Balancing huge tyres

[skid]

as the title suggests, this is about balancing big tyres

33" and bigger

this is not about how or where to get it done, but about how easy it really is now


So as a background, I have been in the tyre industry for the last 15 years with a small hiatus recently before getting back into it.

Over the years I've seen numerous large 4wd tyres of 35" or bigger needing a shite load of weight to balance them to the rims.
Traditionally radials need 200-300 grams of weight and bias ply tyres like creepies and simex up around 400-600 grams of weight.

Its always been a pain to balance them and uses a lot of weight which is not cheap and takes a bit of time as well

Then you only need to take one trip off road and get mud in the beads or stuck to the rim and the balance is thrown out and the steering wheel gets the shakes once again.

Today was no different as we were struggling to balance the bosses 33" Pitbull Rockers (bias ply) onto some 15x8" steel rims. The weights were hard to get onto the rims and I managed to smash my index finger in the process.
We were about to start on a different technique when one of the reps turned up and asked if we would like to try one of the balance bags that they sell.

We had heard about these tiny ball bearing sized things that use centrifugal force to balance the tyre, but we were a bit sceptical of how they would work, but he caught us at an opportune moment and the deal was done.
4 bags were bought and thrown into the Pitbulls and off for a drive I went.

Only had steering wheel shimmy once as I was accelerating on the motorway and then it all smoothed out.

Absolutely gobsmacked and amazed that these things worked.
No weights at all on the rims and perfectly weighted at all speeds.

We used to charge about $20 to balance large 4wd tyres due to the amount of weight used and the cost of it, but for the same price I will be selling this product from now on as its less work and will work no matter how much mud gets in the beads or on the rims

Awesome product

http://www.techtirerepairs.com/ProdPage ... chPlus.htm

[Sadam_Husain]

there was a thread up about those things a few months back


http://www.offroadexpress.co.nz/Forums/ ... =4&t=30558

[Smurf]

Did they work at lower speeds? Round town 30-50km?
So $20 a bag x 4 tyres or a $20 bag did four tyes?

I'm keen to try these out

[skid]

Did they work at lower speeds? Round town 30-50km?
So $20 a bag x 4 tyres or a $20 bag did four tyes?

I'm keen to try these out

$20 per bag, $80 total

as you're fitting the tyre you just drop the bag in there and it disintegrates as soon as you drive down the road, dispersing the beads.

I found it fine at all speeds, the only issue I had was that I could still feel the tyres as they are bias ply and a bit lumpy, the whole vehicle had a shudder but it was not through the steering wheel at all.

We only bought the 4 we put in the Pitbulls, but I will talk the boss into some more tomorrow as I would love to try them on some large radials

[TJ]

Sounds interesting. A set should really be 5, as most people carry a full size spare. Ideally, people also do a 5 tyre rotation to get maximum life out of the set.

[tomsoffroad]

Im keen on 5 Skiddy. Be interesting how they'll go in my Crawlers

[Jay]

Hey Skid,

I'd be keen on a set too... I've been comtemplating giving them a go but was a little skeptical, but now i've heard 1st hand that they work, im keen!

Cheers,

Jay

[pjb]

No go with tubes?

[CLUMZ1]

I've txt you Skid,

[kbushnz]

Found a good vid showing how they work...

[kbushnz]

Patch rubber co here in Auckland sell the ESCO brand of beads..
13oz bags for $31....according to the web site.
According to the Esco charts... 35x12.5x16 needs 6oz.
Will pop in next week and have a look...
Want some for my 35inch Simex's...
And according to some sites you can run them with tubes... Just need to get them thru the hole....

[chrome]

hillbillies in the states use golf balls i read somewhere

[Jerry]

don't give taz01 ideas

[meatc]

Hey Skid, good to get some first hand info on these, rather than US internet hype.

Any idea how they would go with internal beadlocks?

Cheers

[4WDbits]

Second air had special instructions a few years back for using balancing beads with their internal beadlocks. Can't find them now. The instructions were when and how to get them in the tyre, was ok to use them. If the beads come in a bag that self distructs when the wheel rotates then there won't be an issue getting them in the tyre without getting them in the beadlock.

[Petemcc]

So when and where can we buy these?

[tomsoffroad]

Arn't they just bb pellets? But they not that cheap either according to trademe

[nztimr33]

my simexs try to shake my truck apart on the motorway i wonder if these would fix that ?

[Andy Reeves]

This looks like an honest trader;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EASY-TIRE-WHEEL ... 9a&vxp=mtr

It seems stainless teflon coated ones are the way to go and they recommend 1 oz for every 10/12oz of tyre weight for us off roaders.
Can't find out how heavy 34" jungle trekkers are though. Anyone know? After the first bag shipping is only us$2 so it might be worth sharing an order. Cheers Andy.