Magic tire balancing

[Bitsyncmaster]

Magic tire balancing. Is this real or just BS?

https://www.sherco-auto.com/balancing-beads.html

[eight8toy]

Reminds me of these. Wonder if they make the same sounds at slow speeds rolling around inside.
58298

[David T]

Any technology that you don't understand is indistinguishable from Magic. Does it work? The short answer is no.

[Michael]

I love outside the box thinking but just think how much fun it would be at the drive thru.

"What's that clanging noise?"

"It's my balls"

[AugustneverEnds]

I think this belongs in the same category as waterless coolant and filling tires with straight nitrogen.

[dmc]

As usual people who have not tried em, bash em. Dave i have used the balance beads in my harley for years. They are effective and i have nothing bad to say other than they are a pain to install. I prefer to mount my own bike tires so these are a good option. I use two ounces in each tire. I have not tried them in the car. The beads are not much cheaper than having the tire balanced normally when you buy the tires. If i used rims that were difficult to fit weights to , i might.

[Michael]

As usual people who have not tried em, bash em.
Roger that. If they don't understand it, then it's bad. You would think someone who owns a DeLorean would appreciate new ideas being tried out and allow innovation just a small chance to trump conformity. Doesn't mean you have to like or even try every new idea that comes along, just give it room to stand on it's own if it can.

[GeneralLee01]

A week and a half ago I installed two sets of tires for my cousin, one set on a F250 Super Duty and one set on a Ford Edge. He brought along a box of the balance bead envelopes which also include a special valve that must be installed in the valve stem. Although I was very skeptical, he reported back that the tires were running smoothly. I have a Super Duty also with different wheels that do not fit my balancer, so may try it in those also.

[Jonathan]

Is there some kind of "stickiness" to them? I was wondering how they stay where they ultimately end up on the inside of the tires. I assume you wouldn't want them to be always free to keep moving around so that anytime you come to a stop they fall back down to the lowest point.

[GeneralLee01]

They didn't seem to be sticky at all, I was under the impression they constantly move to compensate for vibration so theoretically they have to rebalance every time you start out but I could be wrong. Part of the instructions said to use very little tire lube so the silica beads do not clump together.

[hippieman9]

I was a Harley Davidson Technician for many years and I had many people bring these "balance beads" in instead of having weights installed on their wheels. They seem to work for the most part bit never did I see a 0 reading for balance. Always about .5-1 oz. off.
personally I think its a gimmick .

[David T]

The automakers spend a LOT of money on balancing equipment to balance the wheels when they assemble a car. You would think that if they could replace all of that with some cheap balls that automatically adjust they would jump at that technology. I am skeptical until proven otherwise and anecdotal evidence is not enough. Needs to be some kind of scientific measurement that can shows it works and is repeatable. I have seen all kinds of stuff marketed for cars over the years that claim to "improve" the car. Over time they either get incorporated into the car's manufacture or they disappear from the market.