Tire Beads- Need Educating - PlowSite.com™

gusdust · #1 10-14-2012, 06:18 AM

About to try some Treadwright tires. I can mount, but not balance myself. Have been hearing about tire beads that you dump inside the tire. Steel, ceramic, etc. If they work, why not dump some BB's in? Anyone have some experience? Thanks.

shovelracer · #2 10-14-2012, 07:23 AM

Yes I used them on an old toyota I had that had 38's. Everytime you came to a stop you heard them whirring around. Can not say for certain they worked cause the bias ply made for a rough ride anyways on such a light truck.

2COR517 · #3 10-14-2012, 08:04 AM

Most of the internal balance products are calibrated by quantity/volume/weight for the size of tire you are mounting.

plowin-fire · #4 10-14-2012, 08:43 AM

What kind of truck? What size tires? We use EQUAL and Magnum Beads at the shop. They are only recommended for trucks that weigh more than 7000lbs. In half ton trucks there isnt enough weight on the tires to make them work properly and you end up with an intermittent vibration. And also make sure you empty the powder or beads out of the bag. The bags are suppose to disinegrate in the tire but we have found that it takes a really long time and you deal with vibration in the meantime from the powder getting stuck in parts of the bag and not flowing through the tire as designed. BBs are not recommend as they can be abrasive and dont have the fine tune ability as powder or beads. I have both on hand if you want me to ship you some, or go find a truck shop and they usually have them on hand. Also use bead lube sparingly when mounting tires and make sure that you dont get any in the tire. Otherwise the beads/powder will stick to that spot and you have a vibration.

gusdust · #5 10-14-2012, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plowin-fire

What kind of truck? What size tires? We use EQUAL and Magnum Beads at the shop. They are only recommended for trucks that weigh more than 7000lbs. In half ton trucks there isnt enough weight on the tires to make them work properly and you end up with an intermittent vibration. And also make sure you empty the powder or beads out of the bag. The bags are suppose to disinegrate in the tire but we have found that it takes a really long time and you deal with vibration in the meantime from the powder getting stuck in parts of the bag and not flowing through the tire as designed. BBs are not recommend as they can be abrasive and dont have the fine tune ability as powder or beads. I have both on hand if you want me to ship you some, or go find a truck shop and they usually have them on hand. Also use bead lube sparingly when mounting tires and make sure that you dont get any in the tire. Otherwise the beads/powder will stick to that spot and you have a vibration.

2000 super duty diesel reg. cab. 265/75/16. What would your beads or powder cost?

04ram1500 · #6 10-14-2012, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gusdust

About to try some Treadwright tires. I can mount, but not balance myself. Have been hearing about tire beads that you dump inside the tire. Steel, ceramic, etc. If they work, why not dump some BB's in? Anyone have some experience? Thanks.

I have a set of Treadwright tires for my truck. When I bought the tires they came with a warning not to use those dynamic balancing products such as the beads. They say to only balance using a static balance products "aka old fashioned weights".

Now they may have changed that recommendation since then, but I would suggest shooting them an e-mail just to be safe.

plowin-fire · #7 10-14-2012, 02:04 PM

That tire requires 6oz. Both are $6 per 6oz bag.

gusdust · #8 10-14-2012, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 04ram1500

I have a set of Treadwright tires for my truck. When I bought the tires they came with a warning not to use those dynamic balancing products such as the beads. They say to only balance using a static balance products "aka old fashioned weights".

Now they may have changed that recommendation since then, but I would suggest shooting them an e-mail just to be safe.

I did email them and phoebe from treadwright replied:

>We will always recommend Static balancing over any other, as this is the
>way that we pre-balance each tire in the factory. That being said, many of
>our customers have used balance beads with good success. If you were to
>have any issue with the balancing under this method, we would recommend
>that you follow our instructions that were sent with the tires. Good luck!
>Let us know if you have any questions.
>

So I guess I have the bead option, but if any problem develops, I should try static balancing before contacting treadwright.

plowin-fire · #9 10-14-2012, 11:03 PM

Not sure why Treadwrights would be different than any other tire as far as balancing goes. I havent noticed a difference in tire brands running beads.

GSS LLC · #10 10-15-2012, 09:49 AM

why not just have them balanced? what are you spending a tire on beads? I know most places will balance a tire for under 10 dollars each. 40 dollars, its done right. or what, 20 in beads, and it "might" work....

AugustArborists · #11 10-15-2012, 02:02 PM

I agree with GSS above. After you change them out, toss them in another truck and go have them balanced, that way there's no charge for r/r them on the original truck. A few extra bucks for a sure thing is the way to go, at least for me.