Trailer wheel balancing question.

[DJK555]

I have a new to me 2009 Komfort TT, 24', towed by a '13 F150 Ecoboost. The trailer has original tires mounted on factory upgrade aluminum wheels. I have put on approx. 3500KM. During the last trip I started getting a vibration starting at 80 KPH and continuing to 100 KPH. It noticeably smooths out after 100. This seems to be a wheel balance issue. To narrow it down I unhitched the trailer and drove the truck without any other changes. Vibration was gone. So...it seems like it is the trailer. I understand that there are varying opinions on trailer tire balancing. Mine have not been balanced. My questions are; Can a tire vibration on a trailer be felt in the tow vehicle?, and Does anyone have experience with the Dyna Beads product? Thanks in advance.
David

[LarryJM]

Bird Freak wrote:
By the way , car and truck tires are mounted to fixed spindles also and any vibrations wear on suspension components be it spring bushings, ball joints, shocks or anything else on vehicle or trailer. May be wise to educate yourself before trying to correct others. Vibrations are not your friends.

Nice try, but you have zero facts to back up and show that not balancing TT causes excessive wear on suspension components. While it might sound good the facts are just not there and if I have to explain why an out of balance tire on a steer axle of a manned vehicle is not good then I'm not sure we discuss much of anything relative to this topic.

I won't even go into the FACT that all the balancing in the world of a tire/wheel combo on a trailer is futile since all AFAIK trailers unlike all manned vehicles are NOT HUB CENTERED and you will be left to the hit miss of the randon centering of a TT tire by the lugs on a TT (i.e. the often referred to "lug centric" system).

BTW IMO I have plenty of knowledge/background/experience here also PLUS the all important 1/2 century of hands on experience in the school of hard knocks.

As I said if it makes you feel better by all means spend your hard earned $$$ and time balancing your trailer tires. As enthusiasts we have wasted more time and energy plenty of whimsies.:p

Larry

[richardgarneau]

answer I got from tredit tires : The other part about balancing is that these wheels are lug-centric and not hub-centric. That is, the wheel is centered and balanced based off the torque of the lugs on the axle, unlike automotive where it is centered by the hub bore and held in the middle. This allows for changes in balances and makes it difficult to zero in on a balance. Also, many other styles of trailers are now going to aluminum wheels, so there are landscape trailers, utility trailers, cargo trailers, etc. . . that consistently have different loads that will cause wear and tear on tires that a balance isn’t going to change. Many assume balancing will even out any vibrations, but again most of these problems stem from uneven loads.

[rbpru]

The tire shop looked at me funny. They do not usually balance TT tires. It was only a few bucks more so why not.

[DJK555]

beemerphile1 wrote:
If the vibration is so bad you can feel it, I would be carefully examining those tires for broken belts, slipped belts, or blisters. Do it before you tow again.

Thanks for this and all of the responses. Based on the comments I'm starting to think that I do indeed have a tire structure problem rather than a balance issue. I stated in my first post that the tires were original (2009). Having thought about it I don't know that this is true but they are at least 5 years old.

I'm going to take them off and drop them at the local tire dealer for inspection.

David

[Lynnmor]

I once bought 4 new tire/wheel assemblies for my snowmobile trailer. Even after balancing, the square tires were so bad that they shook the truck. I returned them and bought a different brand of China bombs (only Chinese tires in that size) and that solved the problem.

Finally we have one other person on this forum that understands that trailer hubs and drums are not balanced. Balancing only the tire and wheel is only a feel good exercise, and you may still have a balance issue. I balance the assemblies and have been doing that for many years.

[beemerphile1]

If the vibration is so bad you can feel it, I would be carefully examining those tires for broken belts, slipped belts, or blisters. Do it before you tow again.

[Gunship_Guy]

I took the wheels/tires off our recently purchased trailer to have them balanced and metal valve stems installed. The guy was surprised I wanted trailer tires balanced. I hope he convinced himself after seeing how many weights he had to install to get them balanced.

[stevemorris]

when you buy new tyres for a car or truck, mounting and balancing is usually included in the price.
why not for trailers?, especially since tt tyres will get lots of high speed use.
the next time I need new tyres, i'll have them balanced, in the mean time i'll have the present ones done before our next trip

[TxTwoSome]

I have had very good results with the Dyna Beads I always use them in my trailer tires.

I have had zero tire related issues.

Why not put them in they are very cheap.

Not sure the issue the OP is having is caused by out of balance tires but you never know.

Ok there is my two cents.

