spin balancing vs bg balancing

rickvikki wrote:
Has anyone used "equal" brand as aopposed to dynabeads

We used Equal in the 19.5" tires on our 2001 motorhome. They require a special valve core (not the whole valve stem) with a filter in it that prevents the powder from escaping and getting caught in the valve. The proper valve cores have a red band around them and an obvious cone shaped filter. The installer should also put on dust covers with a red band to identify that the tire is balance with equal powder.

One caution. If you decide to go with a balance powder or beads make sure to watch the technician do the installation. We paid for equal to be installed in a set of 4 rear tires on our 2001 motorhome. After several thousand miles of driving the tires were out of balance and developed flat spots.

I took them to another dealer to have the Equal removed and rebalanced with external weights. When the technician started he called me back to the shop. The original dealer hadn't put any Equal in the tires even though they charged me for it. The worst tire took over 12 oz. of weight to balance it and the others took over 8 oz. Even then we could feel the flat spots and resulting vibration at highway speeds. Tires that should have gone over 50,000 miles had to be replaced at about 30,000 miles because they were not properly balanced.