Yesterday I had Nitto Trail Grappler 295/70-R18 tires installed on my 2004 FX4. The guy at the shop suggested that I consider powder balancing and briefly described it to me. He said that it is primarily for big rigs, RVs and larger pickups with big tires. He had 35s or 37s on his personal truck and said he had the powder in his tires for balancing. He said if my truck were his, he would do it.

I did a quick Google search and figured I'd try it. Just curious if anyone on here is familiar with this balancing technique or if anyone had any personal experience with it.

Pics of the tires are coming soon. I did the Bilstein 5100 shocks to level the front a few years ago. Happy to report that there is no rubbing at all with the 34" Trail Grapplers. I haven't put 20 miles on the truck yet, but there is no detectable vibration. The powder seems to be working ok so far.

 

I use a product called dynabeads in my motorcycle tires.....works good...... http://www.dynabeads.net/

 

88 - That site mentions that their product is goid for aggressive pickup truck tires too. I did a little reading about the beads too when I was Googling. I think the beads might be better because they wouldn't be susceptible to caking due to moisture like the powder.

Thanks for the link.

 

I don't use them in my vehicle just the bike cause I get my wheels road force balanced for free....

 

My first set of tires were powder balanced and my second set was regular magnet balanced, the difference really wasn't that noticeable but then again with mud tires the rides never gonna be glass anyway.

 

Don't know anything about the "powder", not sure how it would be in a climate that has huge temp swings.

The Dynabeads didn't work so well for us. Both my dad and brother tried them for a year on their trucks and ended up getting rid of them. The tires were Goodyear AT and BFG T/O both in a size equal to 31x10.50. They seemed ok at the beginning but after a few months and temp swings they seemed to almost flat spot, especially in extreme cold. Talked to customer support and they were very nice but didn't have any answers. When my brother had his installed I asked the sales rep about using them in larger tires such as the 35's on my truck and they didn't recommend it.

 

I have powder in my bucket truck 2003 GMC topkick. I can tell the difference as the last set was balanced with weights. It seems its out of balance until they warm up, might be all in my head though. I would just stick to traditional/ road force

 

Well - I already tried it, so I'll see how it goes and I'll report back with my observations / opinion. Hopefully, with the temp changes here in Upstate NY, I won't get the clumping...

I was kinda surprised that I couldn't find one single thread on this subject on the site.