Have you used "Equal" tire balance material???

[THEBigLarry]

I had 8 new Michelins installed on our American Eagle.  The standard balance machine
at the tire dealer was down so they balanced me with 'Equal' instead for half price.  I agreed
before hand with the caveat that if I did not like the Equal, I could return for a conventional
balance on the tires.

Have any of you had experience with the Equal balance material? 
Is there any possibility of interfering with the TPMS?

I would appreciate your feedback.  I like the idea that my tires re-balance every time I start
to roll.  Any change in the tire and wheel from wear / accumulated road grime or mud / etc.
is pretty much neutralized.  That is my thought anyway. 

What are your thoughts???
What are your experiences??

 

[Ned]

We've had Equal in our tires since the first tire change.  As long as they used the included special valve cores, it will work as well or better than weights.  It will have no effect on a TPMS.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I have Equal in my rear tires now. There is some risk of the powder getting into the tire valve and clogging it, but it's usually easy enough to clear out. There are special filtered valve stems that are supposed to be installed with Equal, but some shops don't use them.

 

[Alaskansnowbirds]

X2 what Ned and Gary said. We had Equal in all our tires for over 10 years and never had a problem. Just make sure you have the special valve cores that have the screen on the end.

 

[Molaker]

May be a silly question, but if the special valve stems weren't used wouldn't the only problem be when trying to let air out?

 

[Ned]

Without the filtered cores, it's possible that a bit of the powder can get into the valve anytime the valve is opened and the valve is near the bottom of the tire.  It's a small possibility but is eliminated by using the provided valve cores.  I believe the Equal packages come with the cores so there is no excuse for not using them.  But I've found tires without them, but have never had a problem.

 

[Wizard46]

The valve cores won't fit in some extensions such as the ones Winnebago used on my rear duals. BullyDog makes valves that will replace them.

 

[Ned]

The cores don't go in the extension, they go in the stem attached to the wheel.  But if you have used a long stem without an extension, then they won't work.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I have the long solid stems that Ned mentioned. What happens on mine once in awhile is that a bit of powder gets caught in the valve when I check pressure. The valve sticks open and air escapes through the valve. Usually just pushing the valve fully open again lets the bit of powder move out of the way and everything returns to normal. Most people don't have this problem, but I mentioned it because it is a possibility.

Theer is an alternative to Equal called Dynabeads that also works very well.

 

[Mavarick]

Tire balance beads like Equal is very helpful in Rv's. Most OTR rigs still don't use them to save a few bucks until they find a problem tire that won't balance out by spinning it on the rim.
I have found that Counteract beads work very well, are less $ compared to others and come with the filtered valve stems and chrome caps.
If you do have an issue with a regular stem sticking then rotate the offending tire so the valve is between 10 and 2 (towards the top) and then check your air vs when the stem is at the bottom side towards the ground.

 

[kfoell]

hi, i have used the equal for years in my tractor trailers. the one thing with it is you have to make sure you use dry air(compressors with a unit to remove the water). if you allow any water/oil to enter it turns the equal into little meatballs and they loose their balancing ability. that is why i stopped using it... when on the road u are at the mercy of the "lack of service stations.  what i ended up using is a product by a company called centramatic      http://centramatic.com/Home.aspx  check them out.  u buy one set and they last a million miles or more. just change the tires and mount the rim back on the vehicle and they automatically balance the tires every mile you drive.. they make them for passenger cars on up to tractor trailers..  with centramatics on my trucks(had 4 trucks n trailers) i averaged another 20,000 on steer tires(front axle), and 50-75,000 more on drives and tandems(drives are the rear axles on the tractor, tandems are trailer tires). well worth the investment if you drive a lot of miles.... hope this info helps you.

 

[lavarock1210]

If you have TPMS sensors you will need the filtered cores to prevent plugging the TPMS sensor port.

I use Dyna Beads and they work well with my trailer tires.  They balance out the trailer drums as trailer drums are not balanced.

 

[blw2]

I like what I'm seeing with this stuff.  I surely would like to put this on all my vehicles..... I really don't like a shimmy or rough ride!

Question, with something like the centramatic, do you have to put one on all 4 tires on a dually drive axle, or just one each side?
I'm assuming with the beads inside the tire they would go in all tires.....

 

[Ned]

At $199-215 per wheel, you can buy a lot of Equal and filtered cores.  And most diesel motorhomes have an onboard supply of dry air available for tire inflation.

 

[blw2]

Do most tire shops understand this stuff and put it in for you?
Do they sell it there, or do you order it and bring it into the tire shop?

 

[Ned]

The truck tire stores will usually stock Equal, but you can buy it online yourself.  It's usually put in with a bag when they mount the tire, but can be blown in to a mounted tire.  I've found the cost to be the same as spin balancing.

 

[Peteyboy]

For what it's worth,,,, I just put 2 new Michelins on the front of our rig, mounted them myself and tried a road test without balancing.  Drives fine with no shimmy or vibration.  When I used the spare recently after an incident, I noticed there were no weights on it, and it drove fine.  Is this uncommon ?

 

[gotago2]

What speed must you be traveling before the beads take effect?  I can see highway speed would spread the beads to balance tires but around town doing stop and go I wonder........

 

[99WinAdventurer37G]

What speed must you be traveling before the beads take effect?  I can see highway speed would spread the beads to balance tires but around town doing stop and go I wonder........

40 miles per hour.  I found that out by doing exactly that; stop and go driving.

 

[Mavarick]

Petey, as I said above, most of the OTR rigs don't use anything to balance 1200-20's unless they get one that is really bad. When that happens they break the bead, spin the tire on the rim 90 degrees and air it back up again.
They can put up with a lot more than we will in a MH so it's a crap shoot. A lot of times you can get away with nothing and it will not be noticeable, then again if you get one that does need something it's another trip back in to dismount with another charge, etc. and go through the process again. Most find it easier to  just do all of them up front and like I said the counteract is only about $14/tire if you purchase it and bring it in. Most spin balancing in about $25 for this size so you have options.
Most of the demo's I have watched show that when the tire speed is slow enough to not be effective for balancing then you will also be slow enough to not generate noticeable vibration, like below 20-25 mph. Just make sure you look at the charts and use the correct  amount in the proper tire position and you will be fine.
If you go to the websites you can evaluate all the claims, for $3.2k in tires and mounting the additional $150 was worth it IMO.