Has anyone used the bead bag system to balance your tires? If so, how do you rater them? I'm getting ready to mount my 305/70/17 on my eagle rims. Any thoughts if I should use the bead bag, or stick on?

 

I used them a few years back on an old Jeep Wrangler I had...they helped a little but worked a whole lot better in conjunction with wheels weights.

 

The don't work so well at lower speeds. Once you get up above 25mph they kind of smooth out. They generally use those bead bags on 38" and above tires where they can't fit them onto a balance machine (or atleast that's what we do at work).

IIRC those bead bags are more expensive than getting your wheels balanced. Save money and get them balanced up the traditional way... you'll be happier in the long run.

 

Not sure what a bead bag is. I use dynabeads in my jeep tires, and they keep some very heavy rims and tires balanced very well.
http://www.innovativebalancing.com/

 

Not supposed to used them with the Tire Pressure Management.

 

I bought my Mopar rims, took the stock wheels off, took the tires off the stock rims and mounted them on my new wheels myself. But, my balancer isn't big enough for my truck rims (I use it for motorcycle wheels). So I put the new wheels on the truck, unbalanced, and drove down to Discount Tire. I paid $32.50 plus tax for their Lifetime Rotate and Balance deal. They then pulled my truck in, balanced all the wheels with stick-on weights on the inside/backside of the wheels, and I went on my way. And I'll stop back in every 5,000 - 7,000 miles and let them do it all over again, for no additional charge. I don't know if "Lifetime" is the life of the truck or the life of the tires - and don't care. Even if it's just the tires, it was cheap and totally worth it.

Why pay more and spend your own time doing anything else?

 

Sounds like you are spending a lot of time at the tire store. With balance beads you do it once - there is no reason to ever rebalance.

 

They need to be rotated, regardless. I could do that myself. Have done. But, for the time it takes, over the life of a set of tires, a one-time fee of $32 to have it covered and done while I, for example, go get lunch, is worth it by itself. The fact that they will balance them too is a bonus. And means I would have no reason to spend more money on balance beads.

 

Thanks for all the info, OK, I put the tires and rims on, ended up using the the balance beads in conjuction with stick on weights. Smoother ride than expected with the 305/70/17 nitto terra grapplers. Since I didn't use the sensors off the factory rims, my (TPMS) light is now on. Is there a way to disable the light? Thanks

 

According to their FAQ, you can use them with TPMS.

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/news.htm