I am not sure exactly what you are trying to say, prove or attest to. However on most late model factory cast wheels the factory requires them to be very close. They also require the tire manufactors to have their tire extremely close. To the point of spraying a dot of paint (depends on maker and requirement since it can be either way) on the heavy or light area of the tire. Then to save a few cents on wheel weight the fitter indexes the light side of the tire to the heavy side of the rim. In most cases the weight required to finial balance is truly not even required. Whole lot of aftermarket balancing is overkill or creating problems by adding too much weight especial when they charge $1.00 per weight. I seldom see any need for weights. More power to you if you believe unfixed beeds rolling around in a tire will balance it. Lots of people say they were dieing of cancer and rubbing magnets on their arm cured them. However I personally believe these people never had cancer and the tires that beeds balanced were never out of balance. However beeds installed in a already balance tire cause a low speed out of balance (probably so little you can not fill it but indeed an out of balance condition) until tire spins a while to evenly distribute the beeds spinning around in it. The same goes for the bags thrown in large truck tires. It just makes money for the people blowing smoke. Those bags add no life or ride comfort in large truck tire.

However the above is not true for all wheels especially old spoke wheels that are not true or wobble or the sorry tire made on Monday morning by some hung over person who just throws the layers of stuff in the mold on one side. Then indeed this crap will need balancing with fixed weight and sometime you can still fill it. Weights will help here somewhat but unattached beeds rolling around are not going to magically find the light spot. In fact the high area (of the run out) acts like a heavy spot and the beeds are flung here and actually make it heaver.

 

Ripsaw,

As I mentioned in the first post, I had a problem. Over 6 ounces of ugly black wheel weights on smooth chrome wheels. I was not charged by the ounce, so I think it s unlikely they put those on for the heck of it. As someone who has balanced thousands of tires and wheel assemblies, I can attest to the fact that two identical brand new tires can need dramatically different amount of weights to get in balance. Regardless of how they are lined up on the rim.

You can believe in the beads or not. But a badly out of balance wheel, tire or axle assembly can make a car or motorcycle shake like hell. That's not good for the driver or the vehicle. I took the weights off and it shook, I put the beads in and it stopped. No more ugly weights and no shake. In my case the beads solved my problem.

I don't rub magnets on myself. But I do have a platinum coil in my brain keeping my aneurysm from re-rupturing. I won't be replacing that with beads any time soon.

 

I tried putting the beads in a 200 55R 17 tube and failed miserably

 

I had trouble getting beads into my tube tires. Thought I was following instructions to the letter. Fount out my tire had to be off the floor. Had the core out, no air in tube, no matter if stem at 6 ,7, 8 o'clock and several types of vibration, beads will not go in. So, raised the tire off the floor and just poured the beads in. So simple the tire must be off the floor but the step by step instructions didn't point that out. I would like to say something smart and creative about now but think I have revealed too much already.

 

I had tire off bike on a work bench, still no go, I might try laying wheel on its side on the bench, If that don't work maybe try the airdryer low pressure feed to try and force them in.

 

Cool!

 

i've been reading about these balancing beads a lot.
seems to be a 50/50 split on it really works to a bunch of hokum.

in my opinion, this would be the simplest test.

put wheel on a high speed balancer.
balance wheel with conventional weights.
mark the spots where the weights are installed.
remove the weights and install the balancing beads.

if the wheel comes up balanced, they work.
if the machine calls for weights at the marked spots,
they dont work!

i aint no engineer, but it kinda makes sense.
in all the posts/articles i've read, and believe me there are thousands,
no one, not even the so called experts and engineers thought of this simple test.

 

I have used the dyna beads for two front tires and with the valve stem out I have no problem putting the beads in with the supplied bottle and small clear hose, did not drop a single bead, of curse I lightly tapped on the tire when installing, maybe the dyna beads are easier to put in? And not all have to believe they work, I have PM billet wheels and for sure do not want weights on them. In my opinion they work.

 

Excellent review! I have a fair amount auto tire mounting, balencing, and alignment experience. My question might only be answered by technician with experience with mounting and balancing many brands of tires or someone who knows a tech.
In my experience some brands or models of tires just seem to balance out better than others. I realize that some of what I am saying is largely influenced by driving habits, application, etc. but the better ones balanced with less weight and came back for re-balance significantly less often.
Any thoughts??

 

imdamnedifido,

I am not sure what your question is. But if you are asking "are some new tires more balanced than others" then the answer is yes. The problem is the wheel the tire is put on can be out of balance on its own. If you have time, you can take a new tire, mount it on a wheel, and then check the balance on a spin balancer. If its way off you could break the bead, spin the tire on the wheel 15 degrees and do the process over and over again until you get it as close as possible without weights.

I have seen new tires from just about every manufacturer have different balance requirements. For instance, go get 4 new Michelins for your car, put each new tire on the same wheel with the dots lines up in the same place if they have them, and chances are each tire will require a different amount of weight. There are many layers to a modern tire the chances they would all be exactly the same are slim.