Has anyone used balancing beads to balance tires on a RV ?

[GraySeal65]

We use Equal at our shop and customers love it. It has a tendency to correct rotor or drive line vibrations to. We love it because we have never had to re balance a tire due to a "through weight". To the comment that "I will never go to a shop that can't afford a wheel balance machine" I say, we have one, don't be afraid of new technology.

[B Bob]

The front tires on my coach are such that regular weights scrape when used. I have equal in the two front tires. The air valves were changed when equal was put in. It has worked fine. I have checked the air many many times without putting air back in and the valve stems have worked fine.

[JohnRR]

Originally Posted by B Bob

I have equal in the two front tires. The air valves were changed when equal was put in. It has worked fine. I have checked the air many many times without putting air back in and the valve stems have worked fine.

This is one of those things that work very well when the proper procedures are followed.

[Grimesy]

Don't know about beads but drove from CA to Gaffney,SC with equal balancing my tires and thought I was on a roller coaster. At the Freightliner plant the powder was removed and balanced with lead weights, now smooth as silk. Tech said it is a constant source of income removing the powder. I can only state what worked for me.

Don G.

[JohnRR]

Originally Posted by Grimesy

Don't know about beads but drove from CA to Gaffney,SC with equal balancing my tires and thought I was on a roller coaster. At the Freightliner plant the powder was removed and balanced with lead weights, now smooth as silk. Tech said it is a constant source of income removing the powder. I can only state what worked for me.

Don G.

That very well could have been caused by having the wrong amount of equal being put in, different amounts get used for different tire sizes.

Whatever the reason or style used it would be aggravating when it does not work right.

[MSHappyCampers]

I had my front tires balanced a while back using spin balancing. I had quite a problem finding someone with the equipment to do it! It helped a lot but there is still a little bit of bouncing so I have been looking into the Dynabeads as an alternative. I found the YouTube video below which is pretty convincing. Care to comment on this?

DynaBeads demo video - YouTube

[dennis45]

Originally Posted by MSHappyCampers

I had my front tires balanced a while back using spin balancing. I had quite a problem finding someone with the equipment to do it! It helped a lot but there is still a little bit of bouncing so I have been looking into the Dynabeads as an alternative. I found the YouTube video below which is pretty convincing. Care to comment on this?

That throws a whole new spin on things.
I have been considering these also. Going to talk to some Commercial Tire people to get a feel for what opinion they have. I found this thread informative.

[Dr4Film]

Originally Posted by MSHappyCampers

Care to comment on this?

Joe,

The video speaks for itself.

As I have stated here and in a number of threads about Dyna Beads, I won't use anything EXCEPT Dyna Beads in my coach and trailer tires.

I will probably switch to Dyna Beads on my Victory motorcycle when the time comes to change out tires.

When you order them make sure you purchase the larger RV beads. It's stated clearly on their web site.

Trust me you won't be disappointed.

But be forewarned that it will NOT fix a problem with a BAD wheel or an out of round tire. Those have to be fixed first. Plus the rig needs to have a proper alignment too.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[IMDSailor]

I recently purchased two new steer tires. Used the beads. The difference was almost magic. Have them in my dolly tires too, just because. I love that the tires are balanced forever, no matter the wear and tear, with in reason of course.
To each his own.

[donwat91]

I've used the beads in my RV , and not had one ounce of problems with them. I've not heard one person say they had problems filling them air. Ichecked the air as I was supose to had no problems. They have been proven to work. It's like anything, if you are used to using one method, you don't like change. After all you are the one that is using one or the other. There are lots of vehicles that have the beads and I would bet they go down the road and not worry about them. I've had a smooth ride at any speed. Like you at first I worried about it then got in the road and forgot about because of the smooth ride.
Donald"Dr.Don"Watkins
MSgt USAF Ret

[Mekanic]

Originally Posted by coachmanrvr

I am curious why you would not use the standard method of wheel weights? For the balance beads to work there is a period your wheel is out of balance every time you stop / start. If you ask your tire manufacturer, I'm sure their tire is not designed to have a moving object rolling around inside the tire. What convinced you that they are the way to go, cause I've never met anyone that used them in their RV.

