My tire shop (and it seems most others have as well) quit doing the free rotation and balance. Just doing the rotation free.
Thinking about bead balancing. Most reading says don’t bead balance with an aspect ratio less than 65.
No big deal my tires are 65s.

Anyone had luck with bead balancing?

Are you getting vibrations? What drives the need for this?

And the advantage is?

quote:

Originally posted by 1967Goat:
Are you getting vibrations? What drives the need for this?

Yes, a slight vibration at 75-80 mph which is my Highway sweetspot.
Was great till I had them rotated with my oil change at 5k.

quote:

Originally posted by UTsig:
And the advantage is?

Essentially your wheels rebalance every time you start rolling.

No need to pay an extra $25 each oil change.

I had the product "EQUAL" added to the front tires on my International 4700. It worked so well I never felt the right front tire go out of balance when the inside sidewall blew out a 65mph.

I know it's not the same but my tire shop used beads to balance my new motorhome tires.

They install a cage inside to keep beads out of the valves but it didn't work on one of my inner tires. I was losing 10-12 pounds every parked evening on a long trip. I'd air them up in the morning and they held air all day until the tires cooled.

I wouldn't do this again.

What is your goal? If your goal is to fix it, pay to balance the tire. If your goal is to hope it goes away, dump some beads inside the tire. It will cost you just as much to balance the tire after the beads have caused a new vibration.

Do you have a reputable nearby shop with a road force balancer? The road force balance and match pairing can help mask a bent wheel or poorly manufactured tire.

I've worked with or around tires for many years and hadn't even heard of this. I work for a Tire Pros dealer and I can tell you they don't do it, having a road force balancer. My first, on-the-surface impression is that these sound ineffective at best, possibly harmful at worst. What if, for example, these beads decide your TPMS sensor is the high spot and strike or get wedged in it? And I don't believe they will stay put at low speeds (say ~30 mph and under), instead rattling around inside. I have seen tires (pre-TPMS) with so-called "balancing fluid" in them and can tell you it doesn't work. Let me ask around, if for no other reason than to satisfy my curiosity.

 
Didn't they (many years ago) use a bubble balancer (with a bubble like a level) to balance tires? Or is just a figment of my aging memory?
 

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:
 
Didn't they (many years ago) use a bubble balancer (with a bubble like a level) to balance tires? Or is just a figment of my aging memory?
 

There is such a thing and done properly will yield very satisfactory results.

quote:

Originally posted by Budlum:
What is your goal? If your goal is to fix it, pay to balance the tire. If your goal is to hope it goes away, dump some beads inside the tire. It will cost you just as much to balance the tire after the beads have caused a new vibration.

Do you have a reputable nearby shop with a road force balancer? The road force balance and match pairing can help mask a bent wheel or poorly manufactured tire.

The point of bead balancing is not to have to have them rebalanced constantly for light vibrations
Even balancing beads won’t fix a bad wheel or tire.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I've worked with or around tires for many years and hadn't even heard of this. I work for a Tire Pros dealer and I can tell you they don't do it, having a road force balancer. My first, on-the-surface impression is that these sound ineffective at best, possibly harmful at worst. What if, for example, these beads decide your TPMS sensor is the high spot and strike or get wedged in it? And I don't believe they will stay put at low speeds (say ~30 mph and under), instead rattling around inside. I have seen tires (pre-TPMS) with so-called "balancing fluid" in them and can tell you it doesn't work. Let me ask around, if for no other reason than to satisfy my curiosity.

Most all I have found are compatible with TPMS only rub is you have to dismount the tire as you can’t install them through the valve stem.

They won’t stay put under 30mph but if you are having vibration at under 30 mph you have a bent wheel or bad tire and neither this or road force balancing will solve your problem.

Here are the ones that seem to be the most reputable that I have come across.
https://www.counteractbalancing.com

Interesting that you have not heard of them it was my understanding that it is pretty much the go to way to balance tractor trailer and RV tires.
It is not common place in passenger vehicles because the tire needs to be at least a 65 aspect ratio which is quite uncommon anymore.

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:
 
Didn't they (many years ago) use a bubble balancer (with a bubble like a level) to balance tires? Or is just a figment of my aging memory?
 

No, you remember right. I did it, at my first job, very early in my career (circa 1979-80). For a "better" balance - an upcharge - we did on-the-car spin balancing, like this.



Even then, those were on their way out, to be replaced by the off-car spin balancers. The on-car spin was hazardous because you had to reach over and turn knobs on a spinning tire; sometimes the whole apparatus came loose and went flying. Also, the brake drum or rotor would turn along with the wheel, so you had to match-mark the wheel and put it back in the same place if you ever took it off, and/or re-do all the balancing every time you rotated the tires.

You said earlier that the vibration started after a tire rotation. Very likely, an imbalance was already there in one or both rear tires, but moving the tire(s) to the front enabled you to feel it more, as there is now direct feedback through the steering. I see this all the time.

quote:

Interesting that you have not heard of them it was my understanding that it is pretty much the go to way to balance tractor trailer and RV tires.

I have worked very little with those larger tires - and that was to repair them, no balancing done - just passenger car and "1-ton" and smaller trucks. Maybe that's why … or maybe there is a better reason for it, like, say, it doesn't work …? Let me see what the boss has to say about it.

The shop I work at (Meineke) offers them. We mainly use them on lifted trucks with big tires. We have only had one guy come back saying they didn't work. It turns out his tires were exceptionally thick. Thus, making them heavier than normal. We added 50% more per tire and he was very happy. He had been to and paid several shops to balance the tires, including road force, and was never satisfied.

All in all we've used the beads about 15 times or so in the 3 years I've been there.

Never heard of this. If someone who knows what they're doing can't balance it with a Road Force setup, then there's probably no hope. Costco was unable to solve a vibration after getting new tires installed by them (onto brand new Neuspeed quality wheels) and eventually had to take it to the VW dealer, have them all Road Force checked, and they determined one of the tires was bad. Car was perfect after that. Never ever had to have a set of wheels/tires balanced with every oil change either??

Do it right.
Tires are expensive and running them out of balance or low on air can shorten the life a lot.

quote:

Originally posted by DonDraper:
Never heard of this. If someone who knows what they're doing can't balance it with a Road Force setup, then there's probably no hope. Costco was unable to solve a vibration after getting new tires installed by them (onto brand new Neuspeed quality wheels) and eventually had to take it to the VW dealer, have them all Road Force checked, and they determined one of the tires was bad. Car was perfect after that. Never ever had to have a set of wheels/tires balanced with every oil change either??

I have never HAD to either. My tire place used to provide free rotation and balance every 5k Miles (my oil change interval) so I always had it done. Tires last so much longer when rotate at a 5k interval I have found.

Now they just offer rotation. After the rotation the vibration was noticeable. It is not horrible but annoying on highway trips.

So like egregore said I likely had an imbalance that just became noticeable when a rear was moved to the front.

FWIW tire balance generally manifests itself at about 52 MPH. Most likely you have a tire problem. There is a thing called uniformity. The carcass is more or less flexible around the perimeter and will produce a vibration as well. Rotate accross as well as front to back. This might help identify which tire is the problem.

Check out centramatic. It is a ring with ball bearings in it that is attached behind the wheel. Used on larger trucks. It must be model specific. Probably not cheap if they make a model to fit your vehicle.

my advise. never, ever, rotate tires that have no issues in the current configuration. No idea on other solutions, but if you have balance problems get the tires balanced and move on.