Great video. One situation where balancing beads aren't ideal is if you need to use a tyre plug. They'll shred the plug to pieces and break up as a result. You just end up with a powdery ceramic mess and a plug that won't seal.

Never heard of them before but I recognised the principle from dismantling a top loading washing machine years ago. The inside drum had two hollow rings, one at the top and the other at the bottom which were partially filled with water (and sealed) and serve to balance the washing during the spin cycle. It sloshes around to pool opposite, say, a large towel and compensate for its weight. Regarding a tyre and from looking at another video - the beads tend to roll to the centre of the tyre as only the bottom is flat - the rest is curved. So static balance will be quite good but dynamic not so flash. Enjoyed your video!

I found this fascinating and very well presented too, thank you 🙏

Finally! An explanation, well done. Thank you!

Good video, something to note, the beads I see used and seem to work the best are much smaller, more to the size of larger sugar crystals, the larger the bead the less reliable they are in working each time you come to a stop and start driving again. One other thing for anyone who's not had them work, they MUST be made from something like ceramic or glass to prevent them sticking together, plastic usually doesn't work and often will make the balance worse. Thanks for the video!

Absolutely fantastic work, there is a lot of poorly informed speculation out there on balance beads. Next time i lose my weights or get imbalance coming back in i will give these a go.

I had oddball (stock) wheels on my 1958 Apache 3/4 ton pickup. They were 17.5 inch wheels, so there were only two tire options to run the stock wheels, both were luggy military tires. No local shop was equipped to balance them so I used beads. Anyway, I used the smaller beads that can go through the tire stem. The trick to get them into the wheel without jamming or clogging, I used a funnel and an engraving tool to vibrate the valve stem and keep the beads rolling into the wheel. Takes a little time and patience, but a lot less energy and risk than breaking the tire bead and tossing them in that way. Worked like a charm.

I've had dual sport motorbikes for years, The best way I found to balance the wheels for higher road speed is tyre slime in the inner tube, it makes a massive difference on the higher speed rated tyres, knobbly tyres are sometimes beyond help but it definitely helps.

great video, very informative, and well presented. im not interested in 2cvs' but the algorithm did well today.

That's the best explanation, thank you!

Thank-you! What a great video.

Thank you. Well thought out.

beads ordered, I was sceptic, but now I will definitely buy some. Fantastic explanation by the way, you should defo have more subscribers.

very clear explanation, Thank you

What a great video!

Great Video and effort. Hats up superior amount of work, thank you from Germany.

Thanx for the video!! Best explanation ever! I have been struggling with the theory for ages because I did not know about the difference in balance when rotation around the centre of gravity! It is soo logical now!! I would do it the exact same way on my car, even thought about doing it to save money and furthermore reach perfection. Will do it now for sure. You convinced my with evidence! Love it.

Great video! Super hack! Have you experienced internal tire wesring due beads friction? How often do you change beads since they usually tent to crash and break eventually?

What a great video, thanks indeed. I've recently fitted balancing beads (tiny ones that do (eventually) fit through the valve stem into my tubes - 40 minutes per wheel to get them in! It is interesting that you are running tubeless? Does your 2CV have safety rims? This is a long standing debate!) My Renaults have the same size rims as yours and my early 4CV spider wheels can only be balanced statically at my local tyre place. They can balance my 15" disc wheels on the R8 but this doesn't reliably stop vibration at 100 kph. I"ve not finished testing the results of the beads yet and just remembered I might still have balance weights on the inside of the wheels, so need to pull them off. I have checked for roundness and sideways wobble, and they are OK within 1-2 mm. Thanks again! Really interesting.

The 1981 Peugeot 504 diesel had rims like these. You can buy bubble wheel balancers, not sure how you fit them to the wheel.

Finally you gave me the answer I've been looking for. It is the center of gravity and not the periphery, or the center of the wheel and not the outermost edge that causes the dis-balance. I've been running beads on all my cars since about 15 years ago no problem until the tires get quite old and need replacing. I run plastic bb pellets.

It's always been a goto for model Ts. I just drill the valve stem out large enough to accept the beads.

you can balace those wheels on the car by letting the wheel in the air and letting it rotate with the heavy spot at the bottom, then add weights at the top, rotate the wheel and see where it starts to accelerate or decelerate the rotation. to find the heavy spot again and so on

Had the same problem with mud terrain tyres on my Toyota LC could not balance them properly for love nor money, put in balancing weights and presto no more vibrations!

The vibrations shown at the beginning are due to the road - if it were caused by the tyre “imbalance” the wheels would have come off - also the steering wheel does not shudder!

I have asked most tire places in Bundaberg about these and get nothing but a blank. Where can I buy them and how do I get them into my tire?

Wouldn't a cup of water/inert fluid do the same thing?

Will that work with a fluid to?

What would happen if you balanced the tire traditionally and then added beads?

Very interesting, and well presented, but...in 50 years of 2CV {and Dyane} ownership {350,000+ miles, with several cars} I have never had to have a tyre balanced. Two other things come to mind, firstly, on a few occassions I have used inner tubes in "leaky rims", with no ill effects {or balancing needed} ...and secondly.could long term use of these beads cause any damage to the inside of the tyre {2CV tyres, are, by the nature of their size and the limited power of the car, long lasting}

Those beads are massive, aren't they normally tiny?

Anyone else think he sounds like stewy griffin?

Tyre Balancing Beads - I have been using them on my Motorcycles for last 8 years. Biggest benefit is Beads balance the life of tyre, wheel weights do not. Tyre can irregularly wear and dirt, mud, tar rocks sick to inside of rims changing the balance.

Couldn't you just balance it with a bubble balancer? Seems easy enough to do rather than all that...

I find it hilarious that you have no idea what "Oh-Zeds" are...(Though I had not heard "Zed" used in decades!) "oz" (ounces, 16 in US Pound - WE STILL USE THEM EVERY DAY) yet we Americans are subjected to that asinine metric system you use....(I work in the Aftermarket Motorcycle Parts business with Harley and Honda being our biggest markets...I hate the metric system!).... FYI 1oz = 28.3495 Grams. - FYI X 2 - Tires on vehicles today use Bastardized Sizing... 235/75/15 - Metric MM Width / Aspect Ratio / Rim size in INCHES! - Figure THAT out!

You don't need any balancing beads for this car. For this car you will need a scrap press. My rule, with which I got through the world very well, was always: no cars with an F. No Ford, no Fiat, no French car. 😂🤣 But joking aside, very informative video, very well explained.

1 oz is 28 grams