Tire Balancing Beads

[Model T Ron]

Has anyone used balancing beads? Would you use them again or just go without in the future?

[Moxie26]

I tried the balancing beads with the older set of tires I had on the car and it did improve the ride a bit. After I put the new tire set on 3 years ago I tried without the beads and car rode fine. I'm sure that with an older set of tires no matter how they wear will give a unbalanced ride, having the balance beads in the tube will help to improve.

[brendan.hoban]

My 22 touring has wood spoked wheels, 10 year old clincher tyres, tubes and flaps and all exhibited wibble, wabble, wobble, wriggle and wander and vibrated terribly.

I installed balance beads in each tyre very slowly, patiently and with great perseverance through the schrader stems and .....

My car now drives quietly, gently, with grace, dignity and relative silence, all because of balance beads.

[TWrenn]

My 22 touring has wood spoked wheels, 10 year old clincher tyres, tubes and flaps and all exhibited wibble, wabble, wobble, wriggle and wander and vibrated terribly.

I installed balance beads in each tyre very slowly, patiently and with great perseverance through the schrader stems and .....

My car now drives quietly, gently, with grace, dignity and relative silence, all because of balance beads.

That's the problem for (or is it WITH...LOL) me....I ain't got the patience!!

[bdtutton]

I have a 1914 Touring with brass valve stems and covers that act almost like a large wheel weight on each tire. If I am driving around town at slower speeds it does not matter, but if I take the car on longer trips at 35-40mph I have to take the brass valve stem covers off or the car will shake pretty bad. Would the balance beads be enough to compensate for the weight of these heavy brass valve step covers? If not, would it at least be enough to help??

[Oldav8tor]

I installed 6 oz of balance beads in each tire....they do the job! Laying the tip of a vibrating engraver to the side of the valve stem and you'll speed the process dramatically. Took me 8-10 minutes per tire.

[SurfCityGene]

I "wouldn't leave home without them" Great thing is that compared to stick on or wire wrapped spokes is that the wheel is always in balance as it wears.

[Gen3AntiqueAuto]

I used to be a dealer for Dynabeads. HUGE difference. Smooths it out. IF there is a need for it I can renew...

[browning]

I have them in two model A and two model T cars as well as the steer tires on my motor home. I notice the biggest difference on the model a's for some reason. I can drive them at 60 miles an hour with one finger on the wheel until I come to a stop and then the car gallops for a few hundred feet until the beads realign. The difference is absolute and obvious, well worth the frustration of installing them.

[JohnH]

I've used them for many years. They do seem to help, particularly at higher speeds.

[zdillinger]

I was just messing around with installing these in my '26 Model T last night. After spending a frustrating 90 minutes on the first tire with little success, I finally hit on a procedure that worked well. 5 minutes per tire for the last three.

Here's how I did it:

1) After removing the valve stem core, stick wire or a properly sized drill bit down the stem itself and make sure there isn't anything obstructing the opening between the stem and the tube/tire interior. Sometimes there will be rubber bits, flaps, etc. making the opening smaller. Not a problem when forcing air in, but a big problem when putting beads in.
2) Find your compressed air blow gun.
3) Find a longer length (I used about 14" from my Mitty Vac set) of clear plastic tubing just large enough to fit tightly around the valve stem.
4) Fit the tubing onto the valve stem.
5) Using the provided squeeze bottle, fill the clear tubing about halfway with beads, then fit the other end onto your blow gun.
6) Using short, light blasts from the gun, start squeezing air past the beads into the tire tube.
- Safety Note: Be very careful not to shoot the tube off the valve stem or blow gun. This is possible if you hit the blow gun too hard and beads will go everywhere with a bit of pressure behind them, so wear safety glasses. If you have a small hose clamp, it wouldn't hurt to firmly attach the clear tubing to the valve stem.
7) After a few shots of air, the air from the tire tube will push its way back up the plastic tubing and try to push the beads back toward the blow gun. Before they get there, give it another shot with the blow gun and beads will start disappearing into the tire tube. This is sort of like rocking a car that is stuck in the snow, forward and then back repeatedly. Just takes a second to get the rhythm down.
8) Once the first load of beads is in the tire/tube, carefully remove the clear tubing from the blow gun. The air you put in the tire will blow back out and there's a chance that a bead or two might come back out, so stick your thumb over the end of the plastic tubing and modulate the air release just in case.
9) Refill the clear tubing from the bottle and repeat the process until you have the desired amount of beads in each tire.
10) Fit provided valve stem and refill tire to recommended pressure.

I'll be doing a test drive later today. Hopefully the beads will be worth the time and money!

[Gen3AntiqueAuto]

To all the "slow and patient" guys in this thread - you need a vibrator. Not a sex joke - you get a little machine that buzzes the valve stem so the beads go in faster. You also have to drill out the valve housing first....

[DHort]

You mean engraver, Tim?