Can beads really balance tyres? A full test and explanation how they work.

I found this fascinating and very well presented too, thank you 🙏

Good video, something to note, the beads I see used and seem to work the best are much smaller, more to the size of larger sugar crystals, the larger the bead the less reliable they are in working each time you come to a stop and start driving again. One other thing for anyone who's not had them work, they MUST be made from something like ceramic or glass to prevent them sticking together, plastic usually doesn't work and often will make the balance worse. Thanks for the video!

Finally! An explanation, well done. Thank you!

Never heard of them before but I recognised the principle from dismantling a top loading washing machine years ago. The inside drum had two hollow rings, one at the top and the other at the bottom which were partially filled with water (and sealed) and serve to balance the washing during the spin cycle. It sloshes around to pool opposite, say, a large towel and compensate for its weight. Regarding a tyre and from looking at another video - the beads tend to roll to the centre of the tyre as only the bottom is flat - the rest is curved. So static balance will be quite good but dynamic not so flash. Enjoyed your video!

Great video. One situation where balancing beads aren't ideal is if you need to use a tyre plug. They'll shred the plug to pieces and break up as a result. You just end up with a powdery ceramic mess and a plug that won't seal.

Thanx for the video!! Best explanation ever! I have been struggling with the theory for ages because I did not know about the difference in balance when rotation around the centre of gravity! It is soo logical now!! I would do it the exact same way on my car, even thought about doing it to save money and furthermore reach perfection. Will do it now for sure. You convinced my with evidence! Love it.

I've had dual sport motorbikes for years, The best way I found to balance the wheels for higher road speed is tyre slime in the inner tube, it makes a massive difference on the higher speed rated tyres, knobbly tyres are sometimes beyond help but it definitely helps.

great video, very informative, and well presented. im not interested in 2cvs' but the algorithm did well today.

Brilliant explanations thank you. As a former 2CV owner for ten years, and have land rovers now; really enjoyed your Citroen Logic 👍. I think my 2CV wheels got balanced on a bubble balancer. But my land rover wheels might balance with steel ball bearings quite well 🤔, and I've heard they use golf balls in lorry wheels 😃

Absolutely fantastic work, there is a lot of poorly informed speculation out there on balance beads. Next time i lose my weights or get imbalance coming back in i will give these a go.

wish i had known about balance beads way back when i had an R4 that also had wheels that no shop could mount on their modern balancing machines. main issue was in the front....on the back the tires could hop up and down 20cm and you wouldn't even notice it.

Thank-you! What a great video.

beads ordered, I was sceptic, but now I will definitely buy some. Fantastic explanation by the way, you should defo have more subscribers.

That's the best explanation, thank you!

Thank you. Well thought out.

I had oddball (stock) wheels on my 1958 Apache 3/4 ton pickup. They were 17.5 inch wheels, so there were only two tire options to run the stock wheels, both were luggy military tires. No local shop was equipped to balance them so I used beads. Anyway, I used the smaller beads that can go through the tire stem. The trick to get them into the wheel without jamming or clogging, I used a funnel and an engraving tool to vibrate the valve stem and keep the beads rolling into the wheel. Takes a little time and patience, but a lot less energy and risk than breaking the tire bead and tossing them in that way. Worked like a charm.

Great Video and effort. Hats up superior amount of work, thank you from Germany.

very clear explanation, Thank you

Thank you for this very informative video! It was well done.

What a great video!