Balls Of Rubber Found During Avon Tire Change

[beardo]

Ok, here's an interesting question I have. Before I took my wheels to the shop to have a new set of Avons put on I cleaned up the wheels. While handling the rear wheel it sounded like something was rolling around inside the tire. I forgot to mention it to the guy changing tires until after he was done. When I mentioned it to him after he was done, he said he did not see anything. Since I was going to take the old tires with me I noticed that when I picked up the rear tire that their were many small rubber balls rolling around in the rear tire. I showed them to the guy that changed my tires. He said that he had seen it before. He ended up getting a phone call so I'm not sure if he had an explanation or not. Anyway, I was curious if anyone on this site has seen this before. If so, can you please explain?

Here's a picture of them... at least what was left after I got the tires back home. I don't know if there were many more or not that may have fell out during the tire changing process.

 

[XJRGUY]

Tire Embryos

First time captured on film in the wild.

 

[Feejer/Weejer man]

Yes this has been noted years ago.

 

[04 FJR Pilot]

It's caused by your tire rubbing against the bead of the wheel. This causes small pieces of rubber to shed from the area.They are actually very small when created but because they bounce around inside the tire they adhere to one another and for the "ball". Many individual pieces make up the size that you now see. Normal for a tire that has many miles on it.

 

[Ignacio]

Hopefully it's just some pieces initially and not accumulation from the tire slipping on the bead. Memory serves a year+ ago Warchild with some Conti tires that would literally spin on the rim. He had some choice expletives that ended in ...tard about them.

You, by chance, have a right hand that is less disciplined than the rest of us? If you have the tire I'd make 100% sure the bead doesn't look freaky.

And, PLEASE don't think of this as some giant-ass discovery that Avons are bad overall.

OR, seeing the Canadian dime--maybe it's a Limey plot against you Canucks.

OR, they look like the eggs that the lava alien in Star Trek laid.......except a lot smaller. Hatch them and maybe they'll grow.

 

[Randy]

Looks like a rabbit was hanging out inside your tire and left a few nights worth of dinner behind.

But seriously...I've seen quite a few tires come off of rims with lots of miles and have never seen anything like that. The theory of the tire rubbing against the bead troubles me. I thought that once a bead was set, the tire shouldn't move unless, as previously mentioned, it spins on the rim. If that's the case, it would create more problems cause once it would spin, it would then cause the tire to be out of balance. That would be a helluva lot of spinning to create that many droppings, I mean rubber balls.

 

[Groo]

Those are tire seeds... take them out back, plant them, and in 6 months you'll have a rubber tree.

 

[yamahlr]

They could be from the rat's ass from the posts on the heated O2 sensor.

 

[twowheelnut]

:****:

...and I still don't!

 

[04 FJR Pilot]

Tires flex a lot up to the point where they interface with the wheel bead. Where the tire carcass meets the wheel is where this wear occurs. Many things can affect how many of these "balls" are created. Tire pressure, riding style, compound of the tire, and the roads you frequently ride on (pot holes etc.). It's not a big deal unless you've never seen it before.

 

[Shane]

@beardo,

Kinda weird when you first see them eh?

Did you smush them between your fingers? They leave a slippery dry surface film, like graphite dry lube.

I too, have found them in both Metzelers and Avons, during tire changes this year in my garage.

"Dynamic Balancers"? :blink:

Shane

 

[MRFJR]

Where is Warchild? This same sort of thing happened to him with another brand of tire - Conti Road Attacks, if I remember correctly. I really don't know what the cause is but do know that the Avons are good stuff and the Manufacturer stands behind their product.

 

[BrunDog]

Put those in your coffee and see what happens.

-BD

 

[Mogan]

Don't hurt them. They are alive. Killing them is a crime against G_d.

 

[mech 1 twa]

I've changed many car tires, MANY . Seen a few with balls inside. No problems with tire, just worn out. Maybe 20 bike tires, none there. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Centerline]

Those are macho tire balls. As in, man he's got some balls!

 

[Tim05fjr]

OK guys, I have an answer for you. I managed a tire/ auto repair shop for 8 years and have seen this countless times. I called them tire pearls. Mostly seen in michelin tires. I asked a michelin rep. about them when he came into the shop and he told me that they are caused by the powder they use to keep the rubber from skicking to the moulds during the manufactoring process. If you look at the inside of a new tire, it looks like a shiney film, but you can acualy scrape it away with your finger nail. After the tire is mounted, as the sidewall flexes it will fall away and roll around in the tire making the pearls. Some tires do it more than others, but it's totaly normal.

Tim

 

[wagman]

Tim nailed it.

I've seen this in Michelin tires 100 times at least. Squish one and you'll see that it's not rubber.

 

[BobbyBlue]

Tire Smegma ??? Who'd a thunk it ?

Bobby