Airsoft BB's, for tire balance, REPORT

[53guy]

35x12.50's, 10oz of .20g Airsoft BB's and slight vibes above 65. Might be too much weight...then again, might be too little, hard to experiment with the BB's cause you have to keep popping the bead. Grr...should have started low and added as I went. TIP FOR ALL!!! START ON THE LOW SIDE AND ADD MORE IF YOU GET VIBES!!

 

[tonyman246]

has anyone used the bb's with a can of fix-a-flat in your tire??

 

[Jeffro600]

35x12.50's, 10oz of .20g Airsoft BB's and slight vibes above 65. Might be too much weight...then again, might be too little, hard to experiment with the BB's cause you have to keep popping the bead. Grr...should have started low and added as I went. TIP FOR ALL!!! START ON THE LOW SIDE AND ADD MORE IF YOU GET VIBES!!

Adding too much(within reason....not saying dump 3 pounds in each tire) wont cause vibes....youve got problems else where.

 

[96XJCLASSIC]

has anyone used the bb's with a can of fix-a-flat in your tire??

I don't think I would recommend that.

 

[tonyman246]

so what do you do when you get a flat? if you take it in to a shop to get fixed they will probably be pissed when 90000000000000 beads are on their floor. lol

 

[tompatjr]

so what do you do when you get a flat? if you take it in to a shop to get fixed they will probably be pissed when 90000000000000 beads are on their floor. lol

Pump and tire plugs. That tire stuff would be a pain to clean out also, I would think. If I ever go to a tire shop I will inform them there are BB's in the tire, so they have a heads up. It's fun to tell people that you have BB's in your tire anyway, they get this expression on their face it's hard to describe.

 

[53guy]

Adding too much(within reason....not saying dump 3 pounds in each tire) wont cause vibes....youve got problems else where.

I don't know either. Its strange, because I wasn't having problems before. I usually go and get my tires balanced every 3 or 4 oil changes anyhow (10,000miles or so), so it was about time for them to be balanced anyhow. I wasn't having vibes anywhere, from 0 to 90+mph with wheel weights, but now I only have a smooth ride between 35-55mph. Not to mention that I sound like a retard with crazy problems when I'm driving along anywhere between 5-15mph. Its really driving me nuts that those Airsoft BB's aren't working. I'm going on Saturday to SEARS to get my tires balanced again with wheel weights. Very, very frustrating.

 

[60thAnivrsryXJ]

has anyone used the bb's with a can of fix-a-flat in your tire??

Fix a flat is the devil!

so what do you do when you get a flat?

Isn't that what the spare is for?

 

[LOWTECH]

I don't know either. Its strange, because I wasn't having problems before. I usually go and get my tires balanced every 3 or 4 oil changes anyhow (10,000miles or so), so it was about time for them to be balanced anyhow. I wasn't having vibes anywhere, from 0 to 90+mph with wheel weights, but now I only have a smooth ride between 35-55mph. Not to mention that I sound like a retard with crazy problems when I'm driving along anywhere between 5-15mph. Its really driving me nuts that those Airsoft BB's aren't working. I'm going on Saturday to SEARS to get my tires balanced again with wheel weights. Very, very frustrating.

Cherry Bomb muffler & louder sterio

I'm also running 20 gram air soft pellets in my 35x12.50x15 Swampers, (8-1/4 oz per tire), and haven't had any problems up to 70 mph (as fast as the old guy will do).

Note mine is not a daily driver.

 

[53guy]

Lol, the vibrations I have now are pretty crazy. It's almost like my jeep is just bouncing down the road. I had my CD case in the passanger seat today and it bounced out about the time I hit 70. pretty crazy if you ask me. I don't mind though, it was a trial and error thing for me. It didn't work, so no big loss (except the $75 bucks it's gonna cost to rebalance the tires). I really hope this mod works out for everyone else. I'm really starting to think I put too much in it. I think we put somewhere around 1700 BB's in each tire (my guess, as we used 3/4th the bottle of BB's and the scale at Subway isn't entirely accurate I don't think. It was digital, but I really am starting to doubt it now.)

 

[forcefed]

I have had bb's in my 35" BFG's for about 4 months and 12,000 miles now, i and i have had some problems, but for the majority of the time it works fine. Although i think that these problems, outweigh the benifits...
If i brake hard down to ~15-25mph or under, and then resume acceleration, or, Hit a bump or even a gutter ~15-25, and then accelerate or, Turn Left from a stop, esp. when i shift from 1-2 (5 speed), Basically if they dont "set" right, during their "setting speed", they can get out of balance, Really Bad, and cause the same effect as Severe "death wobble". Basically when they get "out of balance", the bb's can all gather in the same spot, and then the wheel(s) become, essentially a "vibrator"... and theres No speeding out of it, so dont try that... i experimented with steel, rubber balls, and now i have the airsoft .12's . i also played with weights, now i have 12oz in each, soon 0.... i would rather just get them balanced as best as they can...
It happens alot ( ~100+ times in 12k), and im used to driving a "not a daily driver" everyday.
oh, and dont blow a tire! on the trail, or the freeway, (Just think "shrapnel")
Not to mention the sounds it makes, just look at the person next to you when you stop next to them, I still lmao all the time!!! even now just thinking about it!!!!

