Tire balancing beads

[85Yota]

I'm going to be driving my ford on the street and I'm running 40" BFG KR3 tires on trail ready beadlocks so balancing tires with weights isn't an option. I've heard of people running balancing beads aka air soft BBs. I've never done this so was curious what you guys have used or any experience on this in the past. If you have used with success where did you get the bbs and how much per tire. I've read it's oz per lb of tire but want real world experience not just Google answers from random people but rather random people in the off-road community with experience with off-road tires not just street stuff.

 

[Cleandezert]

i was always curious about this and always afraid to take the leap.. the bfg 39's i got from nick had beads in them (although some fell out on my garage floor) but the truck rides pretty damn decent with them. I am a believer now.

 

[85Yota]

So there is this thread on a rock donkey site that has some mixed reviews. Some say they work perfect sometimes and horrible other times and OK majority of the time.

Road tires - bead balancing vs traditional weights?

Centramatics worked fair on my daily 2500, last set of tires went 60k last set of Toyo open county at for me , no grip in the rain, I'm back on Nitto g2...

irate4x4.com

 

[dwphoto]

49''s holy FACK... how does one change a flat on 49s ?

you ment 39s ?

 

[85Yota]

Haha type on my phone. 4Ds

 

[85Yota]

Does anyone know the weight of the 40" kr3 BFG or know how many oz of balancing beads would be ran in them?

 

[96f-u250]

About to try 10oz. per 40x15.5r20Nitto M/T

 

[85Yota]

About to try 10oz. per 40x15.5r20Nitto M/T

Where did you get the beads and what ones did you buy? Link if possible

 

[96f-u250]

This is what we use. I think we source them from a local semi truck tire shop.

 

[96f-u250]

Update. 10 oz. Wasnt enough. Truck had a vibration until about 65mph then it went away.

 

[85Yota]

Yeah I read 1 oz per 13 lbs of tire weight. So you may have too much beads in those tires since they're not 130lb tires.

 

[Scott F]

I have about 13k off road miles with air soft beads. I think I put 10 oz in each 32" tire.
Too little and it won't quite balance, too much and nothing will happen.
If you get a lot of mud on your tires and wheels, I would add more beads.

I bought them at Walmart. Any cheap source is fine.
The beads never wore down, they just got some black color from the tires.

My tires wore perfectly even and I didn't really have to rotate them.
On a smooth paved road, from 0-96 mph, the tires were smooth as glass.
I never had any hop or vibration. I highly recommend trying them.