I just lost a whole slug of weights off the inside of my rim so I need to get it rebalanced. I've heard talk of a powder that goes in the tire that is self balancing. Does anyone have any info on this stuff eg what it's called, where to get it, how much it costs, how it works etc etc. Thanks for any help, Tim

never heard of powder but you can use lead shot, bb's, ball bearings, etc or there is a company that makes some ceramic stuff.

yeah I've also heard of using sand bags as weights.

just a wheel balance at a tire shop should cost less than ten dollars... its just annoying to see four wheel balance and four tire mount charges on your bill, taking your $160 set of tires all the way up to 200..

 

i cant imagine you would get any alternative fix for cheaper, and you definitely wouldnt "know" its balanced like they do when they spin it on their machine...

I had the lifetime balance deal when I had them done originaly. But with Swampers it takes a lot of weight to get them right. I was hopeing for something internal that wont fall off again. Thanks, Tim

ah-ha.

 

please forgive my slight condescension then.. i hate sounding like a jerk, but sometimes one fails to recall exactly who one is speaking with..

 

the whole lowest common denominator thing, once more I apologize :-p

No worries mate. I took no condescension and I didn't think you were speaking badly in the least. I did find what I was looking for on pirate4x4. I think I'm going to give it a try. Later, Tim

give us the dirt then

I've heard of the local guys using anything from bbs, to golf balls.....frankly, I have no idea how it works, seems to me that they would all get thrown to the opposite side of the tire from where they should be, and make it worse. but I must be wrong, otherwise people wouldn't do it.

 

anyway, I've never heard of anyone using anything that you wouldn't require the removal of the tire.

 

something I saw on Mn-Jeep

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/

 

 

oh yea....and I've heard of problems with golf balls:

Sorry , I meant to post the link......

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/index.html

and the pirate thead itself is alot of good info.......

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=516130

 

Thanks guys, Tim

I've heard of the local guys using anything from bbs, to golf balls.....frankly, I have no idea how it works, seems to me that they would all get thrown to the opposite side of the tire from where they should be, and make it worse. but I must be wrong, otherwise people wouldn't do it...

Logic.. and physics... would dictate that any loose items being spun would tend to gravitate (pun intended) to the furthest point from the center possible, adding to any imbalance. There are reasons why weights are clamped/adhesed to the rim.

Sorry , I meant to post the link......

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/index.html

and the pirate thead itself is alot of good info.......

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=516130

 

Thanks guys, Tim

That stuff looks cool.... but it seems like a pain to take off the tire... put the crap in it... and then hope you have just the right ammount so you dont have to do it again... i like stickEm weights its quick and easy to spin a wheel and then "Stickem" on!

That's part of what's great about it. You don't have to take the tire off, just pull the valve stem and use the hose and bottle jig to put it in. I think I'm going to get the outside weights put back on, but I'll try some of this stuff too. There web site says it will work with regularly balanced tires too. Later, Tim

That stuff looks cool.... but it seems like a pain to take off the tire... put the crap in it... and then hope you have just the right ammount so you dont have to do it again... i like stickEm weights its quick and easy to spin a wheel and then "Stickem" on!

Logic.. and physics... would dictate that any loose items being spun would tend to gravitate (pun intended) to the furthest point from the center possible, adding to any imbalance. There are reasons why weights are clamped/adhesed to the rim.

 

that's the conclusion that I came to....but that's definately not how it works. I've ridden in a couple rigs with tires balanced by freeweights in the tires, and you can feel it initially...but once it settles out, it's actually quite smooth

 

many of these guys even have home-welded beadlocks, that surely throw off the balance of the wheels....

has anyone else here ever taken the balancer off of a washing machine? i imagine these interior freewieghts work along those lines, more of a dampener than a balancer.. but i dont know. just throwing that concept out there.

 

the washer has a big ring filled with some sort of fluid (i think? maybe really tiny BBs or something) that rides freely along the top rim of the tub...more of a ballast than a balance. it obviously works though.

 

incidentally, i _just_ realized where the name for BBs came from. Ball Bearings. duh. that one only took me 25 years....

has anyone else here ever taken the balancer off of a washing machine? i imagine these interior freewieghts work along those lines, more of a dampener than a balancer.....

Dampener is probably close to right. Any vibration or wobble gets some of its energy absorbed by the semi-fluid, and some of this material is dragged by gravity or whatever to a different spot on the (generic-term) rim.

 

The key here is that energy is getting absorbed (and converted to heat). This energy would not get used for propulsion. Think of dumping a gallon of thick mud into each tire, and what it is likely to do for performance. Kind of an extreme, but helps illustrate.

That's part of what's great about it. You don't have to take the tire off, just pull the valve stem and use the hose and bottle jig to put it in. I think I'm going to get the outside weights put back on, but I'll try some of this stuff too. There web site says it will work with regularly balanced tires too. Later, Tim

yeah but how long do you take to pour in a million little things... well..... how many are there? and how big are they??? i can if they were the size of powder but... i dont know....

I like the stick-on weights.

 

my dad made a wheel balancer and it works good

I like the stick-on weights.

 

my dad made a wheel balancer and it works good

yeah the stickons are thebest.... i stupid mag weights... they look so ugly!

Tim, I saw the guy use that stuff on "Trucks!" back a few years ago...he said it worked really good...if you do it post your impressions b/c i think it is a great idea (and I hate weights too)