Glass Tyre Balance Balls - A Load of Balls ? We Test These Magic Beads..
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- čas přidán 26. 11. 2022
- Tyre balance balls are an alternative to lead weights for balancing tyres but do they work ? can you notice the difference ? We use our Suzuki Jimny as a test vehicle for this myth busters video..
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I can just imagine the reaction of the tyre fitter when (s)he goes to fit a new tyre and gets showered in glass beads and ends up roller skating around the workshop on them!
Yes I worry about if they will get between the tyre and the rim... they have been used in the lorry and bus world for a while apparently
@@L663 First I've heard of them. 👍
@rafflesnh
Wow. That’s an exiting idea and very active imagination. Have you ever talked to someone at a tire shop about their experience with the beads?
If you use metal beads, you can just gather them together with a magnet after separating the tire and rim.
I've been doing this for over 15 years, just not glass balls but metal ones. Here in the US we have what we call BB guns for the kids. They use BB size ball bearings for ammo, and is very inexpensive. I use 3 oz of BB's in my personal vehicle tires, and 10 oz of BB's in each of my 10 wheel dump truck, and semi tractor tires. Most of the other truckers use golf balls!
At the truck stops I kept seeing advertisements for something called "centramatics" which are metal discs with a tube around the perimeter filled with oil and small metal balls. They are supposed to be placed on the hub but behind the tire. They were supposed to dynamically balance your tires as you are rolling down the road. I thought it was just a bunch of snake oil at first, until I saw a small powered display on a countertop with a small tire, a big lumpy weight on one side of the wheel, and a clear tube around the perimeter of the wheel with some large metal balls in it. There was a strobe light and a knob you could turn to vary the timing of the strobe. I turned on the motor which spun the wheel, and of course it jumped around for just a second due to the lumpy weight then smoothed right out. I turned the knob for the variable strobe light until the tire looked stationary, though in reality it was spinning rapidly, and found most of those metal balls had moved around opposite the big weight, and the extras that weren't needed were spaced around a little bit. I was sold, but I didn't have $100 per axle to spend on my truck. So I thought about it a bunch and figured out that $10 worth of BB's inside the 10 truck tires would do the same thing. I tried it, and to my delight it worked great! I haven't looked back since, and still use them to this day.
When I need new tires, I tell the Tire Guy they are in there, and I use a magnet to swap them from the old tire to the new one.
In the video, when you tried to use the balancing machine, I think it would have shown up better if the balancing machine spinned the tire for another few seconds before spinning down, giving enough time for the glass balls to spread out properly.
Hi John - thanks for your explanation and explaining the visual sales aid - this must have been fascinating !
So here is my question... why do washing machines not use this system ( or do they ? )
I have repaired a few washing machines, and none that I have worked on use this concept. Interestingly I was just wondering that myself as I was doing the wash just before I saw your video.
Actually I've thought of many things that could use this concept such as electric motors, wind generators, ceiling fans, and even rotating-artificial gravity space stations. Anything that spins really could use this to stay balanced.
Thank you for being one of the few who actually did the test on the balancer. I've been searching for 45 minutes for actual measured evidence and you're the first to do it!
Subbed just for that.
Glad I could help!
Imagine the sound and impact of every time you slow/come to a stop, those balls ricocheting all over the inside of the barrel of the wheel and the TPMS sensors....
I have used dynamic beads for years in my Harley-Davidson and have been well pleased. Truckers in the US use them almost exclusively (exception being they are stainless steel vice glass). The beads I have used were ceramic but many variety are out there. Hadn't considered them for my L405 but will probably do so when I get new tires.
We were out in the Jinny last night and it’s definitely better than before
I wasn't expecting this to amount to much, but once you put the tyre on the wheel balancer with the balls inside, it was very obviously doing something and doing something right! Not sure whether they are better than lead weights, but definitely something to look more deeply into. Interesting stuff Simon!
In can’t comprehend the mechanism.
I wonder whether these will wear or damage the tyre pressure sensors, where fitted? This won’t be an issue at high speed but at start-off and slow speed these thing will be shot-blasting the whole cavity.
Lovely job 🚘🚙🚗👍👍👍⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Random idea for cheap balancing. Could you not build a thin gauge steel donut around the shaft and put afew loose ball bearings in it to act as dynamic balancers like those glass bead tyre balancing balls you see that go in the tyre.
Maybe rubber line it or the noise will drive you nuts
Boom Boom!! 💥
I dont think you are supposed to put the bag in as well! Just pour the beads in and they will find the balance point, the beads will obviously fall to the bottom of the tyre when you stop rolling, and it is not until you get to the out of balance speed that they will move to the correct spot, they look a bit lightweight to have much effect on a normally unbalanced wheel, but there is a similar system using liquid tyre puncture sealant, that also finds the out of balance area and has the same effect, it also finds and puncture and seals that from inside, ideal for slower moving vehicles, although with the present speed limits we are all slow moving vehicles now! Chris B.