 

[klonestar]

So is anyone using the ceramix beads? Im curious how they weigh in against the airsofts? More money yes, but do they do a better job as they are manuf. specifically for this. I have a friend who owns/runs a local ceramic high tech manuf. plant and I must say it is rather incredible what he can do with ceramic variations. He gets govt. contracts etc...big bucks!

Sure would like to see someone w/35's that are having trouble w/airsofts put ceramix's in the same tires just for an acid test comparison. (no, I dont expect anyone to run out and do this) Would be nice if the manuf. would donate to prove their point though!

Im no mathematician (didnt win any spelling bees either!) nor a physics major but it really seems smaller bb's at the correct weight and made of the right substance would do a different job than larger plastic ones.(not saying necessarily a better job because I dont know.) Being heavier their going to move faster, being smaller there are more to distribute to more areas,etc...

Just wondering out loud. Would love to see a comparison done on the same set of tires thats not manuf. hype!

Thanks for lilstening,
Ken

 

[zthang43]

I have the .2 gram airsoft bb's in my 32's, and had pretty much the same results as forcefed. The out of balance conditions seems worst at about 28psi, and varies with air pressure in my tires. I also tried adding some more weight, using #9 lead shot through the valve stem; I went up to 10 ounces and the problem just got worse.
It's enough of a problem that I had my rear tires dismounted to take out the bb's; it feels a lot better now but I still need to do the front. (I run my front tires at slightly higher pressure, about 34psi, and it's not as much of a problem).
Seems like a lot of people have had good luck with these, but it didn't work for my tires.

 

[tompatjr]

Seems like it's a crap shot as to if they will work for a certain tire or not. I can give you a hint so you will have a heads up. If you have your tires balanced with conventional weights you can tell if you have lateral imbalance. Simply look at the tire and wheel and see if there is alot more weight on one side than the other. That would be an indication of lateral imbalance. If they are new you will have to spin them to check. This is what I was told by one of the companys that makes beads for this purpose. They went on to say that NO internal media could correct lateral imbalance problems. Their solution was to have a conventional balance done and then add their beads.

After e-mailing the above company, I contacted centramatics. They make a device that is essentially a hollow round ring filled with some kind of media. It attaches between the wheel and hub. It works on the same principals as the airsoft BB's and other media. I explained to them what was happening with my balance issues. They said that they could address lateral balance! I don't understand how they could that if the others can't, unless they have you spin balance the tires first like the other company recomended.

Anyone running centramatics? BTW they are about two hundred for a set of four.

 

[cal]

I tried centromatics, and took them off to run airsoft pellets. I had luck with the airsoft..

 

[formatt]

finally got around to getting my airsoft pellets dropped into my tires lastnight.. running 35" BFG MT's and Rockstomper beadlocks, i needed 14oz.

I kept throwing weights and I had a severe "death wobble" coming from the rear tires from about 37/38 mph to about 60 mph. Got to the point that I'd either need to drive interstates (above 60 mph) or neighborhoods because it shake my rig so bad.

The 14oz of airsoft BB's works absolutely perfect! I get zero shakes now. I was worried about sudden braking and how it'd handle but I get no ill effects. Less than $20.00 later and balanced tires... Its definitely a great solution!

__________________
matthew - 96 xj
formatt fabrications
www.formattfab.com

 

[LOWTECH]

UPDATE:

Week Two and all is going well with the Soft Pellets

I've used the XJ as a daily driver for two weeks now, drove it on the Interstate at 65 mph, flat towed it for 350+ miles and wheeled at Martinez Canyon, (4.0 trail in Florance Junction, AZ) with no problems at least with the tires & balancing.

Tune in next week for another up date

 

[XJ4PLAY]

I was told by a couple of people, that using Fix-A-Flat, or stuff by another name that does the same, makes your tire unrepairable.
Once that stuff is used the tire stores won't touch it.
Again, this is what I heard and have no confirmation on this.

 

[vttuner]

I was told by a couple of people, that using Fix-A-Flat, or stuff by another name that does the same, makes your tire unrepairable.
Once that stuff is used the tire stores won't touch it.
Again, this is what I heard and have no confirmation on this.

That may be because some formulations of fix-a-flat are explosive and and can pose a danger to anyone servicing the tire after that. I know some cans of that stuff come with a warning sticker to put on the rim after you use it.

:explosion
​

 

[krelja]

won't the fix a flat basically glue all the pellets together @ some random place in your tire. that would be a great story when the tire guy takes it off.