FJ40Jim wrote:Agreed, I think the airsoft pellets is an urban myth. An unbalanced tire tends to sling the heaviest part of the tire farther from the center of the axle. The pellets would go to the farthest point from the center, which would also be the heavy spot, so they should actually exacerbate an imbalance.
Many people have drinked the blue koolaid, but that doesn't mean it's really koolaid.
Heavy trucks (as in semi fleets) do this all the time. It really works. As long as tire RPM is above the point where centripetal force sticks the beads to the tire, it's good. This means that the smaller and lighter the bead, the closer to 0mph it'll work.
Speed changes don't make an appreciable difference. There's some internal shifting, but it balances back out continuously with a small lag - the general effect being that you're never actually in perfect balance - but you're chasing it closely).
Drawbacks:
- It doesn't do a damned thing for lateral imblances - only radial. This means that a lot of wheels (especially ones with higher offsets) with low-profile tires will need additional weight (the extra mass of high-profile tires diminishes the significance of lateral wheel balance).
Most manufacturers of dedicated products for these things say not to bother with aspects lower than 60, which excludes almost everybody's race tires.
- It's a goddamned asshole to install the first time (They will end up in the bead until you work out a technique that works for you to prevent it)
I've got two of the tires on my truck balanced this way because Walmart can't crimp wheel weights to save their lives. If anything, they're smoother than the others.
Driver, Pit Monkey, Rod Buster and Engine Fire Starter
Team FinalGear