Getting a set of the Michelin XMLs in the 36.5", 9.00r16 flavor and need to know how many golfballs per tire I should use to balance, or cups of bbs if those would work better.
Balancing with golfballs, how many in a 36.5" tire?
- Thread starter alkaline747trio
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Do you really want to use golf balls or even bbs??
Have you considered ceramic beads? I have been using this media on a few sets of tires on more than truck with good results. I'm not affiliated with this company in any way but their product has worked well for me and the ceramic is pretty inert in that it won't damage the inside of the tire. Not to mention the lovely sound of golf balls falling when you're at a light. Anyway here's a couple links:
http://www.innovativebalancing.com/index.html
http://www.innovativebalancing.com/chart.htm#CommercialChart
The above link has a figure for the 9.00x16
Have you considered ceramic beads? I have been using this media on a few sets of tires on more than truck with good results. I'm not affiliated with this company in any way but their product has worked well for me and the ceramic is pretty inert in that it won't damage the inside of the tire. Not to mention the lovely sound of golf balls falling when you're at a light. Anyway here's a couple links:
http://www.innovativebalancing.com/index.html
http://www.innovativebalancing.com/chart.htm#CommercialChart
The above link has a figure for the 9.00x16
I run BB's in my 13x36-16 bias TSL's. I run 1000 per tire. I got them at walmart it small "milk cartons" of 1000 each, so 5 cartons does 5 tires.
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I have 10s of thousands of golfballs, thats why I want to use them. If they work comparitavely to the ceramic beads, then the sound of golfballs will just be my signature.
Search on Pirate in General 4x4 for "golf balls". I would use 3 per tire. Alternately, if you can find a shop that will take the time, mount the tires up and spin them to see how many oz's they are out of balance, then add golf balls. The balls are ~1.5oz each.
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We use BB'S on the army trucks. I ran 11.00x16 and didnt run anything in them to balance them and they worked great... but they weren't even worn yet.
http://www.m715zone.com
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Most balance beadlocks with golf balls. If you are, the way you find the # of balls is to use a bubble balancer
Lay the tire/rim on the balancer and it will tilt
Add golf balls to the high side till it lays flat. Take that # of balls and throw it in the tire. Balanced.
One plus of the Golf Balls on the trail is if you ever bust a bead, it's easier to find the golfballs than bbs.
Lay the tire/rim on the balancer and it will tilt
Add golf balls to the high side till it lays flat. Take that # of balls and throw it in the tire. Balanced.
One plus of the Golf Balls on the trail is if you ever bust a bead, it's easier to find the golfballs than bbs.
I went out and bought some Airsoft pellets today, gonna install them tonight. They come in at least two different weights (per pellet), I got the heaviest ones they had at Walmart, which is .20 grams per. That's nearly double the weight of the standard Airsoft pellet at .12 grams each, which means less is more- less pellets in each tire. They don't list the weight of the package, so I had to go to the kitchen section and find a scale. Cost was around $5 per 2000 pellet/ 12 ounce package. (The math works out to over 14 ounces for 400 grams, but whatever. 
)
I found a site for a commercial product that's similar, they have a chart for determining how much weight to add- my tires call for between 8 and 10 ounces per tire (35/12.5-16). They say you're better off with more than less. I'd have to agree, as I tear off chunks of my tires on trails and that can't be easy to balance.
I went with the pellets rather than powder, bb's or golf balls for several reasons. Powders seem to need special valve stems with filters. BB's rust eventually, unless you air up with nitrogen or something, and I've heard they can damage steel wheels and cause them to rust. Golf balls seem too large to evenly distribute the weight- what if you only need half a golf ball? What if you need two- where does the other one go? With hundreds of pellets, they can evenly distribute themselves around the tire. I can't imagine they'd come out of the tire if I blow a bead, as they'll all be in the bottom of the tire-nearly 10 inches away from the bead- and I run fairly low pressure on trails, but I guess anything's possible.
I'll be running some highway miles tomorrow, I'll try to post up my impressions. I have some vibrations that I think are from my tires being out of balance and probably out of round by now (that's what happens if you leave them out of balance too long), so it'll be a good test.
Here's some information I found- http://4x4trailhunters.com/article.php?id=18 and the Web site with the chart for determining how much weight to add is linked there as well, and here: http://www.innovativebalancing.com/BigTirechart.htm
-Spike
) I found a site for a commercial product that's similar, they have a chart for determining how much weight to add- my tires call for between 8 and 10 ounces per tire (35/12.5-16). They say you're better off with more than less. I'd have to agree, as I tear off chunks of my tires on trails and that can't be easy to balance.
I went with the pellets rather than powder, bb's or golf balls for several reasons. Powders seem to need special valve stems with filters. BB's rust eventually, unless you air up with nitrogen or something, and I've heard they can damage steel wheels and cause them to rust. Golf balls seem too large to evenly distribute the weight- what if you only need half a golf ball? What if you need two- where does the other one go? With hundreds of pellets, they can evenly distribute themselves around the tire. I can't imagine they'd come out of the tire if I blow a bead, as they'll all be in the bottom of the tire-nearly 10 inches away from the bead- and I run fairly low pressure on trails, but I guess anything's possible.
I'll be running some highway miles tomorrow, I'll try to post up my impressions. I have some vibrations that I think are from my tires being out of balance and probably out of round by now (that's what happens if you leave them out of balance too long), so it'll be a good test.
Here's some information I found- http://4x4trailhunters.com/article.php?id=18 and the Web site with the chart for determining how much weight to add is linked there as well, and here: http://www.innovativebalancing.com/BigTirechart.htm
-Spike
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It seems 10oz of airsoft pellets would work out for a 36.5x11.50 tire, I'll try those over the golfballs, the powders with their new valvestems seems like trouble.
Amazing what info you can get here .. So this will help with some of the tire vibration .. COOL BEANS
With a radial I would try to balance it before I tried the golf balls, I run six balls per tire in my 38" bias TSL's
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Picked up 10,000 .20 gram Soft-Air pellets from WallyWorld tonight. According to the chart, 10 ounces is correct for 37" tires. Hope they balance my custom beadlock wheels! Any word Spike?
I have only done one highway run with them. My tires are out of round from being run too much out of balance, but there is some improvement. I don't have anything definitive. They seem to work, with none of the negative attributes of powders, steel, or golf balls. I will be running them in the next set of tires I get right from the start.
-Spike
-Spike
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