Tire Balancing

[_(OIIIIO)_Jeeper]

I put this under general chat because it covers ALL Jeepz.

Has anyone had experiance with this type of technology. I have heard of BB or even golf balls being used in some bigger tires.

check this out:
http://www.innovativebalancing.com/

Terry

[TwistedCopper]

Wow do those actually work?!?!? My tires and wheels take a lot of weight!!!

[Sparky-Watts]

Ya know, when I worked at a repair shop back in the late '80s, a guy used marbles in his tires to balance them, and swore by it. We all thought he was nuts. He had a set of tires with no wheel weights that had 60k on them, and hardly any wear like you'd expect from a tire that's not balanced.

I remember on my old Toy pickup, too, that when I'd have a tire out of balance, a good mudding trip would usually balance them up as the mud selected a spot in the rim to stick to.....it worked well, so long as it dried in place.

After reading that page and thinking about it, it all makes perfect sense to me. Think I might just buy it and try it.....

[88Wrangles]

Ya, for the most part all that stuff does work. I just wouldn't use sand or anything that will clump up when wet...but this stuff says it won't. Whenever I get the chance, I'm just going to put BB's or marbles in mine.

Sparky, The mud on the tires works sometimes too. But, I've had times where I'll get my tires complely covered with chunks hanging off all over the place. Then, let it sit for the next day in the hot sun. Man, that is the roughest ride you'll ever experience as soon as you hit pavement!!! I reccomend taking it on the street for a few minutes after you get them covered and THEN let it sit if it has too!!

[Sparky-Watts]

Yeah, I hear ya, '88. I've had it dry in clumps inside the wheels, and it's like driving over a row of speedbumps!! Not a highly recommended way of balancing your tires!

[_(OIIIIO)_Jeeper]

thinking of getting this for the 36's.....

[86cj7Rich]

Thanks for posting this Terry. Definatly will use this when I get the new tires.

[Inspector-Gadget]

I have been reading ads for this sort of tire balancing scheme since the 1950s. Those ads were always among the classifieds in the back of magazines like “Popular Science” and Popular Mechanics.”

The “Astounding Tire Balancing Technology” ads would be listed among the ads for the “150 MPG Carburetor Gizmo,” the “Add 50-Horsepower Gizmo," the “Charles Atlas, Gain 50 Pounds of Muscles in only Six Short Weeks,” and the ads for “X-Ray Vision Eye-Glasses,” which purported to let the wearer see through womens clothes.

After all this time, I still do not know if the B-Bs, marbles, golf-balls, yada, yada tire-balancing thing actually works.

I do know that the “X-Ray Vision” eye-glasses do NOT work, but wearing those glasses will earn the wearer a slap from any and all females within slapping range.

The girls in the monogrammed angora sweaters and poodle skirts knew what I was up to.

Regards,

Cheeks Still Stinging, Gadget

PS-1: I still have several pairs of those "X-Ray Vision" eye-glasses.

PS-2: I did not gain the promised 50-pounds of solid muscle.

[TwistedCopper]

Got me curious..

Did some searching on the net. Apparently this method of balancing is quite popular on the RV forums

they seem to work for them... This company has a money back guarantee:
(bottom of page) http://www.imiproducts.com/equal/tire-balancing.aspx


from this article... http://www.brakeandfrontend.com/tsbalance/12014.htm :

One alternative here is to offer your customers a balancing product that goes inside the tire to provide long-lasting benefits. For many years, fleet owners have used powder-based balancing products inside their over-the-road medium truck tires.

The dynamics of rotation cause the weighted powder to cling to the inside of the tire in such a way that it equalizes balance. Extensive testing and real-world use shows that not only does this help maintain balance for the life of the tire, it also results in a smoother riding tire. Other similar products that use glass beads or liquids also claim to provide similar benefits.

I am seriously considering getting enough of the stuff to do my spare, and taking it to a tire shop to see how it works on a spin balancer. I figure if it shows balanced on the spinning machine it should work on my Jeep.

I'll let you all know how my experiment turns out, but allow time for shipping and my usual procrastination may be a factor

[_(OIIIIO)_Jeeper]

but allow time for shipping and my usual procrastination may be a factor

so basically what your saying is maybe by Christmas we might be close to hearing something!

[TwistedCopper]

just ordered 4 oz for my 245/75/16 MTR spare. We'll see what happens to my ginnea pig spare tire....

[Inspector-Gadget]

Okay -- serious post this time.

Another approach to tire balancing.

I stumbled upon the web site listed below some time ago. (I had a heck of a time finding it again.) The web site might be worth looking at in the context of this thread.

I honestly do not know if the "non-traditional" methods of achieving static and dynamic tire balance are better/worse than the traditional stick-a-chunk-of-lead on the wheel tire balancing methods.

But, for what it might be worth, here is a link to the web site. There are two good videos to watch. (Warning: fairly large downloads):

http://www.centramatic.com/Demo/demo.php

The other pages of the web site also make for some interesting reading.

I wonder if any our our pro truck driver Jeepz-sters have had experience with the "centramatic" gizmos?

Regards,

Statically and Dynamically Unbalanced, Gadget

[mud4feet]

Originally Posted by TwistedCopper

Got me curious..........I am seriously considering getting enough of the stuff to do my spare, and taking it to a tire shop to see how it works on a spin balancer. I figure if it shows balanced on the spinning machine it should work on my Jeep...........

