Balancing with Airsoft BB's

[Jesus_man]

I put these BB's in my beadlocks back in 2007ish and they worked great once I got the correct weight in there. I started with the chart I found on innovativebalancing.com. The old style MTR's took about 100g in each tire. But as I was playing with the weight, it seemed that they would work better if the BB's were a larger OD. I had already put the most dense BB's I could get at the time.

So with my old BB's fairly worn out I decided I would try something different this time and ordered more airsoft BB's; this time in a 8mm size (standard is 6mm) and in a .34g flavor. The new (to me) tires going on are again the old style MTR's, so I am hoping I can get them to balance with about the same weight.

In case you were wondering, I ordered from evike.com as their prices are pretty good. Sometimes their shipping isn't and this time I paid more for shipping than the BB's, but I figured it will be worth it to get a larger OD.

What started all this is I became friends with a machinist and asked him to fix some wallowed out holes in my beadlocks. I ordered some steel inserts from prestigewheel.com and he machined out my wheels and pressed them in. I am excited to have this done as now I have a steel on steel contact with the studs, lugs, and wheels. Should last a lot longer!

I should have more information in a couple weeks after I get all this stuff put together and on the bronco!

Someday I may even try these BB's in my trailer tires if I ever decide to break the tires off the wheels.

[Kinder]

Ive never thought of using BBs since I’ve never ran beadlocks or trail only tires, but this has me thinking. I wonder if they were used in conjunction with normal weight balancing for larger tires, say 35” or greater, would there be any benefit to a balance lasting longer?

I am interested in your trailer tire use, I’ve heard mention of balancing them traditionally, but I’m not sure it matters. Maybe Bobby will chime in on this and give his personal experience or industry language.

[Jesus_man]

They make special rings that OTR truck use that have BB's inside them. They mount behind the wheel. And innovativebalancing.com is a site that was tailored for those trucks originally.

I don't think it can hurt to add them inside a tire. They find the balance automatically, so even if your tires are already balanced these BB's will re-balance. The trick would be getting the amount right so they can counter-balance themselves in that situation. But if you chunk a tire, or knock off a weight then you should be covered!

As I mentioned, I have ran them for 10 years and I've never had a balance issue (aside from flat spots) and my bronco runs 70mph without issue.

I have a vibration on my trailer that is coming from poor quality wheels. I've been told they are out of round. So it has me wanting to try this, but that is a fair amount of work to break down 4 tires. But then I think...for $500 I could get some really nice alloy trailer wheels. Just haven't felt good about spending the $$ yet. Not enough trailering to justify it just yet.

Also, I like Airsoft because moisture doesn't affect them and if the chip a little, they don't turn into a powder and rust like steel ones can. Perhaps inert is the word I am looking for?? Innovative uses ceramic beads, but I wonder if they would chip too easy?

I do recall the first time I put them inside and came to a stop where the BB's fell off the top side of the tire onto the wheel. It makes a noise like you have the worst mud stuck in your rotors. But oddly, after I took out half the BB's I don't remember hearing that sound again. The trial and error part is what makes folks not want to try.

[Dirtheadz]

im planning Airsofts in my next build. Read alot of positive's better than bags of equal and cheaper too! I had looked at the initieria rings long time ago as well, but then they were for 19.5 through 24.5 tires (OTR guys). I have heard that once stopped you do hear the Airsofts and feel out of balance until the BB's spin and gain enough inertia to spin into place.

[Digger]

FWIW - My buddy ran BBs in his 35s for a couple of years. He took them out in order to get a normal static balance. He never liked that he could feel the imbalance for the first 50-100 ft. when starting from a dead stop. (until the BBs started circulating)

We were shocked how much rubber had accumulated on the BBs. They were about 2x their normal diameter. They had worn a pretty nasty track on the inside of the tire. Bad enough he threw the tires out and bought new ones.

[B.O.B.]

Well the jury is still out on this one. Same as above I have seen people with good luck and some people that say it’s a waste of time and money. There is a science to it as you do have to put the right size and amount in the tires. Which leads to numerous times mounting and dismounting your tires to take them out or add.

My .02- if it’s a normal big brand tire that is street worthy ( no boggers or similar tires) than normal balancing should be fine. Most of these tires are built pretty well and should balance somewhat decent. The biggest thing is that a lot of people throw on 35’s or bigger with lifts and think it’s going to ride like a Cadillac and it won’t. You can try beads but it’s trial and error. Most people I see come back and take them out. If it’s a hard core wheeler then you can do beads but usually you don’t care because you are not going fast enough or not on good terrain. Otherwise if you feel something just take it in and hav them rebalanced. Just make it part of the routine just like checking your rig after a good day of fun.

[Jesus_man]

My BB's had turned a dark gray from the rubber inside the tire, but there was no bad damage in the 10+ years I ran them. I'll admit, that I didn't get to street drive my rig a whole lot, but I did drive it enough to nearly wear out a set of MTR's. But I do have some concerns of running these larger and heavier BB's. These tires aren't new either, so if they get me thru 3-4 years, I'll be plenty happy and then I can reevaluate my situation then.

And being a trail truck, I don't have any illusions of it riding nice. In fact, if tires aren't flat spotted, I don't recall any vibration issues, even at lower speeds. But again, that could just be the setup of my rig masking it??

[ManTruck]

BB's in my 35's and have been doing the job for me...and will continue I believe.