Balancing Big Tires

[fun in dirt]

I lucked up & found a set of new 37x12.5x16 Super Swampers in a local sale paper for about half of what they cost new! So if I ever finish cleaning/polishing on the set of 8 lug alum slots I got a few months ago, I'll get them mounted.
So I got to thinking about balancing these big things and found a thread from awhile back http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=189710.
From surfing around & reading different reviews about the Dynabeads http://www.innovativebalancing.com/. I'm leaning toward using them. Anybody had a negative experience using them?

[BLACK AND BLUE 67-72]

Most of the big rigs around here use them and have never had any problems that I have heard of.

[Mudder]

That may be what I have in mine. They were in a bag and after about 3-5 miles the bags bust open and the stuff comes out. They work pretty good. The stuff that comes out of them is pretty fine imo. Works as well as spin balancing.

I have heard that if you are going to be in water a lot they aren't a good idea.

[vtblazer]

Same kinda thing here:
http://www.uniquetruck.com/images/st...eader_left.gif




Trying to balance out a bias-ply Super Swamper for road use has been at best difficult for a lot of people, curious to hear how you make out.

[FormerMember]

Some people use golf balls.

We went the big truck route and added the glass dynamic balancing product to a set of 39.5" Pitbull Tire Growlers. 20.00 a tire.

Worked very, very well.

[lowe137]

i have used copper BBs on a rig of mine.. they actually balanced really well but the fact that i used copper was a mistake... i ran them for 2 months before i had other tire probems.. in that time the BBs had worn themselves down about halfway.but the rim was not damaged at all. not too much of a problem but the big thing was the noise. from 10mph to about 30 it was really loud.. the sound of the BBs hitting the aluminum rims was loud and annoying... i would prolly recomend soft pellets or a powder of some sort. i have seen alot of products out there... i heard airsoft pellets work too but i havent tried them yet..

[LONGHAIR]

In my experience, the best thing you can do for "big tires" is to have them "trued" by a shop that is equipped for it. A lot of the "balance" issues of bigger tires comes from the fact that they are not round....it sounds funny, but it is very real. Many are either egg shaped or simply not concentric to the wheel. Not only does truing make them far easier to balance, they wear longer and ride better their whole life.

[BLAZERMAN]

I'm using Equal in my Cooper C-140 12 PLY 19.5s, there a big very heavy tire and I can run down the road at 70 mph and there smooth as can be. One thing I do suggest if you use it or any of the powder balancing systems is to use the AIRX valve stem cores...this will let you check air pressure without the powder entering your stem. If you dont use the cores try blasting a short burst of air into your tire before using a tire guage..this will at least dislodge any of the balancing agent that may have accumulated around the base of your valve stem...I figured this out the hard way!!
Heres a link to the Equal site.
http://www.imiproducts.com/equal/tire-balancing.aspx

[jerry moss]

i agree on having them trued if you can find a shop set up to do it. i did it to my old 14.50-36.5 -15 fat herbie high rollers back in the early 80s and i could run 70 on the freeway and it was smooth as silk. they were trued on the truck and never rotated and had to be installed the same way if they were removed for any repairs, i would mark the rim and stud so i could put them in the exact same spot. they ran well over 40k miles too.

[jkade]

I run crossman airsoft bb's in my 37" swampers and they ride great. I put a cup per tire.

[lowe137]

hey jkade how quiet are they? can you hear them when they hit the rim??

[fun in dirt]

Originally Posted by jkade

I run crossman airsoft bb's in my 37" swampers and they ride great. I put a cup per tire.

I may try these too. I've been reading where quiet a few folks are having good luck with them. And they are definetly cheaper & easier to come by than the dynabeads.

[crawdadfox]

If a tire is out of round you can ballance them till your blue in the face and they will still shake your truck! I have seen new tires that had half the tread taken off from the truing process, but they rode great after! We can spin ballance up to 42's at our shop and have found that to be alot better than ballance powders. Its funny how much more weight some tires take over others, i did a set of 38X15.50 X20 Toyo M/T's earlier this week and the worse one took 3oz. of weight! Oh yeah i have put 54oz. of weight on a 16x38.8x15 Swamper....almost ran out of room to put them!

[fun in dirt]

Update:
I decided to try the airsoft BBs route for balancing. Especially since they're cheap, others have had good luck using them, & I'm only out $15 if they don't work.
I was all excited, loaded up the tires, & off to the tire store. Got there & they were running a few hours behind. So I left them with instructions on how I wanted it done & 4 seperate bags of BBs, then went to eat lunch. Two hours later I walk in their shop & there all on the rims but not beaded up. Guy says he can't get any of them to pop up. After a few minutes of scratching their heads & butts , we measure the wheels. They are actually 16.5" which is why they won't bead up the 16" dia tires
When I originally bought them the guy said they were 16.5 but once I got to cleaning they had 16 stamped in the back so that's what i thought they were. No big deal, I had not bought the tires at that point so I just started looking for 16" tires...
I'm so aggrevated now, & it's my own fault for not just measuring . I really like these slots & got alot of work in them, so I'll keep them & buy 16.5 tires when I wear these out. But for the time, on a search for some decent priced 16" wheels to fit these tires.

All to say, it will be awhile now before I get these things mounted to see if the BB balancing actually works

[LONGHAIR]

A tire place couldn't tell a set of 16.5 wheels just by looking? They don't have a "safety bead" ...just a taper. You can spot it quite easily.

You have to be a little bit careful with 16.5s, beware of your air pressure if you "air-down" when off-roading. They will roll the tire off of the bead a lot easier than other wheels. Also, it you happen to have a flat (even parked) the bead will "pop off" and you have to deal with getting it back on.