Hi guys. I've got 275/45/r20 on my Honda Ridgeline. I got them from Les Schwab. When they first mounted them, they did a static balance and each tire only needed a tiny bit of weight. In fact, the tech said he'd never seen tires need so little. They put them on my truck and it had a wicked vibration. I asked if they had installed hub centric rings and he said they didn't since the rims didn't come with any. They called the rim manufacture and sure enough, they had some and sent them out.

After a few days, the rings came and they put them on. The vibration was still there so they did another balance. This time, it was a dynamic balance and each tire needed several ounces of weight. They put them on my truck again and everything seemed fine. Since then I've noticed a little shimmy in the steering wheel at highway speeds. It comes and goes. It's not always at the same speed and not always on the same road surface. Since it was slight and inconsistent, I drove it that way last summer. When I put my stock tires on the the winter, it went away completely so I know it's not a steering / suspension issue.

I've been thinking about this over the winter and I wonder if I still have a little bit of a balance issue. I came across Dyna Beads on the internet. Have any of you ever used them? I was thinking of getting my tires rebalanced again and then adding a 5 ounce "maintenance" load before putting them back on this spring. Since the weather's starting to get nice, I need to sort this out.

Thanks for your help.

My grandfather used ball-bearings in his tires to balance them when he ran delivery trucks, I assume this is the same thing with a ceramic. I wouldn't suggest it, they're loud and can cause quite a problem if you get a flat/blowout.


Just use weights.

Having balanced countless tires before at work, I'd suggest taking them to another shop to have them balance them. Not sure if you've tried this or not, but it could just be the place where you've had them balanced simply didn't balance them correctly (a very possible scenario as it's not hard to mistakingly use the incorrect weight, cone, or especially lug studs [the disk-brake looking thing used to hold the rim steady as it balances]). Any mistake in any one, or any combination of these things, can throw the weight distribution off enough that it would be noticeable when driving, but perhaps not enough for the balancing machine to recognize it or display an error after balancing. Also, a lot of times wheels that nobody at my work could get to balance out were found to be slightly bent or warped. Try taking the rim back to a shop and ask to watch them balance it. This can help 1) make sure the service technician/mechanic is doing it properly/carefully/isn't half-assing it, and 2) watch the tire as it rotates on the machine, keeping a very close eye out for any vibration on the machine itself. The last idea I could think of would be to take it to Honda directly and see if any other Ridgelines have had similar issues, and if they are able to correct it. If none of this helps, then I honestly have no idea how to help you. I've never heard of or seen these "DynaBeads" used, but i guess if nothing else is working, go for it, although it sounds quite odd to me. Hope this is helpful, and good luck.

I told you you'd be back.

Just trying to be nice and helpful to other members looking for help/advice/new knowledge. Too bad thats a novel idea here.

We really need a rofl emoticon.

Take it to somebody else. These guys are incompetent.

Thanks for the replies. I decided to order the beads. I'm also going to have a different shop do the balance. I'll let you know how it goes.