| Author | Message | ||
     Erik Olson (Jon) Senior Member Username: Jon Post Number: 374 Registered: 02-2002 |
Lead! I finally dumped the Equal today in favor of traditional weights. I'd had enough of the shimmy at 68 - 75 mph. I'm running 235/85r16 Dunlop R/Ts on Freestyle alloys that I'm told are in very good condition. Things I'd tried to remedy the problem included; new steering stabilizer (damper), panhard rod bushing set, rotated tires, on-the-rack alignment. I'm very curious to know if I'm the only one out there who experienced wobble at any given speed. My tire shop, who recommended against Equal except in tractor-trailer tires, was not surprised that I wanted to vacuum the stuff out - explaining that Equal is meant for much heavier tires as an alternative to internal fixed "sand patches". My wobble, both on a set of brand-new LR steel wheels and the alloys, was so bad that breaking 70 mph became next to impossible. After the swap to lead, I'm back to easily pushing 80 without wobble at any speed. So, let's have it then - what is the collective experience with your Equal install? | ||
| Blake Luse (Muddyrover) Senior Member Username: Muddyrover Post Number: 823 Registered: 02-2002 |
mine after i hit 60 started to wobble. But I am running trxus tires, which are triangular in the back and more squarish in front (go figuire). Not really but that is what has been thrown around about these tires, not being round. Anyways you win some you lose some. My worn out swamper sx's rode like street tires though compared to these brand new ones with equal. | ||
| Eric N (Grnrvr) Senior Member Username: Grnrvr Post Number: 1315 Registered: 02-2002 |
I am running equal in my 265/75 MTRs and haven't had any issues at all so far with them. I do get a vibe at about 75mph but, that is due to other drive line issues not tires (was there with lead weights also). I was having a problem keeping the lead weights on the rims (kept getting them ripped off or they would move around) so I went with the equal and have been happy since. | ||
| Craig Kobayashi (Koby) Senior Member Username: Koby Post Number: 317 Registered: 02-2002 |
I love my Equal. I'm running 265/75 BFG MTs I get occasional vibes, but none that last for more than 5 seconds or so. Weird, but it works. | ||
| Steve Cooper (Scrover) Senior Member Username: Scrover Post Number: 308 Registered: 09-2002 |
Equal has no equal, unless your tires are crap. It's not THAT good. Check your trailing arm bushings, they can cause major shakes. | ||
| Erik Olson (Jon) Senior Member Username: Jon Post Number: 375 Registered: 02-2002 |
Steve, Why don't I get vibes with my tires balanced on lead if my trailing arm bushings are bad? Do lead weights cure bad bushings or am I confused? Should I put my old, cracked panhard bushings back on and try Equal again - will it fix those too? What about my damper - is Equal a cure-all for any worn / broken steering component? Is that the consensus now - that Dunlop R/Ts are crap? I've seen them recommended even recently by people who run them. Mine have been on since June, with almost 12,000 miles now, and seem to work well off-road - nice and sticky and hold a bead at low pressure. I've had no sidewall issues, no missing lugs, no tread separation, low noise. I also bought them for $105 each installed, so why specifically are they crap? Just curious - should they go out the window? e | ||
| Leo (Leo_hallak) Member Username: Leo_hallak Post Number: 47 Registered: 02-2003 |
I have 235/85/16 AT+II's and dont have any problem besides every once in a while over a bump it seems to lose balance. No other problems at any speed. -leo | ||
| Steve Cooper (Scrover) Senior Member Username: Scrover Post Number: 309 Registered: 09-2002 |
Erik, keep the R/Ts. I wasn't suggesting that any specific brand is crap - others may disagree - and Equal is not the cure for worn bushings - a new bushing would be the cure for a worn bushing. Some tires seem to respond better to Equal than others. If you're happy and shake free with lead weights then that's the combination for you. I'm happy with Equal and I know if something feels wrong, it's not the tires. I know to look elsewhere. | ||
| Greg Davis (Gregdavis) Senior Member Username: Gregdavis Post Number: 830 Registered: 08-2002 |
Well, I had the same experiance with Equal in my Swampers. I know, I know, Swampers suck!  Of course, you couldn't have said that this past weekend when I was going where others couldn't. Anyway, back to the topic. With my 9x34 TSL's, I started with 5oz per tire. That didn't work, so I threw in another 4oz bag, bringing the total to 9oz per tire. No change what-so-ever. I finally removed the Equal and had them traditionally balanced. All is well. I also had some centering rings machined because I thought my steel wheels were not centering, only to find out that it made no change at all. The only difference was when I went from Equal to lead weights. Some tires just don't seem to respond to it as well as others. I kept the Equal and will try it in my Yoko's. | ||
| Michael Noe (Noee) Senior Member Username: Noee Post Number: 600 Registered: 03-2002 |
