Balance Beads.....

[Oscarvan]

Is anyone running balance beads in their steer (front) tires?

[donanddona]

One of my camping buddies uses then on his F-450. Towing a beautiful 40' 5r. It rides nice for the long haul but for sightseeing we use my F-250. I know when truck tires sit for extended periods they often get that flat spot but his feels like those bead things need ample time to find the right balance.

[Iwannacamp]

Careful. I think most tire manufacturers void the warranty with beads.


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[cudntherd]

I bought 6 new Michelin Tires in June 2016. Removed the external lead weights and installed beads in all 6. A very smooth ride. 5000 miles and I love them.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by Iwannacamp

Careful. I think most tire manufacturers void the warranty with beads.

Not necessarily, Here is Michelins service bulletin on the subject as it pertains to the type of tires that would be fitted on a Class A motorhome as per the OP's.

https://www.michelinb2b.com/wps/b2bc...gMaterials.pdf

Page 3 #9 of the Bridgestone warranty basically states the same as Michelin:

https://commercial.bridgestone.com/c...ANTY%20(1).pdf

[Subsailor]

I have them in all 6 of my Michelin tires and love them. It took about 20 miles after the install for the bags to break and the beads to spread out like they are supposed to, but after that nice and smooth. I did verify that it will not affect the warranty prior to having them installed.

[extremebike]

I had a balance issue with the fronts on my F550 running 19.5" Michelins. I got balance beads and problem gone. I wish I had put them in the trailer tires. There is no need to check to see if the balance weights are still attached.

[rollscanardly]

Anyone use these Centramic balancers? If so, how are they?


https://www.amazon.com/centramatic-w...el%20balancers


Rich

[peterbilt]

I think centramatic wheel balancers are a lot better had them on all the tractor trailers and they work great put them on and leave them alone had a million miles on a set

[rollscanardly]

Originally Posted by peterbilt

I think centramatic wheel balancers are a lot better had them on all the tractor trailers and they work great put them on and leave them alone had a million miles on a set

Wow...that sounds like a good endorsement. Nice thing is, is that they're not inside the tires.

Rich

[Mtelkman]

I am curious if WMtire uses balance beads in his personal tires.


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[wmtire]

Originally Posted by Mtelkman

I am curious if WMtire uses balance beads in his personal tires.


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Although we install them in dually and larger mud tires, I don't really own anything personally that I felt like spending the money on since it's cheaper for me to use lead/steel weights. If I had a Class A or something that is hard/expensive to balance the tires on, I would most likely use the beads.

However, I have this relative (we have the same parents), who uses them on many of his two wheelers.

[jgourlie]

Is anybody using these on their trailer tires??

My trailer of course currently didn't come with the wheels balanced from the factory, but these beads seem like a good idea.

My only concern would be letting out all the nitrogen to put in the beads and then having the tires leaking all the time when sitting with normal air in the tires.

[Oscarvan]

Originally Posted by jgourlie

Is anybody using these on their trailer tires??

My trailer of course currently didn't come with the wheels balanced from the factory, but these beads seem like a good idea.

My only concern would be letting out all the nitrogen to put in the beads and then having the tires leaking all the time when sitting with normal air in the tires.

"normal air"? Oh man, I don't want to start this one again but you do know that "normal air" is 78% Nitrogen right?

[Oscarvan]

Allrighty then, and before this thread goes off the N2 deep end (I know, I may have contributed to that)......

I ordered the Centramatics. I asked for the fronts only, but dude upsold me the rears. But, he threw in the shipping.

$414 for all four corners. And I can put them on in my driveway in an hour or so.

[po 185]

centramatics, looks like the way to go. no mess when you have a flat repaired, and they take it off of the rim to repair.

[Oscarvan]

Yup. And, no question about warrantee.