I use beads on the 35inch tire on my Jeeps and Pickups. and i buy them at Wal-Mart. 6MM Soft air (Hard plastic)BBs are what I buy. I put a pound in each wheel. works like a charm. About $6 for a true lifetime balance.
A lot of offroader use these for several reasons. on is that my 35 inch tires are not considered a large tire to many and large tire need a lot of weight.
the other is that bead lock wheels and wheels with reinforcing plates welded to the id of outer lip have no place to install weights
Lastly clip on weight are projectiles in the woods when you get a wheel lip up next to tree stump.
sorry didn't mean to get off track.

Originally Posted by JohnRR

I.......
Beads are larger than openings in a valve stem therefore can not clog them.

With tack on weights it's recommended they be rebalanced periodically to make up for tire wear such as cupping, rivering, or other such things which does happen on many tires.

I use the beads to make up for any such possibilities with such tire wear. To each their own it's what ever you feel comfortable with.

That above what i underlined it what makes beads THE BEST way to Balence. The amount ow weight changes to what the tire changes to.
The only way to really mess up useing beads is to not put in enough weight.
If your tire needs 12oz of weight to balence and you only install 9oz of weight you come up short.
There are a some precautions for obvious reasons Fix a flat is a no no with any kind of beads.
I've heard of guys using steel/copperplated BBs. I don't like the idea cause I see rust forming from the moisture in the air inside the tire and that rust and bbs will become abrasive.
I have even heard of some OTR truckers using.......Golf balls!!

The principal that these work under had/has a patent at one time. I can't think of the name but there used to aluminum plates with a hollow ring at the od. The hollow ring had a liquid in it. It worked exactly like the ring does. Then you wheel fit over these. I think a set of plates ran about $99-$199
These plates fit the wheel mating surface

[donwat91]

I've never heard of someone using soft air pellets. I don't think they were designed for this use. I also don't think that the pellets that the tirecompany puts in there are spinning all the time. It's been sometime that is been explained to me but I think as you drive the tire is spinning and the pellets go to the place that makes the tire balanced. They stay there until you go to stop then just fall to the bottom of the tire. And then does the same as you drive off again. I don't understand all the fuss about it. All I can say it worked for my tires, I didn't understand at first, so I went back to the tire company that I purchased and he explained to me how it worked and I was satisfied. But the pellets are not running around inside your tire constantly, I wish I could explain to you. I am not trying to sell you on anything I own no stock and will not make any money one way or another. You will be the one that will have to besatisfied.
Donald"Dr.Don"Watkins
MSgt USAF Ret

[Dr4Film]

Personally, for those people that attempt to use anything except for authentic ceramic Dyna Beads, they are just fooling themselves and ruining the inside of their tires.

Using Dyna Beads will NOT harm the inside of the tires. They are also NOT self destructing and can be transferred from one tire to the other and last a VERY long time if not a lifetime.

If you were to have a slow leak, the tire CAN be repaired without losing ANY Dyna Beads. If you were to experience a BLOWOUT, then the beads will be gone. That's why I carry an extra bag for the coach tires and one extra bag for the trailer tires.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[TeJay]

I tried the "Equal" powder. The very first time I added air the small equal powder blocked the tire valve core and the air leaked out. That was the end of that. I'm never afraid of new stuff contrary to what a lot of people do when new technology comes along. I've used Mobil 1 in all my vehicles since 1975 and there are still many who won't go near any synthetics. I guess that's their loss. Ford uses synthetics in their differentials and engines. So do many other manufacturers.

If I tried it again I'd use the larger beads and not the sand or powder.

The metal balancing rings you mentioned are called, "Centramatic" and yes they are expensive. They also have a very convincing video on U-Tube.

I've also watched the video's on U-tube and yes they seem convincing but I will revert to what somebody mentioned. If they were really that good and did not require re-balancing then the trucking industry should have jumped all over it all across the industry. They did when it came to switching to radial tires didn't they??? Tires are a MAJOR, MAJOR expense and concern for them so it seems very strange that they have not taken advantage of this technology.

TeJay