Greg: Just out of curiosity...how do you gather up the equal once the bag has broken inside the tire? | ||
| Greg Davis (Gregdavis) Senior Member Username: Gregdavis Post Number: 831 Registered: 08-2002 |
Scooped it out. It will settle into the bottom of the tire. You'll loose about 10% of it though. | ||
| Erik Olson (Jon) Senior Member Username: Jon Post Number: 376 Registered: 02-2002 |
My tire shop used a shop-vac to get the Equal out. e | ||
| D. Chapman (1hank1) Member Username: 1hank1 Post Number: 161 Registered: 02-2003 |
I have not tried Equal, but at 9.00+ per tire it sounds like alot of money. When I got my tires they came with free rotation and balance for the life of the tires. Is it really that big of a pain in the ass to go have your tires balanced for free? | ||
| Ron L (Ronl) Member Username: Ronl Post Number: 42 Registered: 11-2002 |
"Is it really that big of a pain in the ass to go have your tires balanced for free?" Nope! Big O gets me in right away. But to have to commute with the shakes for 2-4 hours because I knocked off a couple weights on the trail is pretty aggravating. | ||
| Derek Reed (Dmr) New Member Username: Dmr Post Number: 25 Registered: 11-2002 |
I think it is really a pain in the ass. Its a minimum of 30 minutes at Discount Tire in my area. How much is your time worth? BTW I have had no problems with Equal in my 265/75 BFG MTs. | ||
| Mike Carino (Mikec) Member Username: Mikec Post Number: 82 Registered: 03-2002 |
I've been running equal in my 33's (305/70/16) for about 2 months now w/o any ill effects. i can easily go to 70 and she rides smooth as silk. Mike | ||
| Carter Simcoe (Carter) Senior Member Username: Carter Post Number: 2353 Registered: 04-2002 |
Heres my experience: Q- Do equal balanced 235/85 BFG M/Ts perform as well as freshly lead balanced tires?? A- No Q- Do equal balanced 235/85 BFG M/Ts perform better than lead balanced tires after 2 weeks of driving??? A- Yes Overall I think the equal is a pretty good compromise and saves me the time and $10 to go get them balanced once a month. | ||
| \Mike... (Mpeters) Member Username: Mpeters Post Number: 111 Registered: 02-2002 |
> I know, I know, Swampers suck! Of course, you >couldn't have said that this past weekend when I >was going where others couldn't. Greg - just curious, where did u go? That others could not, I mean... | ||
| \Mike... (Mpeters) Member Username: Mpeters Post Number: 112 Registered: 02-2002 |
Equal has its place... but so do lead weights. I just couldn't keep the weights on my wheels.. at least not all of em.. and I just thought the cost for Equal was a good deal compared to my time running back to the tire shop to get rebalanced. I've had the speed-wobble problem with equal before and found that the amount was off just a bit.. Seems a good idea to start on the low side of the recommended pkt size and add a little as needed until you lose the periodic high-speed wobble. Of course, that's easier to do if you have an applicator and access to the smaller size packets. There are other pro/con issues for Equal I suppose, but if you get by fine with normal tire balancing and weights, then that probably ends the discussion.. If you don't, then check out Equal. | ||
| John (Jroc) Member Username: Jroc Post Number: 92 Registered: 08-2002 |
Erik, I have bad news for you. I have the exact same setup and couldn't love it more! I think equal rocks!!! I have 235/85/16 Dunlop R/T's and love them just as much. Do they perform as well as dedicated mud tires in the mud? No. Do they perform as well as the best street tires on the road? No. Do they give me the best of both worlds for under 100 bucks??? Absolutely! Good Luck and check some other possible problems or just use weights. Do you have a rotoflex coupling? If so, what's the condition of it??? I know I have the vibes real bad coming home from MAR last year, turns out I totally shit my rotoflex coupling. '95 Disco | ||
| Erik Olson (Jon) Senior Member Username: Jon Post Number: 377 Registered: 02-2002 |
Brand new Rotoflex, less than 3k on it. Good to know your experience on the Rover R/T tires has been good. Mine seem very sticky on rock surfaces and clear mud easily. Not M/T tires by any stretch, but certainly not ***t either. e | ||
| Greg Davis (Gregdavis) Senior Member Username: Gregdavis Post Number: 833 Registered: 08-2002 |
Mike, the group I was with this past weekend comprised of an '02 DII w/ OME and 265 BFG MT's, a '00 DII with CDL, RTE springs and 265 BFG MT's (worn), and a '94 D-90 w/ ARB's and 255 BFG MT's. Out of those vehicles, I was the only one that never had to winch, and never took a bypass on the trails at Uwharrie(except around Kodak rock-we all bypassed that one ). The tires were the deciding factor because of the very thick and gooey mud. Yes, the Swampers are less than ideal on the road, but if you can have a set of street friendly tires, and just use the Swampers for gooey stuff, they're the way to go. Of course, some people don't want the hassel of swapping tires. | ||
| Tripp Westbrook (Tripp) Member Username: Tripp Post Number: 131 Registered: 08-2002 |
