Balancing Beads

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Oldav8tor
Posts: 1930
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 11:39 am
First Name: Tim
Last Name: Juhl
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1917 Touring
Location: Thumb of Michigan
MTFCA Number: 50297
MTFCI Number: 24810
Board Member Since: 2018

Balancing Beads

Post by Oldav8tor » Sun May 12, 2019 8:36 pm

Back in 2018 there was a good discussion of balancing beads. I just finished installing beads in my 30 x 3.5 tubes and thought I'd share my experience for others that might be thinking of doing it. First of all, it took almost a half-hour per tube to put in six ounces of Counteract beads. What I did was get a mustard squeeze bottle from the dollar store and a piece of clear plastic tubing sized to fit tight to the nozzle on the bottle and stem on the tube. Just to be sure, I put a small hose clamp around the top of the valve stem.

Getting the beads to go into the tube was a challenge. Without going into a lot of details, I followed the advice of others and used a vibrating engraving tool to keep the beads moving. I put the tip against the hose clamp and tilted the bottle so as to keep a steady flow without dumping so much that it plugged the tube. Have patience, it is doable :-)

When I've had a chance to drive the car I'll report back on my experience of driving with beads installed.

BTW - I found the cheapest source of beads to be a local tire shop that was listed as a Counteract dealer.
1917 Touring
1946 Aeronca Champ
1952 Willys M38a1 Jeep (sold 2023)
1953 Ford Jubilee Tractor


George Andreasen
Posts: 201
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 6:21 pm
First Name: George
Last Name: Andreasen
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 0...building from parts
Location: Alturas, California

Re: Balancing Beads

Post by George Andreasen » Sun May 12, 2019 9:08 pm

Really curious to see your follow up report on this. From memory some like 'em, some don't............ ;)


Tom Hicks
Posts: 761
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 12:07 pm
First Name: Thomas
Last Name: Hicks
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: '24 TT, '26 TT, '24 Speedster, '26 Speedster
Location: Chesterfield, VA
MTFCA Number: 32518

Re: Balancing Beads

Post by Tom Hicks » Sun May 12, 2019 9:13 pm

They work great on my speedster!

You skipped a step installing the beads. First use a 1/8" drill and drill out the valve stem through its base. There is a restricted point right where the stem connents to the tube and it is very difficult to get the beads through that point if you don't drill it out.
Technology, the solution to all of our problems... and the cause of most of them.

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