How beads provide superior tire balancing benefits

Carriers understand the importance of balancing their truck tires. Unbalanced tires make trucks difficult to handle, cutting tire life short and decreasing fuel economy. Traditionally, companies have used spin balancing machines and wheel weights to mitigate these challenges. Counteract offers a more advantageous solution. 

Founded in 1997, Canada-based Counteract has been offering its innovative balancing bead product for almost three decades. During that time, the company has worked to define the unique benefits of its balancing beads through independent research, creating a strong use case for the product, which has led to partnerships with some of the largest fleets in North America.

Counteract Balancing Beads provide a lifeline for tires, keeping the tire and the entire rotating wheel assembly balanced for the long haul, something wheel weights simply can’t do. This unlocks a wealth of benefits, including cost savings and improved operational efficiency.

“When it comes to tires, especially with how much more expensive they are becoming, you have to treat it like an asset,” Counteract President Daniel LeBlanc said. “If you put the money in now, you will save money in the future.”

What are Counteract Balancing Beads?

Counteract Balancing Beads were born from owner Roger LeBlanc’s desire for an easier, more efficient and eco-friendly way to balance tires. He designed the intelligent small glass beads that work inside the tire, finding and changing their positions via centrifugal force and inertia.

Installing the balance beads is simple. The microbeads come in a bag that can be thrown into the tire when it is broken down or injected into the tire via the valve stem. Once the beads are inside the tire, the bag breaks upon the motion of the vehicle and they readjust on their own as needed. Counteract Balancing Beads are designed to last the entire lifespan of the tire. 

“It’s a continuous, always changing balance for the tire, whereas wheel weights are stationary,” Counteract Vice President of Sales Simon Martin said.

What are the benefits of beads?

Like external wheel weights, balancing beads reduce vibration and improve handling by balancing the tire and rotating mass. Unlike wheel weights, these glass beads work to balance the entire wheel assembly. This leads to a wide range of additional benefits, including increased tire life and improved fuel economy.

Not only do Counteract Balancing Beads improve tire life by reducing rolling resistance and tire wear, but the beads increase each tire’s lifespan by providing more even wear across the entire surface of the tire. Tires with balancing beads wear more evenly than tires with wheel weights because the complete wheel assembly – not just the tire and rim – is balanced.

“You’re going to get massive tire life savings,” Martin said. “On average, we see about 40% on steer tires. Drive tires you can see about a 35% tire life increase, and on trailer tires you can see about a 33.3% tire life increase.”

Martin went on to explain that much of the increase in drive and trailer tire lifespan can be attributed to the fact that these tires are not typically balanced via traditional methods. Wheel weights are often used exclusively on steer tires since imbalances in these tires are responsible for steering wheel vibration and driving discomfort.

By using balance beads in all tires, trucking companies can unlock unparalleled savings and increase the effectiveness of their operations.

Balancing beads also provide superior fuel savings. In fact, Counteract proved these savings in two fuel tests conducted by Auburn University.

“Auburn University (PAVE) program for advanced vehicle evaluations conducted an S.A.E. and TMC type II test and reported a 2.2% fuel consumption improvement on 18 wheelers carrying close to a maximum load,” according to the Counteract website.

The same study found that tires with Counteract Balancing Beads ran an average of 63 degrees cooler than tires using another balancing agent. This is evidence of lower rolling resistance, which is largely responsible for both increased fuel savings and longer tire lifespan.

Preventative maintenance like proper tire balancing should be top of mind for carriers as they prepare for a more constrained and competitive market environment in 2025. 

“When a tire goes out, that is downtime. Everything you do certainly helps,” LeBlanc said. 

By balancing their tires with Counteract Balancing Beads, trucking companies can stop tire-related downtime before it occurs. 

Click here to learn more about Counteract.