Me, too, TC. I'm in the market for some new tires and would really like to know how this turns out. Thanx for being the guinea pig!

[88Wrangles]

ya Twisted, be sure to give us a full report on how it works!!

[TwistedCopper]

Well I have just been in a volley of e-mails with innovatice balancing's "Robert". It started when he emailed me suggesting a new valve stem core...

>>>>Hi Harry,
>>>> I'm just checking, but I noticed you didn't order any valve cores for
>>>>your order. You may have some, but they are needed to keep the valve
>>>>core from leaking. I'm just checking to keep you from having to reorder
>>>>and pay another UPS charge. Please let me know.
>>>>
>>>>Regards,
>>>>Robert

>>>SO I can't re-use the old one? If that's the case, throw one in there.
>>>
>>>I am only ordering enough of this stuff to try it on my spare. I just
>>>wanted to see how it works. I have a Jeep with 245/75/16 Goodyear MT/R
>>>tires. They are a pretty aggressive tire and tough to keep balanced. I
>>>
>>>
>had
>
>
>>>never heard of this type of product and to be honest I was a bit leery,
>>>
>>>
>so I
>
>
>>>figured I'd try it on a spare tire and put the tire on a spin balancer to
>>>see how it worked.
>>>
>>>Can you just add it to the order if it is a relatively inexpensive item?
>>>
>>>
>If
>
>
>>>so, go ahead and do so. If not, I can change my order on your site. Just
>>>let me know.
>>>
>>>Thank you,
>>>Harry Gardner

>>Hi Harry,
>> There's a few issues here...
>>1. You should use the filtered valve cores to prevent a bead from
>>getting caught in the valve core mechanism and sticking it open. If you
>>are just testing this, then forget it, but remember to always put air IN
>>the tire before checking pressure. That way you will blow any beads
>>sitting around the core away into the tire. If you decide to use it all
>>around, I would strongly recommend them.
>>
>>2. You have the incorrect amount for that tire. We use two different
>>formulas for weight calculations. One for aggressive tires, one for
>>road tires. The Aggressive Tire Chart is listed in the "Oversize Tire
>>Chart" section of the site, and those tires will take 5 oz..
>>If it's ok with you, I will change the order to 5 oz. Let me know.
>>
>>3. You cannot test on a tire machine.
>> A tire machine will get confused with the beads in the tire, and the
>>beads themselves require a spring suspension in order to work correctly,
>>and so will not function at all on a spring-less balancing machine. The
>>only way to test it is to mount it on the vehicle. I would suggest on
>>the front/drivers side.
>>
>>Regards,
>>Robert

Harry Gardner wrote:

>Do you feel confident that this product would properly balance the tires on
>my Jeep? My concern was that this type of balancing was more geared for a
>heavier duty application like a tractor trailer tire or an RV and the
>lightweight jeep may be a problem.
>
>We off-road junkies have a hell of a time keeping our mudders balanced. If
>you feel confident that it will work, I'll just go ahead and get them for 4
>tires and get 4 of the stems. If you think it best I try it on one tire
>first to be sure then I'll go that route and I'm ok with you changing the
>order to 5 oz.
>
>I really appreciate you taking the time to answer these questions. I will
>say that you seem to have outstanding customer service. If this indeed
>works well for me I will no doubt post the results on the Jeep forums I
>frequent with a link to your website.
>
>Harry

Hi Harry,
Yes, I think it will work fine on your Jeep tires. We do a lot of
business with the folks at http://www.pavementsucks.com, and from what I
understand, we have an excellent rep among those folks. These people
use some huge tires, and my customers use up to 44" tires. The only
problem I've encountered is the installation. The tire has to be free
of any tire/bead sealant, even a small amount on the inside will make
the beads stick to it like fly-paper.
I also use them on my own Dodge Duallie, with both road tires and the
new set of winter BFG Commercial T/A agresssive tread tires. I know
you're being cautious about this product and whether it will work or
not, so I'll change the order to 5 oz, and throw in one filtered valve
core. Make sure the tire is clean on the inside and has no sticky film.
I even suggest, if possible, wiping the interior with a rag with alcohol
to make sure.
Then remove the wheel weights, install the product, and give it a go.
If it works, order enough to do all the tires and 4 filtered valve cores.

How's that sound?
Regards,
Robert

By the way, find attached the owner of pavementsucks.com's personal
truck tires that he installed the beads in his split-rim, beadlocked
tires. he used 10 oz per tire, and ran it to 90 mph with no vibration.
Pictures attached.

I'll try the spare, mounted on the Jeep. I'll let you all know how it turns out. (Pun intended)

[_(OIIIIO)_Jeeper]

Cool! Boy they do seem to have a good customer service dept. or your the only one e-mailing and he was bored like the Maytag repairman JK
I'm sure the company keeps up with customer satisfaction......just waiting for you to bead-up!

[TwistedCopper]

Well I changed the order on Friday. I'm getting enough to do the four mounted tires. I have since read alot more examples of Jeepers using this type of method. One guy even said he used golf balls in his 35's

Makes you wonder why it isn't more popular. Maybe the tire companies and tire shops don't want it for selfish reasons? Hmmmm could be...

The only thing I'm concerned about would be if there is glue inside the tire. If that's the case it won't work. If not I should be good to go. This should really be done when the tires are new and being mounted initially but too late for that here.

Man I hope this works out okay :|

[_(OIIIIO)_Jeeper]

I think it will TC..I'm going to try to get some for the 36's when I get the $$$