[Bird_Freak]

LarryJM wrote:

Bird Freak wrote:
I have never understood why some do not balance trailer tires. Do you feel a tire out of balance on your car or truck? Why would you want your trailer to take the same beating from out of balance tires ?

I have never seen a verifiable and documented reason for balancing trailer tires and your comment trying to compare them to manned steerable vehicles shows me you don't understand the issues. A tire that is so out of balance to actually cause a noticeable NVH issue on a trailer has to be IMO almost "square" vs round. Balancing tires on cars and trucks are imperative because of the NVH issues due mainly to the steering system and all its links, tie rods, ball joints, etc. A trailer tire simply rotates on a fixed spindle and minor imbalances are easily absorbed and negated from the tire itself and the suspension.

Any potential NVH issues with trailer tires is mitigated to a large degree by the fact that you have 4 random balanced tires located very close together near the middle of the trailer vs. 4 individual tires located at the corners of a vehicle such as a car or truck. Any vibration of the trailer tires will combine with the closeness of the adjacent tire and even thru the common suspension components to reduce the individual effects. This is just the opposite with the tires on the corners of a car or truck that is manned.

I have an onboard video monitor inside my trailer and can watch things and there is "no beating" as you want to think that happens in a trailer with normally unbalanced tires. In fact you would be amazed at how well things normally ride inside a trailer. Now turns/bumps, etc. those are when things start visiting other things and areas inside the trailer.

Larry

If you check my profile you will find out your statement about me is false and I understand more about suspension than you think. I don't care what kind of video you have a tire out of balance bounces and puts stress on anything it is mounted on. Some tires take very little weight to balance others take a lot. Please tell me why it makes a difference of it is manned or not. Bounce is bounce period.:S
By the way , car and truck tires are mounted to fixed spindles also and any vibrations wear on suspension components be it spring bushings, ball joints, shocks or anything else on vehicle or trailer. May be wise to educate yourself before trying to correct others. Vibrations are not your friends.

[LarryJM]

Bird Freak wrote:
I have never understood why some do not balance trailer tires. Do you feel a tire out of balance on your car or truck? Why would you want your trailer to take the same beating from out of balance tires ?

I have never seen a verifiable and documented reason for balancing trailer tires and your comment trying to compare them to manned steerable vehicles shows me you don't understand the issues. A tire that is so out of balance to actually cause a noticeable NVH issue on a trailer has to be IMO almost "square" vs round. Balancing tires on cars and trucks are imperative because of the NVH issues due mainly to the steering system and all its links, tie rods, ball joints, etc. A trailer tire simply rotates on a fixed spindle and minor imbalances are easily absorbed and negated from the tire itself and the suspension.

Any potential NVH issues with trailer tires is mitigated to a large degree by the fact that you have 4 random balanced tires located very close together near the middle of the trailer vs. 4 individual tires located at the corners of a vehicle such as a car or truck. Any vibration of the trailer tires will combine with the closeness of the adjacent tire and even thru the common suspension components to reduce the individual effects. This is just the opposite with the tires on the corners of a car or truck that is manned.

I have an onboard video monitor inside my trailer and can watch things and there is "no beating" as you want to think that happens in a trailer with normally unbalanced tires. In fact you would be amazed at how well things normally ride inside a trailer. Now turns/bumps, etc. those are when things start visiting other things and areas inside the trailer.

Larry

[SoCalDesertRid1]

I balance the tires on all my vehicles and trailers. No reason not to.

My big truck (22.5 commercial tires) has the beads in the tires for balancing. They work fine.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

🙂 Hi, anything that spins fast needs to be balanced. On a contractor's trailer, it might be OK to not balance the tires, but on a travel trailer, out of balance wheels can shake it to pieces. Now that you have your trailer tires balanced, you still have a problem. Trailer brake drums are not balanced. Therefore I run Centramatics on my trailer.

[redneckgearhead]

mosseater wrote:
I installed the ceramic balancing beads when I got new Maxxis a few years back. The problem is one never really knows if they're working or not. I can say the tires are wearing very evenly so far. Could be the beads, better tires, or dumb luck.

They're working. Physics.

[JIMNLIN]

I've bought and worn out dozens of tires on trailers and have never had them balanced.
Now I have felt viberation at times especially when those tires on the trailers usually has 40k-50k miles. A simple visual inspection showed the tread belts were split and separating.

Time to find out why the tires are suddenly causing vibrations.

And also I've had wheel issues also causing vibrations such as split tire bead seat on the rim and cracked centers/loose lugs/etc.