Balancing beads

I know they're intended for bigger tires, but has anyone had any luck with balancing beads? The sticky weights look like crap, and I keep having issues with them coming off.
I have 33's.

 

@Crom

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...d-and-adventures.362772/page-77#post-12082270

 

Awesome! Thank you.

 

Haven’t used it. Always used stick on. Had 31, 33, now 35.

who’s doing the balancing?

ideally the surface will be prepped.
Rag, cleaner, dry, stick on weight. Rubber mallet taps to help them adhere.

a wire brush also cleans the surface but kind of sketch to use messing up the finish.

or other more dedicated wheel cleaning products like IronX brake dust removal.

sometimes it’s worth taking the wheels off to deep clean them which helps.

they might have black sticky weights. I have regular silver/grey ones and tucked inside the barrel they’re not really visible. Unlike a clamp on weight that gets hammered on the outside of a stock or steelie.

 

Unfortunately, the same idiots that scratched up my brand new, fresh out of the box FN's.

I've had a real hard time finding anyone around here to do good alignments, mounting, or balancing. So, the more responsibilities I can remove from them, the better.

 

which chain?
Certain dealer techs can do proper work on the side.

I had a flat repair done at Discount and haven’t noticed any issues so far
35’s mounted by a dedicated tire shop

DIYd alignment but they are hard to do. If someone doesn’t know what they’re doing it’s easy to mess up.

harder than a random sedan with only a toe adjuster (in terms of front) to set with a 24 and 15mm.

I’m surprised because current new tire mounting machines from Hunter use plastic “hands”, idea being they’re sacrificial replaceable wear items designed to avoid scratching versus old school metal that easily can, unless that shop doesn’t have that.

I mounted other wheels with that machine without scratches easily, didn’t even have to do any of that fancy Instagram taping or whatever folks do.

 

Mavis. Only went because it's close to my work, and they had the best price on Open Country R/T's.

Here's one picture, there are 2 identical chips, exactly 180°.

On the inside barrel, there are similar chips. 2 chips about an inch or 2 apart. 3 "pairs" of chips 120° from each other.

 

I've had hit and miss experience with beads on 35s.

Only advice I have if you use beads is to go with larger diameter beads ( vs smaller) and go with a little more weight vs just enough.

 

So, use the ones where you have to break the bead, as opposed to the ones that go through the valve stem?

 

For sure.... reason is because it is almost inevitable that moisture will form inside the tire. .usually from inflating from air compressors etc..

I've had smaller beads clump together because of the moisture. Didn't find out until tires needed replacing.

 

That's a great point. Never thought about that. I'm gonna try them next time I get tires.

 

Call George at GW Automotive, 1225 Court St.

Does great alignments.

I'd chat with him about balancing as well.

S&M Truck World on Gulf to Bay might be worth a visit. I've never used them, but they've been in business there a longgggg time, usually with some flashy rigs around. So they may be good.

 

Interesting, that's where I used to go, and LOVED them. Then I went, and I suspect someone else did the work, and I was not happy. But I'll try them again, since they got another endorsement.

 

My #1 Indy for years did not have alignment gear. He subbed it to GW, so I just go direct for the alignments now. I get an 8 AM appt and wait. It doesn't go anywhere else.

I just have OE wheels and tires on both vehicles, so I've done the Costco thing for the last 3-4 sets with no issues.

 

I'll give them another shot. Maybe my bad experience was a fluke.

 

That was the expanding clamps on the tire machine grabbing the rim

Not pointing fingers here, but instead of calling around looking for the cheapest price on the tires, ask around about who will be the most careful with your rims. Who's doing the installation and how experienced are they? What kind of machine do they have?

Oftentimes the cheapest tires are accompanied by the cheapest labor as well

 

Thats what I assumed. Frustrating, because I asked, multiple times, if they had a machine that would keep my wheels from being damaged. The after, he acted like it was no big deal.

 

I'm not aware of any machine that can grab the rim without digging into the paint a bit, but i could be wrong. Maybe some composite clamps or something, I don't know

 

I'm sure those guys with WORK, BBS, etc wheels are getting theirs done without damage. Wish I could figure out where, lol

 

Google touch less tire machine near me. I think there are a few in Pinellas.

It's been a while, but I had no issues with these forged wheels or the polished alloys at Bob Lee's in downtown St Pete.