Centramatic Wheel Balancers
Just installed a couple of sets of Centramatic Wheel Balancers. First test drive did not show that much improvement, but things were already pretty smooth as I just had new tires and some front end w...
Forum Discussion
I call BS on not needing to balance a tire and wheel on a car or truck.
A good friend of mine (now passed away from Mesothelioma)who worked on front ends, brakes, and balancing tires, always balanced on the vehicle and showed me the exact reasons for doing so. I would watch the radio antenna as he would spin the wheel/tires up to my normal driving speed. Once he had everything set correctly, the radio antenna would stop vibrating. I have also noticed the passenger seat in a vehicle vibrate when a tire is out of balance. Charles would then take the vehicle out for a test drive and take the vehicle up to your normal driving speed. He was even pulled over a time or two for speeding on a road that was not equivalent to Interstate speeds.
I have used Equal and now have the Centramatic balancers. My truck wheel combinations weigh 110 lbs. each. That is a lot of spinning mass that if left unbalanced would destroy front end parts and irritate you while driving.
Tires are not perfectly round and some are not straight on the wheel when mounted (excess run out - wobble). Some tires will never balance perfectly.
What I like about the Centramatic balancers is they adjust on the fly and take into consideration all the moving components.
I admit I am no expert, but 52 years of driving everything on the planet except the Space Shuttle mover, I will use some method of balancing wheels and tires.
Just for the heck of it, go knock those weights off your drive shaft.
A good friend of mine (now passed away from Mesothelioma)who worked on front ends, brakes, and balancing tires, always balanced on the vehicle and showed me the exact reasons for doing so. I would watch the radio antenna as he would spin the wheel/tires up to my normal driving speed. Once he had everything set correctly, the radio antenna would stop vibrating. I have also noticed the passenger seat in a vehicle vibrate when a tire is out of balance. Charles would then take the vehicle out for a test drive and take the vehicle up to your normal driving speed. He was even pulled over a time or two for speeding on a road that was not equivalent to Interstate speeds.
I have used Equal and now have the Centramatic balancers. My truck wheel combinations weigh 110 lbs. each. That is a lot of spinning mass that if left unbalanced would destroy front end parts and irritate you while driving.
Tires are not perfectly round and some are not straight on the wheel when mounted (excess run out - wobble). Some tires will never balance perfectly.
What I like about the Centramatic balancers is they adjust on the fly and take into consideration all the moving components.
I admit I am no expert, but 52 years of driving everything on the planet except the Space Shuttle mover, I will use some method of balancing wheels and tires.
Just for the heck of it, go knock those weights off your drive shaft.
