LOST

So I've got five brand new 35x12.5R15 Mud Rovers from DTD mounted on 5 new Allied 15x8 Rock a Thon bead lock wheels with 10 oz of ceramic balancing beads in each tire.

Total mounted weight (tire &wheel) of each is 84 lbs so 10 oz of dynamic balancing beads were recommended.
Measured exactly 10 oz for each wheel. Each and every bead lock ring bolt has been torqued to 14 ft lbs and double checked with a second torque wrench.
I've checked each tire for out of round or off center mount. All 5 tires are within 1/16th of an inch run out so ok there.

Problem is they're not balanced. At least not well enough for DD or highway trip to the ORV park.

Steering wobble begins at 35 mph and by the time I hit 60 it's just bad and I have to back off.

This is 2 door Rubicon with less than 10,000 miles still in the build stage so no wear on the steering components, yet. Manual transmission. OME suspension.
I've done 100 mph on the Hankook 295's that were on there before with zero shake or shimmy at all so it's either wheels, weights or tires.

Not sure where to go from here.

Discount tire says ask Allied, Allied says ask Dynabead, Dynabead says ask Discount tire so here I am.

Any advice from others that have gone though this is appreciated. I'll get some pictures downloaded tomorrow.

Invest2m4

For some, regular weights don't work. For others, beads don't work. I'm sure the last thing you want to do is pull the beads, but that is one option. Unfortunately, no guarantee that solves it.

Have you tried rotating the tires to see if that makes a difference? It could be one tire is out of round.

Also, check the toe-in. Larger tires with aggressive tread tend to magnify minor things.

big dr

I would try taking out the beads and do a traditional balance. If any of the tires require irregularly large amount of weight to balance, I would rotate that tire 90-180 degrees on that rim and re balance.

robsjeep9

How bout trying a shop that does Road Force Balancing..... That's where I'm going with my 37" MTR's that sometimes have trouble balancing... According to some owners..... Good Luck

13Jeep

Best of luck, it's the rims ! I went thru 2 sets of bead locks until I bought a set of hutchinson bead locks, they balanced perfect !

LOST

Is it possible i simply have too much weight inside the tires?

I raised the tire pressure from 29.5 to 34psi all the way around and did a few connonball runs up and down I5 this evening.
Noticed two things.

1. When i accelerate hard from a dead stop and run through the gears to highway speed I get obvious balance vibrations.
If i take off slowly and get up to speed under moderate throttle none. This is up to 75-80 mph before my exit back to my house. Did the hwy run 4x and got the same result each time. I hate to open these back up but really want them to work. Would 4 or 5 oz be better?

2. The sound of balancing beads raining down on the wheels when coming to stop absolutely terrifies animals. Odd I know but squirrels, cats and dogs run like they are on fire when I come to a stop.
Hope it works on deer.

LOST

Called around to a few tire shops this morning.
None of them will touch bead lock wheels so looks like I'm on my own.

I'll try removing the beads this weekend and keep looking for somebody local that will balance these.

Pic...

Invest2m4

Really, try rotating them first and see what happens. It could be just one tire out of round. Swap the fronts with the rears.

Discount Tire will balance them. At least they will where I live.

LOST

Thanks. I did try swapping the rear tires to the front last night and didn't feel any difference. 40 mph up still shakes if I drive normally.

Then tried swapping spare for what seemed like the worst front, still wobbles. Checked for out of round again, less than 1/8" on the worst tire. It's the spare now.

Discount in Northgate wouldn't do it, I'll try the south end store after I get the beads out, if I can get them out.
I'll just show up with them on the trailer and not say anything about BL rims. I bought the tires from them.

ABENDX

Beads are your absolute best option. PERIOD.

My guess is either you don't have enough of the bead material in there, it was installed incorrectly, or maybe it is clumping.

I've never run that brand, so I have no idea what it's composed of, but I do use airsoft and adding a bit of antifreeze helps them from clumping when it's cold. More will not have an adverse effect (some add tens/hundreds of pounds with water for various reasons and the tires still perform well, so you can't technically put too much).

So you don't have to break the bead, you should be able to get smaller material through an open valve stem.

Also, there are shops that will work with beadlocks, but they aren't easy to find. My tire guy patches 6+ inch sidewall tears without question, so it might be more of a trust issue between you and the shop owner.


And..... my two cents is that tire balance isn't your problem.