Blancing of Tires

[ROYBUCK]

Getting ready to install 4 rear Tires, do most of you balance your rear tires. Is it necessary. Thanks Roy

[RCMAN46]

I just had four tires with Aluminum wheels balanced with hammer on weights. I did this mainly to take care of the dynamic balance. Then I added 5 Oz of balance beads. This was to take care of the unbalance of the trailer drums. Trailer drums are not balanced.

I have done the same on my car and truck. Both run very smooth with no tire bounce at all speeds and even early in the morning after they have set all night.

[Sully2]

Hedgehog wrote:
One more quick question, do they make a hammer on weight for 22.5" aluminum wheels or do they use stick on?

Both. Ive seen the stick on weights used a lot and when I had my GY670 balanced we used the hammer on style

[RayChez]

Hedgehog wrote:
If the price was within fifty dollars per tire out the door, would you prefer the balancing to be done with equal or with weights attached to the rims? I have found to recommended shops and each has there own method. The shop that uses equal only does so because they don't have the weights for aluminum wheels

The only way you will find out which is better is for you to try Equal vs lead weights. Either Equal is very good or the rims and chassis on my coach is designed for the perfectly smooth ride. I say Equal is the best because I have had experience using it on two sets of tires and the tread on the tires the day I had them changed looked like the day I bought the tires new. Even wear across the tread of the tire. No cupping, river ring etc etc. So I really do not care what other people use, that is their prerogative. But I will always use Equal the powder on balancing my wheels on my coach and install X-Air valve stems (filtered).

[down_home]

It's a pain sometimes to keep tires balanced. If you don't it will lead to bumps and other ireguar wear on the treads and the bounce and noise will get much worse. Don't notice it or discount it on the rear of motor homes, if it has never been balanced and towed RVs.
We had our Fifth Wheel's tires balanced and it stopped much, of the jumble of glasses dishes etc in the RV. They did not come, from the factory, balanced. A whole lot, of shaking, was going on efore.

[Hedgehog]

One more quick question, do they make a hammer on weight for 22.5" aluminum wheels or do they use stick on?

[Hedgehog]

If the price was within fifty dollars per tire out the door, would you prefer the balancing to be done with equal or with weights attached to the rims? I have found to recommended shops and each has there own method. The shop that uses equal only does so because they don't have the weights for aluminum wheels

[camper19709]

ALL 6 are balanced the old fashion way with weights.
I do not rotate motorhome tires.

[RayChez]

Did you know that Discount tire will not even touch big tires like the 22.5 I have on my coach. They installed the first set but when I went the second time for tires they told me that new policy is to not install big tires like that because somebody had gotten hurt really bad installing tires on a vehicle with split rims. So the last set of Toyo tires I bought were from Pete's Tire Service. They deal with big rigs.

[J-Rooster]

FIRE UP wrote:

J-Rooster wrote:
Roy, I had mine computer balanced when they were put on new last Fall! My tire guy who I trust told me out of all the tires he balanced in his lifetime he only had one set that were true from the factory? Good Luck, Rooster

About 99.9% of the tires that are balanced out there are computer balanced. Now, if you talk with the folks at Discount tire, they have some fancy names for different ways of computer balancing but, it's still COMPUTER BALANCING.

Then there's the alternate methods. Equal, balancing beads, centramatics, etc. I did try the "Balancing beads" one time. Things just didn't seem right for the first couple of hundred miles so, I did an experiment. I took the coach to a company already mentioned in my previous post. Once there, they spun up the right front tire, while it was on the coach. It about shook the windshield out when he got it to speed. So, he stopped it, removed the tire/wheel (19" on a Fleetwood Bounder, 34V) and dismounted the tire from the rim.

There he found the bag of beads, NOT BROKEN DOWN! The bag was still intact. There was no indication that the bag was EVER going to dissolve, like it was supposed to. So, that was a no-brainer. I told them to break down all the tires and wheels and remove all the "Balancing beads". He then trued each tire and wheel, rears too (by placing them on the front hubs temporarily) and when it was all said and done, there was very little weight that was needed for all of them. That coach road like glass from that point on.

Due to better quality and practices, out of round tires are ever so slowly, becoming a thing of the past but, that's not to say, won't ever happen. But, the possibility of having 4 or, 6, completely perfect, flawlessly balanced tires, right from the factory, especially on the large tire scale (i.e. 19" , 22.5" 24" etc.)is extremely rare.

To the OP, tire wear, vehicle ride quality and more is always improved if and when, tires are balanced. How you choose to do it, is of course, up to you.
Scott

X-2, I agree with your post Scott!

[RayChez]

When I bought my last set of six tires, I had them all balanced with Equal. Best balance you can get. The coach runs perfectly smooth all the time. And yes you should balance all tires.

