Balancing Trailer Tires - yes or no

[PeteK-Hou]

Replaced the tires on the trailer yesterday (Goodyear Endurance). After mounting the new tires, the guys were bringing them over to the trailer to install. I asked if they had been balanced and they said they usually didn't balance trailer tires as the vibrations wouldn't be felt in the tow vehicle. I thought that was a bit strange so I asked them to balance them anyway, which they did. A balanced tire has to be better then one that isn't...right?

[ReneeG]

Lynnmor wrote:
I doubt that you will find any RV repair facility that can do alignments by bending the axles. Watch this video.

We have a service here in Boise that does it this way. Had to have our FW aligned after having the suspension replaced.

[Huntindog]

Lynnmor wrote:
I ordered custom axles from Dexter and specified 3" diameter heavier wall tubing. I also ordered U-bolts that had a flattened surface where they contact the tubing to lessen the chance of indenting. I did a quick search for those U-bolts just now and didn't find them, so I don't know if they are still available.

These things just aren't built to be used.

I know that Lippert has 3 different thicknesses of axle tubes that they use... Generally a heavier weight rating will be a heavier tube. The thickest 3" tube is approx. 1/4" thick.. It is actually a metric number that I forget now, but know when I bought them, that is what it worked out to.

They are HEAVY.

[Lynnmor]

I ordered custom axles from Dexter and specified 3" diameter heavier wall tubing. I also ordered U-bolts that had a flattened surface where they contact the tubing to lessen the chance of indenting. I did a quick search for those U-bolts just now and didn't find them, so I don't know if they are still available.

These things just aren't built to be used.

[Grit_dog]

More fun with travel trailers!
Trailer wheel alignment? Not a thing unless the whole thing isn't built square or an axle slips in the u bolts or something.
But while some are paying for wheel alignments on their trailers, others are refuting the notion of balancing the wheels....
This is like a huge social experiment to see how off track some can portray normal things and how many others agree or buy into it!

[RCMAN46]

Lynnmor wrote:
I doubt that you will find any RV repair facility that can do alignments by bending the axles. Watch this video.

I had an axle collapse on my trailer. After replacing the axle and noting how thin the axle tube is I am surprised that the jack used to straighten the axle in the video did not collapse that axle.

[Lynnmor]

I doubt that you will find any RV repair facility that can do alignments by bending the axles. Watch this video.

[ReneeG]

Huntindog wrote:

ReneeG wrote:
Yes, yes, yes and alignment should be done on your towable too!

On 99.9% of the TTs made there are no alignment adjustments like there are on a automobile.

On a TT, the alignment is set when it is made by having a true frame, and the spring hangers welded onto it in the proper location.

IF an alignment problem occurs later, it is due to bent or worn parts. They should be replaced.

There are shops that will BEND your axles to "fix" the alignment.
I am not a fan of this approach. Doing this without fixing the real problem can just lead to more trouble later on. Worn parts will continue to wear often at an accelerated rate, causing the alignment to quickly go out of spec again.
And depending on what parts are bent, (it may not be the axle) bending the axle to compensate has a downside. If an axle that has been custom bent away from stock, has a problem such as a spun bearing necessitating it's replacement... Then the replacement axle would need to be custom bent as well to repair the TT.... But if the "real" problem were fixed, and then an axle needed replacing, it would be as simple as bolting on a new one.

There are some fans here of having their axles aligned (bending them) at a shop. They either do not understand just what that entails, or they figure that they will never experience the downsides of this "fix"

Myself, I have had to replace some axles on the road. It was really nice just to be able to bolt it up and go.

As always, your money, your choice.

Thanks for your feedback. I'll confirm your reasons with our RV tech.

[Huntindog]

ReneeG wrote:
Yes, yes, yes and alignment should be done on your towable too!

On 99.9% of the TTs made there are no alignment adjustments like there are on a automobile.

On a TT, the alignment is set when it is made by having a true frame, and the spring hangers welded onto it in the proper location.

IF an alignment problem occurs later, it is due to bent or worn parts. They should be replaced.

There are shops that will BEND your axles to "fix" the alignment.
I am not a fan of this approach. Doing this without fixing the real problem can just lead to more trouble later on. Worn parts will continue to wear often at an accelerated rate, causing the alignment to quickly go out of spec again.
And depending on what parts are bent, (it may not be the axle) bending the axle to compensate has a downside. If an axle that has been custom bent away from stock, has a problem such as a spun bearing necessitating it's replacement... Then the replacement axle would need to be custom bent as well to repair the TT.... But if the "real" problem were fixed, and then an axle needed replacing, it would be as simple as bolting on a new one.

There are some fans here of having their axles aligned (bending them) at a shop. They either do not understand just what that entails, or they figure that they will never experience the downsides of this "fix"

Myself, I have had to replace some axles on the road. It was really nice just to be able to bolt it up and go.

As always, your money, your choice.

[ReneeG]

Yes, yes, yes and alignment should be done on your towable too!

[RCMAN46]

GrandpaKip wrote:
After reading this thread and others on the internet, it seems the simple solution is adding balance beads to the tire. That would eliminate worries about the drums, wheels, and how they are balanced. Or am I misunderstanding something about the beads?

I have been using balance beads in my trailer tires and my truck and they work very well.

I do have them balanced first to take care of the dynamic portion of the balance then the beads do the fine tuning of the static balance.

I also insist that the trailer tires be balanced using a lug plate.

[GrandpaKip]

After reading this thread and others on the internet, it seems the simple solution is adding balance beads to the tire. That would eliminate worries about the drums, wheels, and how they are balanced. Or am I misunderstanding something about the beads?

[Huntindog]

Ron3rd wrote:
If you buy from America's Tire/Discount Tire they always balance trailer tires.

And they always do it wrong..... Unless you tell them to use a lug plate, AND watch them to make sure they actually use it.

Yes I have caught them not using it after I told them that was how I wanted it done.

Not using a lug plate means that the tires will not be balanced, and may well end up worse than they were unbalanced.

[Ron3rd]

If you buy from America's Tire/Discount Tire they always balance trailer tires.

Having said that, most of the new trailers I see leaving the dealer lots have un-balanced tires. The factories don't seem to bother.

[eflyersteve]

The ones I am familiar with look to have a weight welded to them to balance them.

My latest trailer tires I purchased were supposed to get balanced but they didn't. This was after I pointed out that they installed the wrong tires. I gave up and went on without them getting balanced. This was a flatbed trailer that is used for short haul. I certainly will have my travel trailers balanced. Even if just for reduction in vibration. Doesn't matter to me if the rest of the rotating assembly is balanced or not (I can't believe that it wouldn't be), adding more imbalance is never a good idea.