Power Wagon Registry

I saw that we had one topic on it, but what are the thoughts on balance beads on a larger tire like a 37"? Better than traditional wheel weights? I'm about to throw on some 37" Toyos, so I thought I'd consider these.

Ask the guys on DTX. Colibri is a good guy to ask. I've heard several guys say that they will never I back to traditional weights, but to buy the quality balance beads and use the appropriate weight per tire


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Never heard of those. That's real interesting concept. I run Centramatics on my Airstream, which are fluid balancers. Never need to rotate.

MikeKey wrote:Never heard of those. That's real interesting concept. I run Centramatics on my Airstream, which are fluid balancers. Never need to rotate.

I just talked to my local tire guy, he said they've been using them in bigger tires for a while now, so maybe your tire guy through some in and didn't tell you?

I use it
I will use it again

Ita easy
Its cheap
Ist self balancing every time you drive

You can go fast.
I can go anywhere.
Dodge Powerwagon

CombatWombat wrote:I use it
I will use it again

Ita easy
Its cheap
Ist self balancing every time you drive

You can go fast.
I can go anywhere.
Dodge Powerwagon

The poetry... is beautiful. Haha.

One of my freinds used the air soft plasting bb in his 42 pit bull rockers on his hummer finally made the tires where he hit highway. He knows they will not last but for the price?

Personally don't like em. If the shop can't balance them then the tires are no good or you need a new tire shop. Maybe on tires over 40". Just my opinion

I think if you are going with Toyo`s in a 37, the RT or MT you should be fine with Traditional Balance. I have the Nitto Ridge Grapplers on mine 37s and they are pretty close to the Toyos as far as being round and even molded. Mine didn't take a lot of weight and ride like a Cadillac on the highway.... I have heard good and bad on the beads??

I didn't use "balance beads" per say but did use plastic pellets at the appropriate weights for my tires according to internet wizardry at the time if I remember correctly. They didn't work well at all on interco ss-m16 35s that required as much as 27oz per side to balance. On a better balanced tire like toyos they may work fine but from what I gather many don't get toyos balanced at all and they drive fine.

Airsoft bb's aren't very good, the ceramic beads work best followed by antifreeze. Balance beads aren't for fixing shitty tires that won't otherwise balance. For larger mt type tires you use way more weight per tire than the actual amount of imbalance, between 8-12oz for a 37" generally, they work exactly like the centramatic balancers, they disperse evenly throughout the tire as it rotates and keep the tire in equilibrium. They damn near eliminate uneven tread wear unless there's something wrong with your truck steering/suspension wise. I use them because everything I own has Beadlocks and no tire shop will touch them, so I have to balance them myself. But, they compensate for tire wear throughout the life of the tire, never need to rebalance. Also if mud gets in your wheels they will offset that as well. All around pretty damn good product.

What is the antifreeze procedure?

Put about 12 ounces of straight antifreeze into the tire when you're mounting it. It has the added benefit of having anti corrosive additives and rubber conditioners as well. Only drawback is polluting if you get a puncture or tear. If you're already mounted you can either break the bead and pour some in or pull the valve core and fill through the stem

Colibri wrote:Put about 12 ounces of straight antifreeze into the tire when you're mounting it. It has the added benefit of having anti corrosive additives and rubber conditioners as well. Only drawback is polluting if you get a puncture or tear. If you're already mounted you can either break the bead and pour some in or pull the valve core and fill through the stem

Doesn't that mess with the TPMS?

Hasn't yet for me. Ymmv though. But generally speaking, the tpms sensor is on the ass end of the valve stem inside the inner circumference of the wheel and the antifreeze is forced to the outside circumference of the tire while in motion or is puddled in the bottom while standing still, very little chance to interact with each other. I greatly prefer the ceramic beads though as they are less messy and easier to work with. I've reused the beads through several sets of tires.

Colibri wrote:Hasn't yet for me. Ymmv though. But generally speaking, the tpms sensor is on the ass end of the valve stem inside the inner circumference of the wheel and the antifreeze is forced to the outside circumference of the tire while in motion or is puddled in the bottom while standing still, very little chance to interact with each other. I greatly prefer the ceramic beads though as they are less messy and easier to work with. I've reused the beads through several sets of tires.

