Counteract tire balancing beads

[Christo]

I'm about to install a new set of Michelins on my Alcoa wheels and I'd like to try balancing beads this time around. People seem to have pretty good luck with 4 oz of Airsoft pellets in each tire, but I wondered if anyone has tried Counteract beads: https://www.amazon.com/Counteract-Balancing-Beads-4oz-Bags/dp/B0869SCZ94. The interesting thing about these is that they're small enough to pour through the valve stem if your tires are already mounted.

 

[LQQKatJon]

I ran the counter act beads on a set of front tires. And airsoft in rear.

Both seemed to work well.

The counteract beads you are supposed to have filtered stems. The beads supposedly can get in the valve when checking/filling. And stick the valve open.

I never did have the right valves. Never had an issue. I think generally in our gmc’s gravity is on our aide via maybe a smaller tire?

I have been through some tires. I did have some shake on my current set and these i went back to weights. But usually had good luck with beads.

I never did fill the counteract via valve stems. Still tossed them
In tires and mounted them.

 

[Christo]

I ran the counter act beads on a set of front tires. And airsoft in rear.

Both seemed to work well.

The counteract beads you are supposed to have filtered stems. The beads supposedly can get in the valve when checking/filling. And stick the valve open.

I never did have the right valves. Never had an issue. I think generally in our gmc’s gravity is on our aide via maybe a smaller tire?

I have been through some tires. I did have some shake on my current set and these i went back to weights. But usually had good luck with beads.

I never did fill the counteract via valve stems. Still tossed them
In tires and mounted them.

From their FAQs:

 

[tmsnyder]

I used these on steel wheels, trying to eliminate the vibrations:

https://www.fleetpride.com/parts/ken-tool-tire-balancing-beads-31610

Kit comes with beads, filtered valve stem core, and fancy valve stem cap for 4 wheels. I split the beads between 6 instead of 4.

I _think_ it helped a little. But my outside circumference of my tires on the steel wheels were so out of round that there was no correcting the vibrations. Eventually, when I put an indicator on the OD the rubber itself was +/- 3/16 on a couple of the wheels.

In your case, the tires on the Alcoas should be dead round. I would bet dollars to donuts that balance beads in your wheels will make the Komet(!) run smooth as butter on the road.

 

[Christo]

I used these on steel wheels, trying to eliminate the vibrations:

https://www.fleetpride.com/parts/ken-tool-tire-balancing-beads-31610

Kit comes with beads, filtered valve stem core, and fancy valve stem cap for 4 wheels. I split the beads between 6 instead of 4.

I _think_ it helped a little. But my outside circumference of my tires on the steel wheels were so out of round that there was no correcting the vibrations. Eventually, when I put an indicator on the OD the rubber itself was +/- 3/16 on a couple of the wheels.

In your case, the tires on the Alcoas should be dead round. I would bet dollars to donuts that balance beads in your wheels will make the Comet run smooth as butter on the road.

That's Komet, named after the prior owners Richard and Turid Kometti

 

[JPB]

I used Counteract beads on 2 Alcoa Rims. They seem to work fine. The beads came in 6oz bags and I used 3oz per tire. A cheap plastic turkey baster from Amazon (price has gone up) was used to funnel the beads into the valve stem. I had to use a heat gun and a shaft (threads removed} from a 1/4" Tapcon to widen the baster opening. Then the beads flowed easily into the valve stem. IIRC the baster holds about 3oz of beads when full.

I've not had a problem with valve stems so far.

JP

 

[N2hcky]

I used the 4oz throw-in packs with our ION/Cooper setup on all 6.
Seems to work like a charm. Have had zero issues the last 2 seasons.

 

[RF_Burns]

I've used commercial balance beads in the past with success. However long time owners over at GMCNet were using air soft beads, so that's what I've been using now for a number of years. 4 Oz per tire.

 

[1976GMC]

I'm running Counteract beads in all six tires on our coach. It came with that setup when we purchased it. I was very surprised with not having any wheel ballancing weights on the aluminum wheels and later discovered that it has Counteract beads in the tires. When I got new tires for the coach, I asked my mechanic to use that system again instead of standard weights. I'm very happy with this setup. Rides very smoothly and no tire vibration.

 

[Bhart]

From a post I wrote in Nov 2024.

This past year I bought the Ion wheels and put cooper tires on as well. Started with stick on wheel weights but as I was putting on the wheels they rubbed off when sliding of the brake drum. I went with the air soft pellets and put 8 oz in each tire. One wheel and tire had 4 0z of stick-on weights and anther 1 1/2 oz of rock imbedded in the tread of the tire.
Not entirely sure but 5 oz might be on the threshold of needed weight. I wouldn't expect this out of spun aluminum wheels.

 

[TR 1]

I'm also a balance bead user... My coach came with them installed, and I've used them in other vehicles as well, to varying success. When I bought my GMC, I was not happy with how using just the balance beads performed, and I definitely noticed some vibration, though I do not know what product was used by the previous owner, so that could have been a factor.

I believe the main drawback to balance beads is they cannot dynamically balance a tire... So if there is any imbalance in the tire/wheel from side to side, (which there almost always is) the beads are not able to distribute themselves side to side to counteract the imbalance. (Beads can only "static" balance a tire, which means applying weight to one location)

What I have been doing for the last several years, is I will mount and dynamic balance (using standard weights) my wheels/tires, then add the balance beads after the fact. I've been very happy with this technique. This theoretically has the added benefit (though this could just be luck) of automatically compensating for tire wear, and I've not needed to "rebalance" any of my tires using this technique thus far. I do this on my jeep with oversized tires, my 3/4 ton Ford, and the GMC. (Most of the bead products state to not use them on passenger car tires, and I've not tried them on any of our cars)

The main drawbacks I've found for this technique are:

1. You can't perform a follow up standard dynamic balance without removing the beads (Fortunately I have not needed one yet)

2. It's hard to get the beads into the tire after it has been mounted. There are "bead injector" tools out there, but I did not have any luck with the one I tried. These "work" by removing the valve core, and inserting the beads through the valve stem, but the beads seemed to just bunch up and stop flowing. It seemed like you would need to somehow vibrate the valve to get the beads to flow through the valve stem effectively, if you do go the bead injector route.

What I've been doing, is I will mount and dynamically balance the tire, then break the tire bead in one corner, and pour in the balance beads that way, then reset the tire bead. But, I have my own tire mounting and balancing machines, so this is easier for me than convincing a tire shop to do it. My mounting machine has a pneumatic "assist arm", So I just use this to push down a corner... Since it is a freshly mounted tire, it takes almost no effort to unmount a corner, using this technique.

I also do not use the "special" valve cores, and I have not had any beads jam in the cores to date. This includes airing down and back up on occasion, when I take my jeep offroad.

FWIW, I've been using this product, (tempered glass beads, same as Counteract)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BRG5NLB?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_7&th=1

4oz per tire for the GMC.

 

[Mike_H]

I've played with balance beads...counteract brand specifically. Not on my coach, but on my Jeep with 35'' Mud tires. I'm going back to a "regular" balance. The balance beads would work, sometimes. Sometimes they would not work. Sometimes, they would work, then I'd go around a corner, and they would stop working. All in All, I'm not happy with them. I also had to use a whole bunch more than 4 oz on those tires (counteract recommended something like 14 oz!)

Also, loading them through the stem is an exercise in patience. Yes, its possible. With 4 oz, it might not be too bad. After doing one with 14 oz, I found it was MUCH more efficient to break the bead on one side of the tire and pour them in that way, then reseat the bead.