Most of you know I just lifted my truck and got new wheels and tires. Instead of opting for a conventional balance my buddy wanted to try balance beads.

At first we threw a 6oz bag into the tire and under 60 MPH it's perfect, but at interstate speeds, I could feel vibration.

So I did some research and found that 8oz might actually work better for these tires.

Today I took the truck back to the shop and redid the front with 8oz bags. (Napa didn't have any more bags, I'll have to come back next weekend)

I drove it home afterwards and I got the truck to about 72 MPH and it was so smooth, I notice a slight vibration, much less than before, that's probably coming from my back tires since I couldn't redo them

Balance beads claim to work great for the life of the tire since the beads just move around in the tires wherever they need to go, even if a chunk comes out, the beads will compensate.

There is much debate on whether or not this is the proper replacement for conventional balancing, but it's worked for me so far

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know my experience with balance beads. If you guys get the chance to try them, do it, then let us know how it goes

 

I've heard good things about them as long as they don't get grease inside the tire when they mount them.. causing the beads to gunk up and become useless really. But other than that, I've heard they work well and will probly try them on my next set of tires. I can't get mine balanced well for anything.

 

I recommend them to anyone to try. I think it will come down to the types of wheels and tires they are used on.

There seems to be a lot of difference using beads when it goes from street tires to mud tires.