Awesome, thanks for the advice man.

Colibri wrote:Put about 12 ounces of straight antifreeze into the tire when you're mounting it. It has the added benefit of having anti corrosive additives and rubber conditioners as well. Only drawback is polluting if you get a puncture or tear. If you're already mounted you can either break the bead and pour some in or pull the valve core and fill through the stem

Have you tried PG RV antifreeze?

The internet is full of secondhand info regarding balancing beads that all goes something like: "My mom's brother's best friend's former roommate's goldfish is a certified mechanic and said they don't work."

After never finding a definitive answer, I tried them on my 35" KO2's.

Here's my take after 10,000 miles: They balance perfectly, sometimes... On a straight, smooth road they balance out like a Bugatti, but hit a pothole or take a curve and the truck gets all Michael J. Fox on me. They are easily upset and thrown off balance BUT they balance out in the next quarter mile of straight, smooth road. It is nice being able to rotate your tires without needing to balance, but the occasional shake is annoying... Especially on these wonderful CA freeways.

For what it's worth, I'll be going back to traditional weights for the next set of tires.

Chromolykid wrote:The internet is full of secondhand info regarding balancing beads that all goes something like: "My mom's brother's best friend's former roommate's goldfish is a certified mechanic and said they don't work."

After never finding a definitive answer, I tried them on my 35" KO2's.

Here's my take after 10,000 miles: They balance perfectly, sometimes... On a straight, smooth road they balance out like a Bugatti, but hit a pothole or take a curve and the truck gets all Michael J. Fox on me. They are easily upset and thrown off balance BUT they balance out in the next quarter mile of straight, smooth road. It is nice being able to rotate your tires without needing to balance, but the occasional shake is annoying... Especially on these wonderful CA freeways.

For what it's worth, I'll be going back to traditional weights for the next set of tires.

Driving mine around now for about 300 miles, I'd have to say the same. The shop said that 37's are too hard to balance with traditional weights though, so I guess I'm stuck with the beads!

Kodiak wrote:

Chromolykid wrote:The internet is full of secondhand info regarding balancing beads that all goes something like: "My mom's brother's best friend's former roommate's goldfish is a certified mechanic and said they don't work."

After never finding a definitive answer, I tried them on my 35" KO2's.

Here's my take after 10,000 miles: They balance perfectly, sometimes... On a straight, smooth road they balance out like a Bugatti, but hit a pothole or take a curve and the truck gets all Michael J. Fox on me. They are easily upset and thrown off balance BUT they balance out in the next quarter mile of straight, smooth road. It is nice being able to rotate your tires without needing to balance, but the occasional shake is annoying... Especially on these wonderful CA freeways.

For what it's worth, I'll be going back to traditional weights for the next set of tires.

Driving mine around now for about 300 miles, I'd have to say the same. The shop said that 37's are too hard to balance with traditional weights though, so I guess I'm stuck with the beads!

I wouldn't agree with that shop saying 37`s are too hard to balance with Weights, I have my Ridge Grapplers done that way, and I think a bunch of other guys on here have 37`s balanced with weights. I think the Toyos and the new Ridge Grapplers are pretty round, and even molded. I know my Grapplers ride like a Cadillac on the Highway. I think playing with air pressure helps, and from what I have read rotating at a good interval helps as well. Also make sure shop has a road force balance machine. This may not be true of all 37`s but the with better made molds, all I have read is they balance fine with Weights. My 37`s actually took less weight than the 33 inch Duratracs that came stock?

I wouldn't do it at all!! I worked at discount tire for a while and I worked on a bunch of trucks that had em and came in complaining about the vibration and we cleaned em out and balanced em on our machines and they never had any problems after that.

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I have bed's in some old studded procomps. Used as winter only tires. Worked ok there. Tryed to get weigths on them. But the shop hade to give up. But still, works ok.
But my summer tires, that are general grabbers, and new. There are weigths on.