Tire balancing beads: Does anybody have experience with them?

[pdqdl]

These are aparently becoming more popular with trucking companies. The claim is that fuel economy and tire life are increased.

My tire repair supplier sells these little things to me at less than $6.00 per tire for 19.5in tires, but you must dismount the tire and break the bead to install them.

We do all our own tires, but it's still a pain to contemplate doing. On the other hand, one of my trucks is shaking quite a bit, and I think I need to fix it somehow.

An interesting demo video: [video=youtube;eq263AYgyYg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq263AYgyYg[/video]

So...anybody use this stuff (or similar)?

 

[Nate66n1]

I know the equal brand has been around for quite some time and it seems rather effective. The main thing is to get the right size bags for the diameter wheel that your applying it to.

 

[LegDeLimber]

Haven't tried them.
But also have seen some mention of using the high grade, not cheep ones,
of those airsoft pellets in tires.
If I had access to tire mount equip, I 'd probably give it a whirl to see how well it works.
Around here would get pricey to run to tire shop to dismount and fiddle with them.
and sadly, Franchising rules and Litigation worries have tended to stop a lot of helpful shops or employees
from giving a hand with "experiments"

 

[pdqdl]

My tire supply vendor tells me that they have gone from buying a couple of cases per month in past years to buying several pallets of pellets...each month.

The trucking companies are apparently true believers.

 

[W Dakota Boom]

I mount my own tires by hand. I have them in two of my vehicles. One is a 2000 Mercury Mountaineer with 33" BFG KM2 mud terrain tires, and the other is a 1999 Ford Expedition with 265/75R16.

I am definitely a believer in dynamic balancing! I mounted these by hand, added 8oz of high quality ceramic BBs to each tire. Both vehicles drive very nice and smooth.

 

[pdqdl]

I have heard that those giant mudder tires are nearly impossible to balance with weights.

 

[2treeornot2tree]

I have been running them in all my truck tires for years. Never a problem.

 

[TreeTangler]

In large 19.5, 22.5, 25.4, etc tires, the liquid tire balancer has worked even better! Check it out, it has many other benifits beyond just maintaining a balance including supposedly keeping the rubber pliable (increasing the life of the casing and amount of times it can be retreaded), helps in lubricating the bead upon tire removal, it wont clump or misform like powder or beads, etc.

 

[Deprime]

I've only used them in my motorcycle. They use the really small ones that go in through the stem in the tube. They have worked really well.

Haven't tried them in a car/truck tire yet. I bought the Dyna Bead brand.