tire balancing with airsoft bb's

[N-Smooth]

i searched but couldn't find anything on here.

anyone done it? my cheap 33's are chunking pretty bad and paying a shop to balance them after every trip seems counter-productive to me cause then they wouldn't be cheap anymore

it doesn't see much highway time besides the drive to moab and the drive to work a handful of times a month

 

[Chevycrew]

I have done it on some 42" tsls, seemed to help. We used a bottle of the heavy bb's per tire.

I would use the steel next time, much easier to clean up with a magnet.

 

[1995zj]

I have done it on some 42" tsls, seemed to help. We used a bottle of the heavy bb's per tire.

I would use the steel next time, much easier to clean up with a magnet.

Use a shop vacuum next time you need to clean out the plastic ones. Works great!

I've done it on my 37's when they were on DIY beadlocks. I definitely think it helped out. I think I used 8oz. per tire....there's a guide somewhere...

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=516446

 

[Chevycrew]

Magnet is much handier than packing a shop vac down to the tire store to get a tire fixed.

But yeah carrying a shop vac in your rig would work too.

 

[krany]

i searched but couldn't find anything on here.

anyone done it? my cheap 33's are chunking pretty bad and paying a shop to balance them after every trip seems counter-productive to me cause then they wouldn't be cheap anymore

it doesn't see much highway time besides the drive to moab and the drive to work a handful of times a month

fire stone sells lifetime balancing for fairly cheap, go get them done as often as needed for one price:greg:

 

[krany]

this could be useful.
http://www.counteractbalancing.com/application1.pdf

 

[ricsrx]

I spent the money on the cermic coated beads, they help alot, next time i would try the BB's to save some coin

 

[4x4_Welder]

I used the heavyweight plastic BBs that Wal-Mart sells with good results. Did a set of 31s, used half a bottle in each tire (about 1lb) and they're still going.
I now have a manual tire changer so any time I get used tires I can just handle them myself and even have a smooth ride.

 

[waynehartwig]

I tried the metal BB's, but had problems with them turning into powder and clogging the valve stem on air downs, so I quit using them. But they did help balance my old Baja Claws.

 

[N-Smooth]

i'm glad to see a good amount of people do it. i should pull off the wheel weights that are currently on there for it to work, correct? that makes sense to me...

i think i'll go snag some of the plastic ones from wally world and give it a whirl

 

[rholbrook]

I have never heard of this before. Can I get some quick education?

 

[1995zj]

I have never heard of this before. Can I get some quick education?

Read here

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=516446

Or....
http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=balancing+tires+with+airsoft+bbs

 

[outlaw_offroad]

A friend uses windshield washer fluid (winter blend so it won't freeze). He removed the valve stem core and poured it right into his 39.5" TSLs. Works great. He said it was better that the lead shot he ran before.

 

[4x4_Welder]

WW fluid works, but it will corrode the inside of the wheel, plus when the tire is warm it's full of flammable vapors- All that stuff is is a methanol/water blend. I'd run that in a tubed tire like a tractor as an alternative to brine, but then it's for weight not balance.

 

[ricsrx]

i should pull off the wheel weights that are currently on there for it to work, correct? that makes sense to me...

you dont have to, they will ballance with them still on, in fact if your tire is hard to ballance it will be even better to leave them on.

 

[kmboren]

you dont have to, they will ballance with them still on, in fact if your tire is hard to ballance it will be even better to leave them on.

..... if they are in the right place.

 

[Lifelong Jeeper]

This may be the solution I've been looking for. I have had balancing issues in our minivan and I'm tired of it. What about using this for smaller tires? The smallest I read about in this thread and on Pirate was a 31".

Thanks.

 

[kmboren]

So has anyone used the copper BBs or is this the metal that turns into powder? Is the best bet the heavier airsoft then? Curious becasue I will soon be running beadlocks and will need some sort of balancing.

 

[4x4_Welder]

The copper coating flakes off very quickly, then the steel rusts into a fine powder that tends to clump. It'll stick in one spot and make the balance even worse, and what doesn't stick will plug your valve core
You can get around the plugged valve core problems by using the filtered cores made for use with Equal balancing compound. Les Schwab carries these, but they will greatly increase your air-down times and you'll still be stuck with the clumping issues.

 

[waynehartwig]

So has anyone used the copper BBs or is this the metal that turns into powder? Is the best bet the heavier airsoft then? Curious becasue I will soon be running beadlocks and will need some sort of balancing.

The copper coating flakes off very quickly, then the steel rusts into a fine powder that tends to clump. It'll stick in one spot and make the balance even worse, and what doesn't stick will plug your valve core
You can get around the plugged valve core problems by using the filtered cores made for use with Equal balancing compound. Les Schwab carries these, but they will greatly increase your air-down times and you'll still be stuck with the clumping issues.

This! Copper BB's aren't made of copper...