[smlranger]

C-Leigh Racing wrote:

FIRE UP wrote:
Roybuck,
Well, as you can see and read, about 99% of the folks balance tires on their coach. Now, just how and what method they use, is subjective. Many are trying the powders, beads, equal and whatever else is that type. Some are using the "Centramatic" balancing system. While many, including myself, use the old fashioned way of balancing, and that's the use of either clamp on or, stick on weights.

I've been driving now for, oh about 45 years and have probably had maybe ONE, weight either fall off or, was thrown off. So, the balancing method is up to you. But, let me throw one more item into the blend. One of the things that a very large amount of guys fail to either check on or, observe is, "out of round" tires. It happens more so on the larger, RV, big truck, type tires than it does on the smaller auto types.

It seems some of the manufacturers, even the big name ones, still, on occasion, FOREGET how to make tires round. I've seen that, many times in the past and, even recently. The last time I talked with Discount tire on the issue, they, (the most experienced tech there, at the time) told me that .060" was the max run-out that's allowed before they declare it an "Out of round tire". And, when that happens, they sh.. can the tire and, get a new one.

Now, if your tires have been on for a bit, and still have a zillion miles of tread left, there are places that "trim" or, "shave" the tires while on the coach, and make them perfectly round. From that point on, you need way less weight to balance that tire and, it rides absolutely smooth and flawless. You see, if you're riding around on eggs, (out of round tires), you can balancing them 'till your 100 years old, but, THEY'RE STILL OUT OF ROUND! You can't balance an egg.

It is rare that you find them but, it does still happen from time to time. And, it don't matter what kind of balancing system you use, an egg is an egg. So, this is just a bit more info for you to ponder. And, when you decide to balance, balance ALL OF THEM, INCLUDING THE REARS, EVEN WHEN IT'S A DUAL WHEEL SITUATION! The reason is, when you see how much weight is used to balance the fronts, what makes people think that each tire on the rear, is any different?

And, just because there's more weight, and more mechanism to suppress the out of balance issues on the rear, that does not stop the fact that, those out of balance, sometimes rather large tires, are still trying to shake things apart back there. It's just more wear and tear on the shocks, sway bar bushings, suspension parts and more when those rotating monsters are shaking. Good luck.
Scott

Now this is some words of truth & I've been down that road many times.

If you can find a tire shop has that cutter machine & a man has enough sense how to use it, the tires he cuts into round will roll as smooth as a radial tire on a car.
Case in fact, drove a COE International with 8 recaps on the rear, was beating me to death, took it in to get the tires cut round & that truck rode like a car on smooth highway.

If any of you know of tire shops that offer that tire cutting service, PLEASE list them so some of us can know where we can get them done.
Neil

There is a guy in the Charlotte, NC area who has a mobile tire truing service. He does a lot of work for Tom Johnson's in Concord. His first name is Roger.

Tire Truing

[Sully2]

Balance ALL of your tires. All 6 ( or 😎 of them

[Jarlaxle]

FIRE UP wrote:

J-Rooster wrote:
Roy, I had mine computer balanced when they were put on new last Fall! My tire guy who I trust told me out of all the tires he balanced in his lifetime he only had one set that were true from the factory? Good Luck, Rooster

About 99.9% of the tires that are balanced out there are computer balanced. Now, if you talk with the folks at Discount tire, they have some fancy names for different ways of computer balancing but, it's still COMPUTER BALANCING.

Then there's the alternate methods. Equal, balancing beads, centramatics, etc. I did try the "Balancing beads" one time. Things just didn't seem right for the first couple of hundred miles so, I did an experiment. I took the coach to a company already mentioned in my previous post. Once there, they spun up the right front tire, while it was on the coach. It about shook the windshield out when he got it to speed. So, he stopped it, removed the tire/wheel (19" on a Fleetwood Bounder, 34V) and dismounted the tire from the rim.

There he found the bag of beads, NOT BROKEN DOWN! The bag was still intact. There was no indication that the bag was EVER going to dissolve, like it was supposed to. So, that was a no-brainer. I told them to break down all the tires and wheels and remove all the "Balancing beads". He then trued each tire and wheel, rears too (by placing them on the front hubs temporarily) and when it was all said and done, there was very little weight that was needed for all of them. That coach road like glass from that point on.

Due to better quality and practices, out of round tires are ever so slowly, becoming a thing of the past but, that's not to say, won't ever happen. But, the possibility of having 4 or, 6, completely perfect, flawlessly balanced tires, right from the factory, especially on the large tire scale (i.e. 19" , 22.5" 24" etc.)is extremely rare.

To the OP, tire wear, vehicle ride quality and more is always improved if and when, tires are balanced. How you choose to do it, is of course, up to you.
Scott

Wait, BAGS?! The guy who did my tires didn't use bags...he scooped a handful of beads out of a 5-gallon bucket & dropped them into the tire!

[Passin_Thru]

Read this. We use it on Class 8 trucks and it works. I always think it's just ceramic BBs.
http://www.innovativebalancing.com/index.php