sdetweil wrote:
Halmfamily wrote:
What are balance beads. Never heard of them.
glass/ceramic/... beads (small round balls, from power sized to golf balls) there are even metal tubes mounted on the outside of the tire/wheel with weights that move around (like little lead shot balls)
great youtube here balance ring demonstration
bead demo
they ARE the weights and and will move to where they are needed due to centrifugal force. and some mud to one size of the wheel, the beads move to the other side. balancing the weight.. the mud wears off, they spread back out again, all naturally and realtime.
bigrigs use them all the time, hard to balance those big monster tires.
the beds also account for all the rotating mass not just the tire and wheel.
the finer power type have a tendency to get caught in the valve stem and keep the valve from closing. they can also get wet (poor air fill water filter), and clump..
these bigger ones do not clump. and do not stick in the valve stem cause they are bigger than the stem opening.
less bounce means less heat, less heat means less wear, less wear means longer life, and more comfortable ride.
Thanks for the great explanation. Sounds interesting and would be great to see them work in real time. Happy camping.
