Love/Hate Balance Beads – What I’ve learned

[DWiggles]

Did anybody have better luck with the balancing beads. Maybe they improved over the years? I am debating if I should give them a shot with my new wheels since most shops don’t want to balance beadlocks. I am leaning towards not using them and saving me time money and frustration.

I’m glad you asked this question I’ve been searching for information on this myself. All I can contribute is that I have a friend that has 3 raptors. Yea I know! Back to the subject he uses the beads on all of his trucks and swears by them. He runs 35’s general grapplers.


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As far as I know, the laws of physics haven't changed. :crazyeyes:

IF your tires aren't round, The beads will "work" due to Newtons first law of motion.

IF your tires have sidewall imbalances, The beads will NOT "work" again, due to Newtons first law of motion.

:idontknow: Curious about what kind of "improvements" could possibly be made to change this?? I cant think of anything... maybe dynamic balancing? ... Wait... :cheesy:

:beer:

 

[Ddays]

I shop-vac'd all of those worthless beads out of my front wheels after I FINALLY found a shop that would balance mine. Like Eddie said, you can try to convince yourself they work but I speak from experience as well - they ain't worth shit. There was absolutely no discernible difference with them. Good thing they are cheap because they are a complete waste of time and energy.


Edit: addressing Brute's question below, my STT Pros started out fine up to about 70-75 but as they wore they started to get out of balance. At 2/3 to 1/2 tread life they were pretty shaky above 65.

 

[Brute]

Eddie...how have you found the Cooper Stt's as far as mounting without balancing?...due the seem to roll true?

 

[benatc1]

Eddie...how have you found the Cooper Stt's as far as mounting without balancing?...due the seem to roll true?

I realize you asked Eddie, but when I had 37x13.5s on slabs I never balanced them and jeep was smooth up to 80, and I think he has had the same results.


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[wayoflife]

Eddie...how have you found the Cooper Stt's as far as mounting without balancing?...due the seem to roll true?

What Ben said. If you look at my wheels, you won’t find any weights on them. If you drive my Jeep, I think you’d agree that none are needed. That’s not always the case but with Coopers, more times than not.


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[VeruGE*144]

Balancing beads are still snake oil. Nothing beats a good balancing with tape weights.



People are always eager to convince themselves that they've made the right decision on whatever it is they've chosen to buy. To say otherwise would mean they'd have to admit they're wrong. Not all tires need balancing.

Thanks Eddie.

As far as I know, the laws of physics haven't changed. :crazyeyes:

IF your tires aren't round, The beads will "work" due to Newtons first law of motion.

IF your tires have sidewall imbalances, The beads will NOT "work" again, due to Newtons first law of motion.

:idontknow: Curious about what kind of "improvements" could possibly be made to change this?? I cant think of anything... maybe dynamic balancing? ... Wait... :cheesy:

:beer:

I was really hoping that the laws of physics would change by now and I can use the magical beads. *

I shop-vac'd all of those worthless beads out of my front wheels after I FINALLY found a shop that would balance mine. Like Eddie said, you can try to convince yourself they work but I speak from experience as well - they ain't worth shit. There was absolutely no discernible difference with them. Good thing they are cheap because they are a complete waste of time and energy.


Edit: addressing Brute's question below, my STT Pros started out fine up to about 70-75 but as they wore they started to get out of balance. At 2/3 to 1/2 tread life they were pretty shaky above 65.

thanks for sharing [emoji482]

I realize you asked Eddie, but when I had 37x13.5s on slabs I never balanced them and jeep was smooth up to 80, and I think he has had the same results.


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Good to know.

 

[Brute]

What Ben said. If you look at my wheels, you won’t find any weights on them. If you drive my Jeep, I think you’d agree that none are needed. That’s not always the case but with Coopers, more times than not.


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Mahalo...I'm ordering (5) 40x13.50R17 STT's this weekend from Discount Tire and take advantage of their Memorial Day sale...