Just my .02 here but, I put Equal in a set of brand new BFG AT's on my D2 and I had a really annoying wobble over 55. I didn't have a wobble before the tires or Equal. I had the alignment checked and suspension checked. No problems there. About two weeks later, I removed the Equal and went to lead. The truck then rode smooth as a baby's ass. Again, just my experience. | ||
| Paul Kleinkramer (Slipinkramer) New Member Username: Slipinkramer Post Number: 17 Registered: 03-2003 |
I have to admit that my experience with Equal was not too good either. I had all those shakes that would come and go. Now with led weights its all good all the time. It seemed to me that the more out of balance a tire was naturally, the better the Equal worked. A tire that was nearly in balance from the start would shake like crazy with Equal. I don't know if that is fact, its just an observation. It might be argued that those with Equal problems are using it in shit tires. Well, I think if Equal can't balance it and weights easily can, it’s just not a very effective product. | ||
| Rob Davison (Nosivad_bor) Senior Member Username: Nosivad_bor Post Number: 298 Registered: 02-2003 |
maybe it's your POS retreads rd | ||
| Paul Kleinkramer (Slipinkramer) New Member Username: Slipinkramer Post Number: 18 Registered: 03-2003 |
Yes, I'm sure you're right. Too bad Equal can't maintain the balance of some simple little cheep ass retreads. It took just tiny amounts of led to do the job. Equal is a specialized product for specialized applications. It is not suitable in all cases and should not be offered as a universal tire-balancing product. That is my opinion. | ||
| Wicks (Wicks) New Member Username: Wicks Post Number: 25 Registered: 03-2003 |
Lead weights - thumbs up. Works great. Adjustable. Tapes on, peels off. No vacuum needed. No question. For those uncertain - take a bag of equal for one tire (at the tire shop) and lead weights for one - then have the guys balance both. The equal tire will be inconsistently balanced and the lead weighted tire will be constantly perfect. Equal, never bought into putting stuff made for semi trucks in my Defender. That stuff supposedly only works with lots of constant high speed motion. Like freeways, not trails and stop and go town driving. | ||
| Jason Walker (Dosed) New Member Username: Dosed Post Number: 9 Registered: 03-2003 |
Equal works perfect on my Destination M/Ts. Cruises 90 Mph (95 LWB 3" OME lift, stock wheels) like glass. Seems like the response is all over the map. Must come down to how "balanced" the tire was when it came out of the production line... ? I have heard that sometimes Michelins dont need Equal or weights! | ||
| R. B. Bailey (Rover50987) Senior Member Username: Rover50987 Post Number: 541 Registered: 07-2002 |
I would think that if your tires are not new, and that if they are not within a certain size range, equal probably would have trouble with them. Any moisture, sticky goop, other objects, or irregular shaping in the inside of the tire could cause the equal not to distribute correctly - therefore giving you balance only to a certain speed. I plan on using it when I get my new BFG's http://landrover.mrbaileyshistory.net | ||
| Mike Carino (Mikec) Member Username: Mikec Post Number: 86 Registered: 03-2002 |
Hey Wicks, you do know that a tire filled with equal will never balance on a static or spin balancer right? equal only works when the tire is spinning and under load, so of course a lead balanced tire will always balance better in that situation. Also I don't think that a tires balance plays any part on the trail. Your never going fast enough on the trail to notice or feel an un-balanced tire. It only matters going to the trail and back. the only advantage i see to equal in this case is if you knock a weight off on the trail (which I have never done). So equal will always perform no matter how much abuse you throw at your rims and tires, unless you puncture it. But in this case leads won't help either!! But everyone is always going to have their likes and dislikes, and should use what works for their truck and tire. I've used lead weights on everything I had before without issue and will continue to use them on my motorcycles and cars. But I have no compliants so far about using it on my rover. That my change, I'll have to wait and see. Mike | ||
| Greg Davis (Gregdavis) Senior Member Username: Gregdavis Post Number: 840 Registered: 08-2002 |
"So equal will always perform no matter how much abuse you throw at your rims and tires,..." No, that's the problem. Several have found that in certain circumstances, it just won't balance the tire. My tires were brand new, and no matter how much Equal I put in them, they wouldn't balance. Lead weights were the only answer. | ||
| Mike Carino (Mikec) Member Username: Mikec Post Number: 87 Registered: 03-2002 |
Greg, I meant in the given situation that I presented. Ripping off weights will cause the tire to become un-balanced. The only way to lose equal is through a puncture. And only if you were willing to pry the punctured tire off and replace it with a new one, would the weights have an advantage. Unless you had a spare pack of equal with you to throw in the new tire after re-fitting. Mike |
