Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Heard an interesting story today and was wondering if there's any truth to it.

This bloke running 40inch plus tyres swears that he can balance them for the road by putting a couple shotgun shell's worth of bird shot (small lead pellets about 2-3mm dia) into each tyre, letting them roll freely around.

Has anyone heard of this before? Any truth to it?

Yes, heard of it before - here. Have also heard of throwing in golf balls!

NFI if it actually works, but this should be good to watch!

its been done a lot before, but its not really an ideal solution... and a car running 40" tyre isnt really going to be built for high speed anyway =)

To balance the steer tyres on semis a bag of smallish size balls, could call it sand, is thrown in when putting the new tyre on after a bit of distance the bag wears thru and the contents distributes itself around the tyre where needed to get the balance right. So I don't see why the shotgun pellets wouldn't work

i have seen somewhere on this forum where u buy this stuff that goes in side the tyres to balance them

money_killer wrote:i have seen somewhere on this forum where u buy this stuff that goes in side the tyres to balance them

Probably the stuff they use in truck tyres, most tyre shops that do service fitting and truck tyres should have them

Google Dynabeads. The yanks use them a lot in everything from motorbike tyres up to off road and truck tyres. Used a lot by the big cruiser bike guys who are running car tyres on the rear, and have trouble getting places to balance them.

these guys are in aus and deliver aus wide

http://www.autobalance.com.au/

I haven't had an off road tyre near a balancing machine for over 10 years. I understand powder etc works but I really think that with all the other stuff that's going on with a 4WD, tyre balance is overrated.

Just my 2C.

Steve.

was just about to say that sounds like autobalance

351ciofgrunt wrote:Heard an interesting story today and was wondering if there's any truth to it.

This bloke running 40inch plus tyres swears that he can balance them for the road by putting a couple shotgun shell's worth of bird shot (small lead pellets about 2-3mm dia) into each tyre, letting them roll freely around.

Has anyone heard of this before? Any truth to it?

I have heard of it, liked the theory and thought I'd do some research and due to some good results AutoBalance was formed. All the info you need can be found on the webpage but we use a special balls, rather than lead-shot. In saying that it is centrifigual force that distributes the weight (be it golfballs, sand, water, leadshot - all which damage the inside of the tyre) evenly as the wheel rolls along the road providing a smooth ride.
And for the next 5 sales that mention this thread, I'll throw in a cool little valve tool for free.
Jonesy

I have tried the auto balance stuff, its messy and does not work very well on rags

Here is an earlier thread.... http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/ftopic90013-0-0-asc-.php
Oh and just noticed the above comment which I find interesting How can something that can simply be added in a bag inside the tyre, or poured in during tyre fit up be messy?
As for rags, it can be tricky, but results are generally better than any other metheod.
Happy to discuss the issues you had further Jet-6 as I'm sure there is a solution.
Jason Jones
0419579120

AutoBalanceMan wrote:Here is an earlier thread.... http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/ftopic90013-0-0-asc-.php
Oh and just noticed the above comment which I find interesting How can something that can simply be added in a bag inside the tyre, or poured in during tyre fit up be messy?
As for rags, it can be tricky, but results are generally better than any other metheod.
Happy to discuss the issues you had further Jet-6 as I'm sure there is a solution.
Jason Jones
0419579120

Airing down ?
I have seen some valve stems with little "filter" things on the back of em to assist wit this.

By rags I am assuming you mean Bias tyres

The filtered valve cores were used as a way of stopping the valve from fouling due the the Magnum. They worked OK but not 100% and things have changed a bit. Now the Magnum compound is more of a "bead" design which doesn't foul normal valve stems so are not required.
Oh and I based my answer about rags assuming he meant bias tyres.
Jonesy

AutoBalanceMan wrote:The filtered valve cores were used as a way of stopping the valve from fouling due the the Magnum. They worked OK but not 100% and things have changed a bit. Now the Magnum compound is more of a "bead" design which doesn't foul normal valve stems so are not required.
Oh and I based my answer about rags assuming he meant bias tyres.
Jonesy

It was quite a while ago when i looked into this stuff . .I was a trucking\transport show at the time

Yes i have a book in the car that hassomething similar in it
great for big tyres balances as you go and stop

Balancing compounds have been used in truck steer tyres for years which is why it would have been at a Truck show. As for 4wd tyres, it's the same principal, but we need one that wont get affected by moisture as we air up and down from our on board compressors, one that quickly changes as the tyres change due to lugs missing or built up mud and one that wont affect the valves as we often air up/down. Magnum handles all these situations without any dramas.
Jonesy

can auto balance be used without lead wheel weights? As I keep ripping mine off with rock rash. Are there any problems with this?

At what speed does autobalance begin to work?

cheers

Paul

This is great as I cant get my Cooper ST's to balance and was thinking of getting rid of them as it is annoying on long drives...

When i attempted to get my 35" simexes balanced on mechanical beadlocked rims i had a couple needing 800g+ of weight. So the balance was done as best as possible using stick-ons.

If i was to use autobalance, as it's something i've contemplated for some time, would i be best off to remove all weights first or leave them on to assist autobalance?

Guys
Magnum replaces lead weights. Creepys can need some weight but 800g is a lot and due to Magnum being able to get in the exact place it's required, and not on the outside of the tyre, it'll probably need less.
As for the speed, it'll start working before you are able to notice a wobble. Saying that, if there are underlying steering set up issues, you may still get some wobbles caused by that.
Jonesy

Just wondering... would adding water work? IE in the above case, 800 grams of lead required to balance, adding 800 grams of water???

WRXZook wrote:Just wondering... would adding water work? IE in the above case, 800 grams of lead required to balance, adding 800 grams of water???

they did this with front end loaders and more for years... NFI in 4b app.. I wouldnt think the gear Jones is selling would be that expensive though.

WRXZook wrote:Just wondering... would adding water work? IE in the above case, 800 grams of lead required to balance, adding 800 grams of water???

It would work but 800grams would not be required. See when you can only add weight to the rim in say 100gram weights and you needed 250grams in 1 spot, the weights added end up being spread out around the rim causing the origional required weight to be different which in turn causes the balancer to show more is required. I have seen this overcome using stick on weights stuck on to each other but they don't seem to last long stuck on.
Using Magnum inside the tyre allows it to be spread out across the tyre in the exact location, which would more than likely be a lot less than 800grams.
Oh and water will have negative effects on the tyre and rim, will not act quickly and cause horrible vibrations as you accelerate or slow down. I think water was added to tractor tyres as a way of adding weight down low making the tractor more stable. I also think the buggy dudes use a similiar theory to keep wheels on the ground.
4 bags will cost you $125 delivered.
Jonesy

water is great for lowering COG, and it will autobalence tyres. the problem is that water sloshes ALOT. so if you come to a stop at lights you can find yourself surging back and forth as the water sloshes around (extreme cases)

half fill a round drink bottle and roll it along the floor, it rolls fine. then stop it with your hand and release it, it will rock around and will take some time to come to rest.



rusting the rims from the inside out is another issue if you dont have perfectly painted steel rims

could always add some oil with it but i still wouldnt fill my own tyres with water... rather buy auto balance...

having used auto balance on my 38.5x14.5 creepys i was very impressed with its performance wouldnt even bother getting rag tyres balanced ever again, just a 12oz bag and away you go.

this is one way

http://www.rema-tiptop.com.au/portal/Ad ... 116334.rtt