Tyre Balancing

[A1]

Hey All got me tyres fitted up yesty (37"s) and the dude at the tyre mart used a product called equal ? ......thats in a 5"x 2,1/2 paper satchel that ya put straight inside the tyre.....apparently the product inside is a granular form once the tyre is rotating the satchel disintergrates and the granules rotate around and balances out the tyre ive never heard of it....... and neither have a few people ive told ................

Any 1 used this type of product wat are your thoughts????


My initial oppinion was that he's just taken the easy alternative to save time in fittin cause his charge was 10bucks atyre to fit ...........

The only prob is that in deflating the granules will most prob block the valve slighty resultin in a slow air down time and i will need to blow the granules back b4 hand = even more time needed............

Dan

[Drafty]

I wonder if you are able to use a tube or internal beadlock with this product.

[A1]

I would prob say not a tube cause the granules wouldnt be able to rotate to work out the balance not sure on internal beadys prob similiar but they do sit more so on the rim ...........another aspect is i wonder how coarse the granules are in aspect to the inside of the tyre ??

[Ben]

Do a search on a few of the big US boards - alot of wheeler's use it for swampers and the like with apparently good results.

[AVGAS_502]

http://www.expeditionexchange.com/equal/FAQmain.htm

[Shorty40]

Just thinking about this product and one of the bonuses I can see is that if the tyre rotates or moves on the rim the tyre will remain balanced.

Under normal circumstances if you were to rotate a tyre the weights would be "out" and you would have to get it re-balanced.

Just looking for the positives

[DiscoDino]

Dan,

I've used equal on my 35 ETs. They work great, and keep on balancing the tires, which is great. I put a total of 7OZs, so I think if I loose any granules while inflating/deflating, then we can still be happy.

Speaking of deflating, make sure that you install the "filtered" valve, and before deflating, make sure to pump a wee bit of air so taht you can get the granules away from the valve or else you'd be deflating for ages and ages. Oh, and get some tyre deflators.

[A1]

Thanx for all the great info ...................


Im not certain on how much was in each bag..........so ill guess i see how it drives soooon.


As for the valves no the tyre mart didnt fit em his reason for being is that they still dont work ............he just said just attach ya compressor for a short burst then it should be fine ??

I think i might chase some of valves up next week any way


Cheers

[DiscoDino]

Dude,
Each bag of Equal comes with one filtered valve, so I have spare ones (since I used 2 bags per tire), shame we're not in the same continent, or else I'd had sent it to you. the filtered valves are ESSENTIAL though, or else the powder will evaporate everytime you deflate.

[v8grunt]

the product equal has been around for many years and was used on truck tyres with different rates of success. the major proplem with this pruduct is that it does not like damp conditions, only the dryest of air should be used or even better nitrogen is the best, what happens when the thing gets only slightly wet is it turns into something like a tenis ball size pile of sludge. this is the only real problem.

there is a new product on the markey called Baltec, this is a liquid based product which is favored by the transport industy. this stuff is designed and made in Australia by a company called trydel. I use it in my bead locks and it works well to the point that you would never bother to balance another wheel, the other factor is that this stuff is an inner liner conditioner. most major truck tyre retreaders now promote this stuff as it extends tyre casing life. It is expensive but worth it, about $30 per wheel.

A 36 -37 requires about 750ml to work properly. the benifit is that you may remove the tyre with no loss of product and it never goes off. this a tried and proven tyre balance system.

both Equal and baltec are available from major truck tyre outlets.

normal balancing for 4wd tyres is only sometimes easy to get right, look at it in these terms: the tyre shop will use car weights trying to balance a 4wd tyre which in general weights 4 times as much as the normall car tyre. you can only centalise so much weight in one area hence you may see a row of lead halfway around the rim. the only way to fix this is to use truck or l/truck lead.

hope this helps.

glen

[A1]

Cheers glen


I thought i read in that expedition site that it was unaffected by moisture?????..........your experience's sound a bit worrying


Dan

[v8grunt]

dan

I have over 20 years with tyres in paticular 4wd and truck, Equal is a good product you just need to be aware to keep it dry inside the tyre. both Baltec and equal work in much the same way, but they will only correct balance problems up to a certain point.

the important thing with 4wd tyres is at fitting time, as rule the rim in bead should be lubed with tyre wax. the tyre should then be infalted with the valve core out (fast inflation) then deflated and reinflated a second time. this is so the beads seat properly. if the tyre is not running true no amount of equal or baltec will fix it.

good quaulity tyre wax will not effect the tyre from poping off the rim, contrary to comon belief.

hope this helps

glen

[v8grunt]

[quote="Drafty"]I wonder if you are able to use a tube or internal beadlock with this product.[/quote]

drafty I don't think it would work with tyre loc, probably cause chaffing in the tube and tyre loc assembly. this may cause the tube to fail. ask roger smith he may know for sure.

glen

[big red]

had baltec in the beadlocked centipedes which would have needed 900grams of lead weights.
good bit is it never leaked [even when letting tyres down] and when i ripped a bit off a lug it stayed balanced.
looked a bit like handcleaner gel and washed out with the hose when i sold them.
shane