Tire balancing beads, not anal beads.

jymmiejamz

Well-known member
Dec 5, 2004
6,008
361
35
Los Angeles, Ca
I'm sure many of you have experience with anal beads, but we're talking about tire balancing beads. I bought some new tires for my Defender that I need to mount this week. We only have stick on wheel weights at the dealership, so I was considering balance beads. Anyone have any experience with these? I used BB's once and it worked fine, but they were loud when I stopped.

I'd also like to know if one brand is better than others.
 
Jan 25, 2010
3,544
4
your moms bed
If you are driving a D90 you have to use the most expensive beads possible. And they must be approved by D90 source. Zack will help you with the anal beads.
 

Nomar

Well-known member
Apr 23, 2004
6,078
13
Virginia
I used those plastic beads in my old silver RR with 35x12.50 KM1s and they balanced ok.
Never heard any noise--from the beads that is...



.
 

discostew

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2010
7,706
1,015
Northern Illinois
I put NATO wheels on a customers truck once and used pound on weights on the inboard side then spun them up and used that Equal stuff that EE sells for the rest of the weight I needed. Never heard any complaints from him and he was a picky fucker.
 

mgreenspan

Well-known member
Feb 28, 2005
4,723
130
Briggs's Back Yard
I used equal for a few years. I've used dynabeads since (roughly eight years). They work great. It's nice not having to worry about re-balancing or weights falling off ever.
 

Buddy

Well-known member
Nov 6, 2006
2,839
1
Central NC
Personally I use 7-8oz of these. Since I'm a cheap bastard. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BMOBD8?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00

I've used these on 3 sets of tires so far and have no complaints. You do hear a little bit of noise as you come to a stop but they work well and are about 1/4 the price of dynabeads. However, I can't speak for the longevity of them since I have not kept a set of tires for more than a year in quite a while.

For a DD you might want step up to the real thing. I used dynabeads like 7 or 8 years ago and like those too. I've heard some complaints about equal but that was over 8 years ago so they've probably changed.
 

Blueboy

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
3,205
459
Back in the USA; Rockwood, PA
I tried Equal in the past and wasn't satisfied.

With the Dynabead website though looks like they could work.

Can't keep the 265 MT/Rs balanced for any length of time on the Rangie.

So Thom, you're good with the balance with Dynabeads?
 

Buddy

Well-known member
Nov 6, 2006
2,839
1
Central NC
I've never used balance beads. Are they fine to use in a smaller tire, say a 255/85? Or do they work better in bigger rubber?

I've run them in anything from 235/85 up to 35" tires. They work well in all of them. I'm currently running those air soft pellets in my 255/85's.
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
You may have to go to a smaller shop to have them installed. I asked the guy at Discount Tire and he looked at me like I had a fish head on my shoulders. I went to a smaller shop and the guy had actually heard of motocross guys running beads. Never heard of it in trucks but he tossed them in for me when mounting the tires. I made it real easy for them and had the beads preweighed in bags of 8oz each. 1 bag for 1 tire. Didn't want the tire monkey's brain to hurt from doing the maths.
 

Nomar

Well-known member
Apr 23, 2004
6,078
13
Virginia
I used ceramic media designed for a tumbler/polisher. They were round, and a little smaller than a BB. Think you can get them from Granger.


Actually, maybe mine were ceramic?--- they were whatever Jeremy G had back in '06.
He measured out the correct amount /tire in little baggies and I put them in when mounting.



.
 

Buddy

Well-known member
Nov 6, 2006
2,839
1
Central NC
You may have to go to a smaller shop to have them installed. I asked the guy at Discount Tire and he looked at me like I had a fish head on my shoulders. I went to a smaller shop and the guy had actually heard of motocross guys running beads. Never heard of it in trucks but he tossed them in for me when mounting the tires. I made it real easy for them and had the beads preweighed in bags of 8oz each. 1 bag for 1 tire. Didn't want the tire monkey's brain to hurt from doing the maths.

Or you can just mount your own tires and throw in whatever you want. I've actually gotten pretty good at it. Depending on the tires it's typically 5-15 minutes per tire. Mostly I started doing it because I'm a cheap bastard and didn't want to add $80 to my tire bill.
 

jymmiejamz

Well-known member
Dec 5, 2004
6,008
361
35
Los Angeles, Ca
Or you can just mount your own tires and throw in whatever you want. I've actually gotten pretty good at it. Depending on the tires it's typically 5-15 minutes per tire. Mostly I started doing it because I'm a cheap bastard and didn't want to add $80 to my tire bill.

I'm the total opposite. I hate mounting and balancing tires and sometimes just pay someone else to do it. We even have a semi-automatic machine that doesn't use levers.
 

chris snell

Administrator
Staff member
Aug 15, 2005
3,020
152
Beads were the worst fucking thing I ever did to my truck. I bought those silly Equal balancers, paid to have that shit put it, then paid to have it vacuumed out a month later. It was just awful. I went back to weights.