Posted by Vaughn [99.14.95.0] on Sunday, June 08, 2014 at 11:20:33 :
In Reply to: Attn: Vaughn - front end posted by Doc Dave [70.192.207.230] on Saturday, June 07, 2014 at 13:01:42 :
Hi Doc,
There are two issues we deal with on combat rims; worn lug nut seats and out-of-round rims. Both of these conditions result in wheel hop which can’t be corrected by just balancing the tire/rim. Nick’s wheel had two low spots, one being 3/8 of an inch and probably caused by a bent rim bead area. The rim can be corrected by placing rim without flange in pea gravel and using a 2x4 board and sledge, striking the low area to reform it. Flange has to be welded and ground. Stock rims aren’t two much of a problem unless previous owner struck something to cause a low area on the rim and it can be corrected the same way. You check this by dismounting the tire/tube from the rim and bolting the rim to the hub and spinning it.
I can say I’ve been real happy with the old method of balancing a wheel and most shops today don’t use the style of counter weight required for FFPW rims, so I decided to try balancing beads instead. I bought some beads and when received, I thought how in the heck do I get these in the tube. I had an old Aquarium Vacuum from Wal-Mart lying around so I thought that might work. In the picture with the vacuum is a black plastic stem cap. You have to cut the capped end off, screw it on the stem, and slip the hose over it, if using a 3/8 diam. hose, see it installed.
When feeding the beads, remove the stem valve from tube, poor a small amount of beads in the vacuum tube, and slowly feed beads single file into the tube. Gently bouncing the hose up and down helps align the beads. If you try and feed too fast, beads will jam. If that happens, fill tube with a little air, but don’t back air nozzle off too far, or beads will fly everywhere. Expect about 1-1/2 hours per wheel. They recommend 8ozs. For 900-16 and 1100-16. If the 8ozs. doesn’t take care of the balancing, 1ozs can be added at a time until you’re satisfied with performance. Adding to may ozs. at a time can result in side-to-side wobble of the wheel.
Beads work well. They balance the tires at 25mph and stay balanced till you stop again and as the tires wear, they always correct the condition. So far, I’m very satisfied with the performance. It’s been about two years in use.
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