EQUAL Compound ?

[bnicol]

Just put 6 new michelins on yesterday,they talked me into the equal.I have read old post on it but decided to try it rather than weights on my chrome wheels.The first 10 miles home i was pis## off, about shook the coach apart.next 20 miles to home were better but not as smooth as 8 year old michlins.I called the shop and they said the bags take 100 or so miles to work .havent driven it today but leaving for sunny Fl next week.what do u think?

[George Z]

Have Equal in my front Sumos but nothing in rears. Happy with the smooth ride from the beginning.

[JohnRR]

Do you know if they installed the Equal compatible valve core stems? The stems have nothing to do with the ride but can cause chaos when checking tire pressures if you don't have them.

[rsflight]

I put DynaBeads (an Equal competitor) in my pickup and motorhome 1.50 years ago. The pickup took 40 miles before the beads completely break out of their 'bags'. The pickup has 17" tires. The RV has 22.5" tires and it took about 20 miles for it to dissolve the 'bags'. The products work fine. The local truck tire shops swear by the stuff. Both vehicles continue to run very smooth. The pickup remains balanced even when it gets a build up of winter ice on it. It's very popular for motorcycle tires too. I like how it works and rides. They are not suggested for wide, low profile tires.

A low speed drive (<20mph) or lots of stop & go traffic will break the bags apart quicker. You want to drive slow enough so that the bags climb part way up on the inside then fall. Much like the action of clothes in a clothes dryer. At highway speeds the bags are thrown against the inside of the tire and see less turbulant action, thus taking longer to break apart.

[bnicol]

Yes John they installed the proper cores Bill

[bdaball]

After 4 years on our prior coach we were very happy right from very the beginning with equal.

I can tell you that one of our traveling buddies with 22.5 tires on a Tiffin bus had a shake and shimmy he could never get rid of.

The cause was during the initial installation of new tires and equal, the mechanic used an excessive amount of tire lube which ran into the inside of the tire and when mixed with the equal caused lumps the size of marbles that never completely broke down.

Another word of caution, when checking your air pressure it is a good idea to have the properly screened wheel stems in the upper half of rotation. (from 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock postion)

[JohnRR]

Great, thank you.

[bnicol]

once the bags break open does it take a few miles to smooth out everytime you let it sit? Bill

[jimkate]

If you've driven 20 miles or more and there's still a shake, I'd take the coach back to the tire shop. You may have a tire that has not been mounted on the rim properly, causing an out of round situation. You may also have a defective tire, out of balance so much that the Equal or Dyna Beads can't compensate.

I had Dyna Beads installed with new tires two years ago. The coach rolled really smooth from the very first mile out of the tire shop, and has been rolling smooth ever since.

[rsflight]

Once the bags break open the tires should be in balance from the start. The Equal is bunch of flakes of plastic that will settle to the bottom when the tire stops rolling. As it starts to roll the flakes distribute themselves around the tire to keep it in balance.

I found a couple of youtube videos that helped me understand how this stuff works before I actually installed them in my truck & RV:

Centramatic Balancing rings

DynaBeads

[wa8yxm]

I have had others say the bags take 100 or so feet.. however if it's powder in bags, I can see it taking several miles to break the bags and distribute the powder.

Now, your Tire Pressure Monitoring System may be screwed up by it.

The valve Stems (If they did not install special ones) may leak

And other bad things may happen.

(Can you guess I'm nto sold on powder)

Beads are better, I still say weights on the rim are best.

[Perry White]

Dyna beads are the only way to go.

[jimkate]

Equal is more like a powder, so special valve stems are needed to keep the powder from coming out. I've heard some say that because it's a powder, it can clump up if any moisture gets at it, such as condensation in the tire.

Dyna Beads work like Equal, but they are larger ceramic beads, so special valve stems are not needed. Also, they are not affected by moisture.

The issue I have always had is that a tire that has been spin/weight balanced does not stay in balance as the tire wears. This means that the tire has to be balanced at least more than once during its life. Dyna Beads eliminate this problem, keeping the tire in perfect balance during its entire life cycle.

I've also found and really like that Dyna Beads will even take care of imbalances caused by mud or ice clumping inside the rims.

[-Gonzo-]

I've used Centramatics on my Peterbilt semi for years.. I put over 500,000mi. on them with no problems at all! I simply took them off come tire changing time, they slip off the studs if you need to remove them for say a brake job.

I started out with them on my steering axle only but after seeing how much better ride I had! Not to mention the dramatic difference in milage I was able to get out of those tires. I put them all the way around.

Now even the military uses Centramatics on their vehicles..

Hope this helps in your decision??