Forum Discussion

path1's avatar
path1
Explorer
May 20, 2015

I never knew, balance trailer tires for mileage?

Wife is changing channels on the TV and comes across some DYI show.

They are giving tips to maintain your vehicle. Not a TT but "vehicle".

Eating dinner a couple hours later she says "we need to balance the trailer tires to get better fuel mileage"

I thought balancing tires was for better wear, not mileage. We don't put on enough miles to wear out our tires, we'll time out first IMO.

(Doing a search one thread came up)


Question...

Is there any reason to balance trailer tires other than wear?

Maybe better MPG or ride or anything else I might not know of? If ride is the concern, who rides in them going down the road anyways?

24 Replies

  • An out of balance trailer tire can beat the heck out of the trailer and contents. The mileage savings angle amounts to nothing.
  • I suppose if they are horribly out of balance it might make a small difference but assuming they were balanced when the tires were mounted, shouldn't really be an issue.
  • RoyB's avatar
    RoyB
    Explorer II
    I balance all my tires. A few years back I noticed one of my trailer tires was wearing funny and after checking the tire I saw the balance weights were missing. I guess they got bumped off as I was running up and down a very bumpy I59 in North ALA that season several times. Had to replace both trailer tires with only around 25-30K miles on them...

    I would imagine that a smoother trailer ride would get somewhat better gas mileage.

    Roy Ken