when you get new tires

[fxdave]

when you get your new tires are the balanced with weight or with equal ?which i had never heard of untill today ill include that link to http://www.expeditionexchange.com/equal/ just got a great price for some sumitomo tires anyone runnin these Sumitomo Performance Tires: ST 718

[AFChap]

I want mine to be weight balanced.

IF you use equal or some other powder/beads/etc you will want to use the special valve stems designed for such products. They have a fine screen to keep the valve core from getting clogged and causing flats.

[paulrtaylor]

Alot of people use the beads and like them. I prefer the weights.

[fxdave]

i believe ill be going with toyo tires an they use the beads this other place uses the equal ! 2100 out the door for 6

[JoeT]

A lot of people swear by Equal but I had a bad shimmy with it. I had the dealer remove it and all was smooth again. That was without balancing. Michlen says it is not necessary to balance 22.5 inch wheels. From my experience I tend to agree with them, but I had the wheels balanced with weights later anyway.

[Triker56]

Equal in all 6 of my tires for over 5 years now. No shimmy, shaking etc.
All ride smooth. No weights to fall off.

In 4 or 5 years I will probably do the same in the next set of tires.

[a k]

Beads no equal. Michlen's full of crap. They figure you shouldn't run over 55

[bldrbob]

I have Michlens with no balancing and have no problems.
BOB

[a k]

If you can get a Hunter road force machine balance, I'd jump on it. If not throw in the beads.

[Papa_Jim]

Not Equal. Check for Dyna Beads.

Equal is powder, so special valve stems are needed, and moisture can cause the powder to clump up.

Dyna Beads are large ceramic beads, requiring no special valve stems.

I switched to Dyna Beads a couple of years ago, I'll never go back to having my tires balanced with weights. The wheels roll really s-m-o-o-t-h all the time.

You can check for Dyna Beads on the internet, order them in and have your tire dealer install them.

[Triker56]

Originally Posted by jimkate

Not Equal. Check for Dyna Beads.
Equal is powder, so special valve stems are needed, and moisture can cause the powder to clump up.
Dyna Beads are large ceramic beads, requiring no special valve stems.

You are almost half right about your Equal knowledge.

YES! Equal does use a special AirX Filtered valve core or Valve Stem Filter Extension.
That shouldn't be a big deal as they take the valve core out when changing tires anyway. And need to put one back in.

Now for the rest of the story.
EQUAL is a dry polymer particle product and it does NOT ABSORB water in any way.

Due to the fact that EQUAL is a plastic polymer granule, water or moisture will not change its composition.

Moisture that accumulates inside the tire will evaporate due to normal driving conditions and therefore is in contact with EQUAL for a very short time.

When Equal is in contact with large amounts of water, (to the point where it is actually floating freely), will do just that, float.

Equalizes imbalance constantly, regardless of changing "load forces" and other variables. Equal has the ability to adjust to any and all changes of vibration frequency or force variation.
Lead weights are stationary on the rim and cannot adapt to changes such as tread wear, variations in radial force and load force. Equal helps prevent alternate lug wear, "cupping" and "flat spotting".

Front & rear dual tires, plus different size tires. Can use a different amount of Equal to balance them. Use the Equal chart for the amount to use in your tires.

[GaryKD]

My coach tires are balanced with weights. Balancing coach tires with weights has worked, for me, for 33 years. It the product works, I'm not going to change it. If for some reason, weights no longer balance my tires correctly, I'll consider other choices at that time.

[lonestarace]

Originally Posted by fxdave

just got a great price for some sumitomo tires anyone runnin these Sumitomo Performance Tires: ST 718

6 0f the 8 tires on our Signature are H rated Sumitomo ST727s, size 11R. I recently replaced the two 8 yr old tag axle tires with these. Cost was $810 mounted and spin balanced out the door.

I fear using balance beads because they use a lot of grease like lubricant when mounting new tires. The stuff gets everywhere inside and outside of the new tire. The beads stick to the excess lubricant inside the tire?

We hope this helps?

Don

[Twomed]

Gary...as someone who has mounted a lot of tires and big ones years ago there is a difference in today's product. Breaking down old tires on steel rims left rough edges even when cleaned with a wire brush. New tires did not rotate on the rims after mounting. Aluminum rims mounted with lube will let a tire rotate as much as half a turn within miles...there goes your lead weight balance. My new 315's mounted with the valve at the circle moved almost a half turn within 500 miles. Glad I didn't use lead.
One old guy I worked for in the '60's, big Uniroyal dealer, would have customers drive 100 miles, then bring it back to balance, same reason. I can see that happening today..yeah right. Beads on three sets of 22.5s and have yet to see clumping or damage.

JMHO..as always your experience may be different. Just food for thought.