balancing beads

[Will]

Has anyone found any difference in the balancing beads sold by Dyna balance (the company that originated the product) or the ones that are being sold by the competitors. There's a marked difference in price between the two and I was wondering if the extra money would be worth going with the Dyna bead company compared to the ones called Conteract that are half the price? I know that sometimes you do get what you pay for but there are other times your just paying an exaggerated price for the company name.

[Oldav8tor]

I can't answer your question. I can tell you that I installed Counteract balance beads 9600 miles ago and have been very happy with their performance.

[SteveK]

I was wondering what that noise was in my tires when I spun them around Now i know!!!!

Steve

[RVA23T]

According to an alignment & tire specialist to the trucking world, Mike Beckett of MD Alignment ( www.mdalign.com ), no there is not a difference between the two. Just use something is their opinion. They use to be on the xm Road Dog trucking channel, but now are on an app from Let's Truck on Thursdays.

[Gracie'sDad]

HELP ME PLEASE. I'm sure not the brightest bulb, but I'm confounded by the physical properties involved in how balance beads work. It seems to me that the spinning out of balance wheel would "fling" itself outward in the direction of the side with the greatest weight therefore causing the beads to migrate to that point. What I've described would have the exact opposite effect on the desired goal of achieving balance. What am I not understanding?

[jab35]

John:
Here's a link that you might find interesting, I found the illustrations were helpful in explaining the balancing process.

https://www.innovativebalancing.com/HowItWorks.htm

I have no association with the authors or any products mentioned. Best, jb

[Oldav8tor]

There is an explanation out there but it involves a little more physics and math than can be easily presented. Suffice to say that as the tires speed up the beads move to the side opposite the "heavy" side of the tire, balancing the forces. The effect is less noticeable at low speeds but as the tire speeds up the beads do their thing.

While driving at speeds up to 45 mph I don't notice any out-of-balance sensations from my tires. As I mentioned earlier, I've put 9600 miles on my Universal T-Drivers using beads and expect to get another touring season out of them (at least.) Tire wear has been even and my experience has been good overall.

Usually the bead bags come with a modified schrader valve - I've found that the original style tend to work better in a Model T. Sometimes beads can jam the modified type when you're adding air so that they stick open. At least that's been my experience.

[Adam]

Aren’t they just porcelain beads?

Porcelain beads are used for vibratory parts cleaners and de-burring. You can buy a 3# bag on Amazon for $17. The “per pound” price is less in larger quantities from industrial abrasive dealers…

[TRDxB2]

Video of balancing beads inside the tire in action. They put a mini mini camera inside the tire
you'll need to wait abit to skip over the ads https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7CghNsdGbk

[SurfCityGene]

I think they are a ceramic material. So I wonder about the particle size of the porcelain beads?

[Charlie B in N.J.]

OK explain this away: two situations I was personally involved in using a dynamic wheel balancer. On two separate occasions I had tires that I could not balance. Every time the tire was spun and I installed weights at the designated points it would be out of balance when the final test spin was done. One tire had water in it and the other was deteriorating internally and had hundreds of rubber beads inside it from the rubber flaking off the inside of the tire and rolling around. About half a cup full. Neither tire could be balanced until the junk was cleared oot. Why wouldn’t the water or the heads act exactly the way the manufacturer claims dyna beads claims it does? This is the main reason I contend they don’t work as claimed.

[SteveK]

When I first read about the beads yesterday I thought the concept was hokie, but after thinking about it, it started to make some sense. The key is the beads are ceramic which would make them very smooth and able to roll around. Vibration and Centrifugal force would make them spread around as evenly as possible and my bet is they would "balance out" to fill any mass imbalance putting the wheel into equilibrium. Of course that all changes when you hit a bump but they should reset themselves in a minute or two. So good for long runs, would not do much on a bouncy farm road.

This forum does have lots of fun discussions!

Steve

[Gracie'sDad]

OK, I'm still scratching my head and have a burning desire to know the truth. To that end, I placed a regulation football (NFL official ball weighs 14-16oz) in my wife's washing machine (I trust you won't tell her) and ran it on spin. I had to trick the machine to make it think the lid was closed. Right after start up the "basket" began to spin out of balance predictably favoring the position of the football. At that point I tossed 10 marbles in and observed. If you guessed the marbles migrated to the opposite side of the football you are wrong. There is no question they crowded as close to the football as they could get. 'got any ideas?

Posibly I should submit this to MYTH BUSTERS.

[RVA23T]

One cavaiot for the balance beads to work is for a slow start which is why they are not used in modern cars they accelerate to fast and prevent the proper dispersio unlike Tractors or Class 8 trucks and the model t.

[SteveK]

Very really gutsy; I would never go near my wife's washer or dryer

The mass of the football is 1000 times more than the mass of the marbles so there's no way they can react. The next time your wife is out of the house you may just try it with the marbles to see if they distribute themselves around the dryer tub? (they should since most dryers these days can self balance the cloth you throw in.

Steve

[L.I. Tom]

I have used the beads for about 8,000 miles on my car. A 23 Roadster with the demountable clinchers and wood spokes that I know are not perfectly balanced with good success prior to putting them in I definitely had some balance wobble since then no problem wore out a set of tires recently replaced them with blockleys and put beads in again with no balance issues. It is my understanding if there is not enough weight in the tires it can make your balance problem worse if you put too many beads in it is okay they find their own place in the world is good. I don't exactly know how it works but that is my understanding.

[SurfCityGene]

I've given a demonstration using a large plastic bottle on the end of a drill motor with some beads inside. It's cool to see it go from wobbling to smooth spinning.
BTW I've heard motorcycles guys like them. Weights on a cycle wheel would look terrible and the tire is always in balance as it wears.

[TXGOAT2]

My car has balance beads in all 4 tires and it runs very smoothly at any speed up to and beyond 50 MPH on washboard dirt or smooth pavement. It has Ford wire wheels and Lucas 4.40/4.50 X 21 tires. I don't see how they work, but they seem to work very well. I'd think they'd migrate to the heavy side of the tire and stay there, but they do not.

[Oldav8tor]

Before putting balance beads in my tires I talked to the owner of a local tire shop. He said they put balance beads in a lot of large tires used on trucks and agricultural equipment. Indeed, he says it's the only way to get some types of tires to balance at all. With tubeless tires they just throw in a bag or two of beads when installing the tires. In use, the bags break and the beads disperse. A lot easier than filling a Model T tube

FWIW - a 30 x 3.5 tire takes 6 oz of beads. The beads themselves are very small, almost like sand but because of their shape, they move easily and don't clump.

[Gen3AntiqueAuto]

If anyone is interested, I will have a small amount in inventory here soon. I'll be selling them as a kit again, one kit = one Model T's worth (4 tires)...