Should I Balance My New Tires?
I plan on installing new tires on my FW this weekend. Should I have them balanced? Thanks
Forum Discussion
The reason we balance tires on our trucks is a soft suspension with 70"+ long springs on the rear and soft riding coils on the front.
Trailer leaf spring suspension has 26"-28" long very short spring length with little compression/rebound stroke which makes one hell of a damper. Trailer hubs don't come balanced like our automotive hubs so balancing the tire off the hub may make things worse.
One of my truck tire dealers will not balance a tire, used in a trailer position, on a machine but if asked to do so will balance a tire on a trailer only with the old spin the tire/wheel/hub assy on the trailer....then match marks them. That way when the wheels are removed for bearing/brake service they stay clocked in balance position. Soft riding torsion type suspensions with their long compression/rebound can benefit from this type spin balance if needed.
I ran my 1st set of 16" LT E for 55k+ miles..... 51k+ miles on the second set and now 13k on the 3rd set no odd wear patterns or nothing shook loose inside the trailer or worn out bearings/etc.
Now I have had tires jump up and down at speed which was caused by severe flat spotting (brake lockup). I replace the tire.
Trailer leaf spring suspension has 26"-28" long very short spring length with little compression/rebound stroke which makes one hell of a damper. Trailer hubs don't come balanced like our automotive hubs so balancing the tire off the hub may make things worse.
One of my truck tire dealers will not balance a tire, used in a trailer position, on a machine but if asked to do so will balance a tire on a trailer only with the old spin the tire/wheel/hub assy on the trailer....then match marks them. That way when the wheels are removed for bearing/brake service they stay clocked in balance position. Soft riding torsion type suspensions with their long compression/rebound can benefit from this type spin balance if needed.
I ran my 1st set of 16" LT E for 55k+ miles..... 51k+ miles on the second set and now 13k on the 3rd set no odd wear patterns or nothing shook loose inside the trailer or worn out bearings/etc.
Now I have had tires jump up and down at speed which was caused by severe flat spotting (brake lockup). I replace the tire.
