Balance Beads / Hub Centric Rings

[fletch144]

Hey everyone! I want to tell my experience with balance beads. I ordered some tires/wheels via custom offsets and elected to purchase the $49 balance beads. Once I put on the new tires the truck would vibrate pretty heavily with speeds 35/40+ mph. I did some research/called CO and the recommendation was to buy some hub centric rings. If the problem still persisted, call them back. So, I bought some rings from uswheeladapters for $100 and I installed them today - photos attached for anyone interested.

However, the problem did not go away and custom offset will reimburse the cost to rebalance the tires up to $25/tire. My recommendation for ANYONE moving forward is just to get the traditional balance weights to save you alot of head ache and time!!!

 

[Gondul]

It was mentioned in another thread to remove those little 'star' washers on the studs as they generally don't accommodate for aftermarket wheels and may cause issues.

 

[Great White North Eh]

100 bucks for rings… ouch. Probably $2 worth of metal in them. Hope you get it figured out.

 

[Crusty old shellback]

I've run balance beads on several trucks and motorcycles. Never had an issue with them.
I'm putting new 35's on my truck tomorrow and will be running the beads in them as well.

 

[Crusty old shellback]

Try checking just the rim for balance, no tire or weights. If it shows 0 balance, then the tires may be bad.
Had that happen before.

 

[Gondul]

100 bucks for rings… ouch. Probably $2 worth of metal in them. Hope you get it figured out.

Paying for manufacturing and labor, not materials... also made in the US (according to them).
I supposed you find something cheaper at Wish or WallyWorld if that is that is more your speed.

They also sell Polycarbonate rings (which are less expensive), really no need for metal in this application as it isn't load bearing...

 

[Crusty old shellback]

Just put BFG KO2 35x12.50R17s on the stock rims on my 75thPW. Used balance beads and took off all the old balance weights. Took her on the freeway up to 75MPH. No issues at all.

 

[MtnRider]

I tried balance beads once, Never again. Useless in my experience and did nothing but make a big mess inside the tire. I recently tried some hub centric rings and was pleased with difference they made with my after market Fuel wheels. They were never bad but they were never perfect. After the rings I noticed a difference right away.

 

[Crusty old shellback]

Hub centric rings are for centering the rim correctly on the axle.
Balance beads replace the balance weights. They provide a consistent tire balance as it rolls over obstacles.
2 completely different functons.
I use balance beads so that my tires are always balanced. All I have to do is rotate them every 5K miles.

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

I’ve had perfect luck using airsoft pellets as balancing media. Balance media works. It’s science. I don’t think the balance beads are the issue here.