I have a hard time believing that such a system will work. Also, I have not
seen a good explanation of the modus operandi and how it does not violate
the fundamental laws of physics.
The vendor wants us to believe that the weights are going to automatically
find their way to the light point on the tire/wheel assembly and then stay
there. Intuitively , I would think that the exact opposite would occur.
In addition, consider the rotational acceleration and deceleration
associated with driving a vehicle (or trailer). Initially, one continuously
accelerates to speed, and then subsequently applies the brakes and slows
down. Either activity would generate forces on any material not securely
fastened inside the tire to shift position - thus causing a CHANGE in the
prior balance. This is after we believe that the weight will end up in the
right place initially.
The notion of balancing the wheel AND the tire is a good one - but in this
case, I think, ignores the initial question, "How does the weight get to the
right place in the first place?"
There is no question that, ideally, both the wheel/tire and the hub should
both be balanced for optimal results. Optimally, each should be balanced
independently, which would allow mounting any tire/wheel on any hub, and
still maintain proper balance.
BUT, this is not an easy, inexpensive task to accomplish using conventional,
proven balancing techniques.
Balancing the wheel and tire assembly (off the vehicle) on a modern computer
balancer results in a very, very good balance of the wheel and tire. It
also includes the "dynamic balance" which neutralizes the twisting load on
the axle hub caused by a variance in the weight on the inside and the
outside of the rim. [I see no way the Centramatic system can handle this
dimension of the problem.]
The modern computer balancers are, for the most part, based on the patented
technology of the German company, Hoffman. Hoffman balancers are used
worldwide in industry for balancing all sorts of critical components such as
high speed cutter heads to eliminate chatter and the dimensional variation
in the resultant machined part.
The real question that has not been answered in the wheel and hub balancing
discussion is, "How much and how significant is the imbalance of the hub."
My gut feel is that the hub (and brake drum) really doesn't vary all that
much. And, the imbalance that does exist is not that significant in the
scheme of things. The reason is that the wheel and tire is much heavier,
and most important, its weight (specifically the out of balance component -
which is corrected by the off the vehicle computer balancer) is concentrated
at a greater distance from the axis of rotation (thereby having a more
pronounced effect on the system as a whole.
This would be a good project for a college mechanical engineering student!
Sincerely,
Oliver Filippi
-----Original Message-----
Warren, here is the reply I received from the Dyna Bead people:
Hi Scott,
The flat spot causes no disruption of the beads at all, centripetal force
keeps them tightly in place as if they were glued. Once they are in
position, around 20 - 25 mph, they stay there, so no heat is generated at
all. In reality, your axles will run much cooler being in perfect balance
all the time. We have had a number of customers tell us this after feeling
the trailer axles themselves after a long, high speed drive.
Robert
Technical Support
Ceramic Tire Balancing
Tel-USA: 866-352-7251
Tel-Outside USA: 585-467-6028
www.dynabeads.com