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Mickey Thompson A/T balance points?

Some Random Guy

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I live in San Jose, how about you? We better do some wheeling than me bothering you with breaking beads :jk:
I’m up in Washington. I lived in Petaluma for several years when I first got out of college, still miss Cali.
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nsfw_andy

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Thank you brother I am on the west coast too far from ya :(

How naïve of me to think I would be able to rotate the tire without breaking the inner bead :LOL: I think of getting one of these to help myself with the task BeadBuster XB-452
Did you end up buying that bead buster? I just got these tires and I feel like I’m going to go through the same trouble you did to balance them on my beadlocks too
 
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jeronimo

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Did you end up buying that bead buster? I just got these tires and I feel like I’m going to go through the same trouble you did to balance them on my beadlocks too
Yes, I ended getting the tool and it worked flawlessly. One trick I did was using an old plastic credit card around and in-between the edge of the rim and the tool to avoid scratching the rim. Take it slowly the first one so you can feel how exactly it works. It takes about three times a wheel to break the bead.
 

nsfw_andy

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Yes, I ended getting the tool and it worked flawlessly. One trick I did was using an old plastic credit card around and in-between the edge of the rim and the tool to avoid scratching the rim. Take it slowly the first one so you can feel how exactly it works. It takes about three times a wheel to break the bead.
I may try with a hi-lift first to see how difficult it is before I buy that tool.

Did you get the XB-452 one you linked on Amazon or did you get the heavy duty XB-550 one they recommend on their website for 4x4/Jeeps instead?
 
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jeronimo

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I may try with a hi-lift first to see how difficult it is before I buy that tool.

Did you get the XB-452 one you linked on Amazon or did you get the heavy duty XB-550 one they recommend on their website for 4x4/Jeeps instead?
I got the XB-452 as I wanted to save the extra money and I was able to work my wheels with it without any issues. If you can use the hi-lift option that would probably be even easier and will save you the money for the tool.
 

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nsfw_andy

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I got the XB-452 as I wanted to save the extra money and I was able to work my wheels with it without any issues. If you can use the hi-lift option that would probably be even easier and will save you the money for the tool.
Did you need to buy beadlock ring spacers?

I tried to install one of the tires yesterday and I was having a hard time getting all the bolts torqued to spec without a gap in between the beadlock ring and the rim itself.
 
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jeronimo

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Did you need to buy beadlock ring spacers?

I tried to install one of the tires yesterday and I was having a hard time getting all the bolts torqued to spec without a gap in between the beadlock ring and the rim itself.
I didn't really have any issues and I am unsure what spacers you are referring to? There should be a gap between the rim and the ring. That's where the bead of the tire sits and it gets clamped between the rim and the beadlock ring.

I placed the wheel on a bucket, then put the tire on top of it and aligned the bead around the wheel - this is a bit tricky as you need to seat the bead properly on the wheel before you put the ring on - this requires working the bead around until it is fully seated - I used 1.5" OD spacers on 3 different places with couple of the ring bolts to keep the bead in place on the wheel on one side and slowly started working it on the other side with two screwdrivers. The closer you get to the point where the other side gets fully seated the more difficult it becomes as the tension increases so you might need to add another spacer/bolt to keep it in place. Then after the bead is fully seated on the edge of the wheel you can remove the spacers, put the ring and all the bolts and then start working them in a cross patters - I found it that it makes it easier to mark the starting 4 crossed points (bolts that you start with) with blue tape and then working clockwise. You would need to do this multiple times until you get to the desired torque in my case it was 22. Make sure you do multiple steps here as tension equalizes and you need to go back to the starting bolts and work it down multiple times until everything is torqued well.
 

nsfw_andy

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I didn't really have any issues and I am unsure what spacers you are referring to? There should be a gap between the rim and the ring. That's where the bead of the tire sits and it gets clamped between the rim and the beadlock ring.

I placed the wheel on a bucket, then put the tire on top of it and aligned the bead around the wheel - this is a bit tricky as you need to seat the bead properly on the wheel before you put the ring on - this requires working the bead around until it is fully seated - I used 1.5" OD spacers on 3 different places with couple of the ring bolts to keep the bead in place on the wheel on one side and slowly started working it on the other side with two screwdrivers. The closer you get to the point where the other side gets fully seated the more difficult it becomes as the tension increases so you might need to add another spacer/bolt to keep it in place. Then after the bead is fully seated on the edge of the wheel you can remove the spacers, put the ring and all the bolts and then start working them in a cross patters - I found it that it makes it easier to mark the starting 4 crossed points (bolts that you start with) with blue tape and then working clockwise. You would need to do this multiple times until you get to the desired torque in my case it was 22. Make sure you do multiple steps here as tension equalizes and you need to go back to the starting bolts and work it down multiple times until everything is torqued well.
I’m running Raceline beadlocks and as per their diagram on the bottom of the instructions, they recommend a spacer if the bead is too thick

The problem i was having is the bolts were already reaching torque specs but the ring was not making contact and sitting perfectly flush with the wheel yet.

BB25ACBD-EDBE-4BFB-B82E-BBFE2A7F79A2.jpeg
 

roaniecowpony

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I'm really disappointed with the Mickey Thompson BB A/T. I had intended to get them for my next tires. But there have been too many posts about the amount of imbalance for my tastes. I'm going with a slightly more sedate tread pattern Maxxis Razr A/T. And I've had many Mickey/Cooper tires on my trucks.
 

nsfw_andy

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I’m running Raceline beadlocks and as per their diagram on the bottom of the instructions, they recommend a spacer if the bead is too thick

The problem i was having is the bolts were already reaching torque specs but the ring was not making contact and sitting perfectly flush with the wheel yet.

BB25ACBD-EDBE-4BFB-B82E-BBFE2A7F79A2.jpeg
Just an update on my post for anyone researching this tire/rim combo in the future, I reached out to Raceline and they confirmed that the bead on these tires are thicker and you will need to run a spacer kit when torqueing down the beadlock ring.

I have only mounted 1 tire so far (with spacer kit), haven't tried balancing any yet so that'll probably be another headache later on I'm guessing. I'll post another update as well once I take them to get balanced.
 

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nsfw_andy

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Update. I took my tires to Americas Tire (that’s what Discount Tire is called in my area) and they were able to balance it first try.

3 tires took about 6-7oz of weights
2 tires only needed 1oz or less.

I test drove on the freeway doing 70mph and seems to be no issues, no vibration. Very quiet tires.

Hardly noticed any power loss on my diesel as well, pleasantly surprised considering these wheels are about 120-130lbs each.
 
 



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