha} \right]   = \frac{1}{\alpha}\mathbf{u}_t(s) \ .

To obtain velocity and acceleration, a time-dependence for s is necessary. For counterclockwise motion at variable speed v(t):

s(t) = \int_0^t \ dt' \ v(t') \ ,

where v(t) is the speed and t is time, and s(t=0) = 0. Then:

\mathbf{v} = v(t)\mathbf{u}_t(s) \ ,

\mathbf{a} = \frac{dv}{dt}\mathbf{u}_t(s)+v\frac{d}{dt}\mathbf{ u}_t(s)   = \frac{dv}{dt}\mathbf{u}_t(s)-v\frac{1}{\alpha}\mathbf{u}_n(s)\frac{ds}{dt}

=\frac{dv}{dt}\mathbf{u}_t(s)-\frac{v^2}{\alpha}\mathbf{u}_n(s),


where it already is established that α = ρ. This acceleration is the standard result for non-uniform circular motion.

[JusttCruzn]

WOW...very nice Old Fool.

I'm so glad there are folks like you out there that can understand that stuff.

As for me?... I just know what I feel in the steering wheel and the seat of my pants ...

a smoooooth ride



I do not have to know exactly how a wrist watch works. I just know that it does and I use it EVERY day.

[DesignoSLK]

Originally Posted by xxllmm4

I have actually used these beads on a bunch of my cars and trucks and have always been happy with them. I have used the stainless steel ones at http://callieskustoms.com/CalliesKus...g%20Beads.html I have them in my WRX Tires and at 120 MPH have not a had any shakes or shimmy.

I have a Harbor Freight tire changer and do all my own tires but don't have a balancing machine, no need to have one with the beads. These are really common with 4x4 guys, motorcycles and Truckers.

Sorry for the old bump...

xxllmm4 - I assume your WRX tires are low profile? I have 225/40ZR18s on my MB SLK230 and am having a heck of a time getting balanced. Driving the Autobahn daily, I need rock solid balancing. Are you still happy with the results of these?

[bentwings]

I hang out in a large truck shop and every over the road truck that I see has massive balancers at each wheel. The shop guys claim they really work. 90-100k miles on big truck tires must mean something. They change 100 tires a day sometimes on this fleet.