Evening Chris... or should i say Bonjour.... fixing the RR Classic this week !! Yes popping the bag in seems a bit of an odd one to me !
@@L663 Ha Ha! I expect the Chinese manufacturer/packer forgot to put that in the instructions, good luck with the chassis , are you welding it ? Chris B.
Jimny Death wobble rather than wheel balancing, just emailed you Suzuki Service Bulletin
Thanks !
😂😂🤣🤣
🙏🙏
I think I’d stick with the tried and tested method of weights
So when you need to replace a tyre what happens then..... attempt to catch all the glass balls so you can reuse them again??? Also you may not need 85g worth of beads inside. Definitely sounds a loads of Balls to me and fit tyres at work and I've seen wheels that are way(!!!!!) out of balance when we put them on the balancer with a new tyre fitted.
Its an odd one - some people say this is old tech and they have been using them for years but like you this was totally new to me ! People claim they work.... but so does snake oil !
What worries me is that many vehicles - including Land Rover have Tyre Pressure Monitors inside the wheel. These would likely get damaged by all the balls flying around inside the tyre - so a definite NO! for me. Even if it works, the likely damage to the TPM is just far too risky.
Hi John - it kind of scares me too !
Same as putting those FTC fuel pellets in the tank to remove carbon deposits - snake oil will work just as good....
Off to buy some snake oil !
@@L663 I'll have some as well although elbow grease works even better!
Tried them in large 4wd tyres and they were useless. Supplier said "u need more in there". Na, not going there again...
Eric "not enough balls" Johnson you will known as from now !
My LR tyre wouldn’t balance at dealer and they found it had water inside. How does water get in 😂
If you have a compressed air system that does not have a dryer then air can build up in the air lines quickly.
Oddly i would have thought that the water would move to the point of imbalance and solve this issue but clearly not !
That wobble is improper tire wear patterns.
Simon. Somebody has to say it “ It’s just a load of balls”.😀 A no from me!
Check what we use in the US for Semi Truck tyres!
I hear the balls are popular in the truck and bus world... but dont tell me you put rocks inside the tyres ?
@@L663 lol let me see if I can find the link for you.
They are used in UK trucks too. In my driving days of twenty years ago I had a new front tyre put on a ten tonner, it was all wibbly-wobbly for a few miles but then smoothed right out - a mystery to me how it worked but it did, the tyre fitter said the tyre needed to heat up for it to work.
@@thassaloid Interesting. (not sarcasm)
I used a sealant to repair tire punctures and this is what I felt myself; It doesn't working correct, the imbalance hasn't gone away. It will be bigger with increasing speed. and the imbalance will fluctuate. Tire wear will be uneven. That bolls, whatever kind of, do not fix anyhing
I think you need a tire alignment !
Or you have defective parts !
The only thing I heard the entire video was "ballocks" lol
It is an idea but surely they all roll down to the bottom when you park so on driving off, you have four wheels miles out of balance???…..are these sold by the same ones selling copper bracelets to cure arthritis??😱😬😬😀😀😀😀
Bonsoir Richard - yes they roll down when parked by design and then "by magic" find their way back to where they need to be !
@@L663 ah…now think of how many times that happens and with them rolling around, what wear is happening on the tyre walls and are the balls becoming heavier as they build up rubber dust/coating? This is complex stuff Simon…..I think I would rather have stick on tyre weights!😀😀😀😀
@@L663 …and another thing…if you squirt tyre foam in to seal a puncture, the glass balls will go into a big lump and be like having a set of rocks in there…😨😨😱😱😬😬😬😀😀
My guess is that those balls will immediately begin to disintegrate until they leave you with a complete mess and unbalanced wheels. I’d personally remove all 4 tires, clean out all the balls, chips and powder and do a proper balance.
Even us Americans know how to use the word “Proper”
Now on to the issue of Aluminum.. 😁
Did you notice I tested these on my sons car ! not mine !
I dont think the plastic bag is meant to go in the tire.. The glass balls would do the balancing work; not the baggy.
you are supposed to take off the plastic bag ...
i think you may be correct
you did it completely wrong. first off, your not supposed to dump the plastic bag in. second, there is a formula regarding the weight of each wheel and how many ounces per lb/kg to use.
Freak
George might have to carry his spare balls to inhibit wobbles. 🙈👍🏻🙏🦘
Notice I used Georges car not one of mine !
This is nothing new they have been successful used in truck and trailer tyre's for the last 50 years that i no of .willemog.
Yes a lot of people saying that - and a lot of people like me never heard of these before...