View Full Version : Wheel balancing
jay_guess
7th June 2019, 02:14 PM
Afternoon All,
Are any of you running ABC Balancing Beads?  or have any experience with them? ABC Beads (R) | Tyre Balancing Beads Australia (http://www.abcbeads.com.au)
I recently got a new set of wheel with KM2 Muddies installed and they came back with more balancing weights than I have ever seen on a rim!  They may be balance correctly but they look terrible!
151676
jay_guess
9th June 2019, 08:11 PM
I am amazed that no one here has tried these or know any one who has?!
spudfan
9th June 2019, 08:26 PM
I found a string of these on the ground by the Puma. I didn't know what they were. I thought my daughter had dropped a bracelet! They seemed to have been fitted to the inside of the rim as in the photograph. Had new tyres fitted shortly after that so conventional weights fitted to these (235/85/16 Michelin Latitude Cross - highly recommended).
W&KO
9th June 2019, 08:28 PM
Pretty sure goingbush runs beads in his iveco 
I’m not sure why you sent them to be balanced, I always thought the bead negated the need to add lead.
Red90
9th June 2019, 08:28 PM
I’ve used beads for years. You do not need anything fancy. I prefer air soft pellets. If the tyre is really bad they won’t work though.
rick130
10th June 2019, 04:28 AM
I ran breads in the Deefer as the Mach V rims I used are almost impossible to add weights to.
Sometimes you need more than recommended to get balance, but they do work.
jay_guess
13th June 2019, 11:14 AM
Thanks for the feedback.  I haven't gone down the bear rout yet, but am seriously considering it as the weights just look terrible!
MLD
13th June 2019, 06:23 PM
I've run ABC balance beads for 5 years over 2 sets of muddies (all 35's).  Buy the 4wd specific type (not the truck version).  The 4wd version is a larger bead and doesn't jam the valve when airing down (learned that one the hard way with a completely flat tyre when the valve leaked over several hours).  Buy the bag larger than the recommended on the table (another lesson).  The wheel will vibrate like an imbalanced wheel until they find equilibrium (usually 100 to 200m) at each speed interval, ie speeding up from 80kph to 100kph.  I have no complaints using them.  I fitted new tyres a month ago and went with beads again.
W&KO
13th June 2019, 06:32 PM
I've run ABC balance beads for 5 years over 2 sets of muddies (all 35's).  Buy the 4wd specific type (not the truck version).  The 4wd version is a larger bead and doesn't jam the valve when airing down (learned that one the hard way with a completely flat tyre when the valve leaked over several hours).  Buy the bag larger than the recommended on the table (another lesson).  The wheel will vibrate like an imbalanced wheel until they find equilibrium (usually 100 to 200m) at each speed interval, ie speeding up from 80kph to 100kph.  I have no complaints using them.  I fitted new tyres a month ago and went with beads again.
I’m about to fit four new tyres and have been considering running beads. 
Buggered if I can see a 4WD specific bead on the ABC web site. 
Based on your experience for 235/85r16 4oz would be the go??
TYRE CHART – Select your “Easy” insert bag | ABC Beads (https://www.abcbeads.com.au/tyre-chart)
Konradical
13th June 2019, 07:00 PM
I’m about to fit four new tyres and have been considering running beads. 
Buggered if I can see a 4WD specific bead on the ABC web site. 
Based on your experience for 235/85r16 4oz would be the go??
TYRE CHART – Select your “Easy” insert bag | ABC Beads (https://www.abcbeads.com.au/tyre-chart)They will be two sizes of beads. I think there are a 2 and 4mm, or something to that tune.
When I was working for a transport mob up north we started using them in all the tyres. Trailer and truck tyres. The smaller beads ended up being used in the steer tyres, for some reason they balanced better.
Also never had an issue with the beads coming out through the valve. We did air the tyres up with the valve located at the top though until the tyre bead had seated. We had a couple of instances where the beads were blown into the bead of the tyre and caused a slow leak, if the valve was at the bottom when airing up. Soon worked that out after have to remount 20 or so tyres.
W&KO
13th June 2019, 07:07 PM
They will be two sizes of beads. I think there are a 2 and 4mm, or something to that tune.
.
Found the 2mm and 4mm reference on their website, I will shoot them an email.
MLD
13th June 2019, 11:02 PM
First up i used very fine beads for a truck tyre.  Balanced better but if the valve was around 6 oclock when airing down the beads tried to exit the tyre and got caught in the valve seal, creating the leak.
for comparison i use 8oz bag in a 35” tyre (315/75r16) and table says 6oz
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