Should I Balance My New Tires?

wilber1 wrote:

LarryJM wrote:

wilber1 wrote:
If your TV will shake and vibrate from an unbalanced wheel, why would anyone think a trailer won't? Yes, back in the olden days when most cars had all drum brakes and solid rear axles, it was necessary to balance the wheels.

The tires on a TV especially the front are worlds different than a trailer. Just from the nature of the design with all the ball joints, bearings necessary for steering along with the entire steering mechanism which you actually hold onto via the steering wheel amplifies any NVH issues from out of balanced tire/wheel assemblies over a trailer that is a fixed rotating assembly with only a pair of bearings on the spindle.

It amazes me that anyone would even attempt to compare these two worlds apart situations .... they're not even in the apple and oranges category, but more in the grapes and watermellon realm.

Larry

It may not be as critical as in a steering system but do you not balance the rear wheels on your vehicles? A rotating mass that is out of balance will shake. It doesn't matter what it is. Just because you can't feel it in your TV doesn't mean it isn't there.

You don't really balance the rear wheels on purpose, but because they normally will end up on the front due to normal tire rotation. DIY tire rotaters (word???) do not typically re-balance their tires when they rotate them so just as a matter of routine every tire you put on a POV is balanced.

Again it's amazing how folks want to try and take what someone says so far off into the weeds. I'm not touting the "virtue" of NOT BALANCING a trailer tire, but am just pointing out the MINIMAL real positive side to doing so and I'm only trying to share my almost 40 years and countless trailer tires and probably close to 150K+ miles of towing with unbalanced tires w/o any actual downsides unless you consider saving several hundred $$$ over that time a downside. Balancing a trailer tire likewise has no downside, but I question if it even has a real upside to it overall.

Likewise I have seen several "red herring" declarations about this shaking and bouncing, but absolutely no real evidence to support those claims, but my experiences with my camera and "Xmas" tree "shake indicator" has demonstrated to my satisfaction just the opposite is closer to the truth.

Larry

What I'm talking about is brake drums that are not balanced. I have yet to see one on a trailer that is balanced. And yes, brake drums are VERY heavy.

^What on earth are you talking about? The rest of the "assembly." Like brake rotors?
Some are, some aren't. I've seen drums back in the old days that had balance weights on them and drilled rotors, but it's all about inertia. A brake rotor has only a very small fraction of the amount of inertia that a tire/wheel assembly has. I.E. A brake rotor could be 10x (for example) as out of balance as a tire before it has the same effect.

wilber1 wrote:

LarryJM wrote:

wilber1 wrote:
If your TV will shake and vibrate from an unbalanced wheel, why would anyone think a trailer won't? Yes, back in the olden days when most cars had all drum brakes and solid rear axles, it was necessary to balance the wheels.

The tires on a TV especially the front are worlds different than a trailer. Just from the nature of the design with all the ball joints, bearings necessary for steering along with the entire steering mechanism which you actually hold onto via the steering wheel amplifies any NVH issues from out of balanced tire/wheel assemblies over a trailer that is a fixed rotating assembly with only a pair of bearings on the spindle.

It amazes me that anyone would even attempt to compare these two worlds apart situations .... they're not even in the apple and oranges category, but more in the grapes and watermellon realm.

Larry

It may not be as critical as in a steering system but do you not balance the rear wheels on your vehicles? A rotating mass that is out of balance will shake. It doesn't matter what it is. Just because you can't feel it in your TV doesn't mean it isn't there.

Why balance the tires/wheels if the rest of the assembly is not balanced?

Only on rvnet would someone argue or tout the virtues of not balancing tires.....

LarryJM wrote:

wilber1 wrote:
If your TV will shake and vibrate from an unbalanced wheel, why would anyone think a trailer won't? Yes, back in the olden days when most cars had all drum brakes and solid rear axles, it was necessary to balance the wheels.

The tires on a TV especially the front are worlds different than a trailer. Just from the nature of the design with all the ball joints, bearings necessary for steering along with the entire steering mechanism which you actually hold onto via the steering wheel amplifies any NVH issues from out of balanced tire/wheel assemblies over a trailer that is a fixed rotating assembly with only a pair of bearings on the spindle.

It amazes me that anyone would even attempt to compare these two worlds apart situations .... they're not even in the apple and oranges category, but more in the grapes and watermellon realm.

Larry

It may not be as critical as in a steering system but do you not balance the rear wheels on your vehicles? A rotating mass that is out of balance will shake. It doesn't matter what it is. Just because you can't feel it in your TV doesn't mean it isn't there.

wilber1 wrote:
If your TV will shake and vibrate from an unbalanced wheel, why would anyone think a trailer won't? Yes, back in the olden days when most cars had all drum brakes and solid rear axles, it was necessary to balance the wheels.

The tires on a TV especially the front are worlds different than a trailer. Just from the nature of the design with all the ball joints, bearings necessary for steering along with the entire steering mechanism which you actually hold onto via the steering wheel amplifies any NVH issues from out of balanced tire/wheel assemblies over a trailer that is a fixed rotating assembly with only a pair of bearings on the spindle.

It amazes me that anyone would even attempt to compare these two worlds apart situations .... they're not even in the apple and oranges category, but more in the grapes and watermellon realm.

Larry

If your TV will shake and vibrate from an unbalanced wheel, why would anyone think a trailer won't? Yes, back in the olden days when most cars had all drum brakes and solid rear axles, it was necessary to balance the wheels.

Only if you don't want to buy new ones in 10,000 miles

OP here
I balanced the tires because it was part of the mounting fee. Did it help? Maybe time will tell. Did it hurt? Not at all.

Today I'll be inspecting/packing bearings and inspecting/replacing brakes. I'm having a hard time identifying my Dexter seal but that's another topic