New Tire Balancing

[five]

I'm getting ready to have all my tires replaced....Continentals using the FMCA tire program....what is the best way to have them balanced?

FYI, the OEM Michelins are cracking at six years....always covered when travelling and covered in the garage when at home.

[jleamont]

Five, I had my front spin balanced, the rear I did nothing. We also run Centramatics on each wheel end.

http://www.centramatic.com/balancers.rhtml

[wolfe10]

OK, BEST way is to find one of those very rare dealers who checks the front tires for RUN-OUT and has the equipment to TRUE them.  Then spin balance on the rig.

Next best is to spin balance the fronts on the rig. (assumes hub, wheels and tires are absolutely round-- no more than .035" run out).

Next to use an off vehicle machine to balance (assumes that hub and brake drum are in perfect balance and no excessive run out).

 

Lots of debate on whether to balance rear tires.  My vote is yes, but have been in other coaches where they have not been balanced and have not been able to feel any vibration when feeling in the bedroom floor with someone else driving.

 

Centramatics are another option for balancing.  Expensive up front, but if you are keeping the rig for a long time, a good one as they take the place of balancing not only this set of tires but the next one as well.

[five]

Thanks for the information, guys.  A couple of MHers have mentioned using beads.  I have no experience with them....any opinions good or bad?

[jleamont]

1 hour ago, FIVE said:

Thanks for the information, guys.  A couple of MHers have mentioned using beads.  I have no experience with them....any opinions good or bad?

I am not a fan, however they do work. Tireman might be able to shed some light on that.

I always had a concern of the friction they could possibly create inside the tire.

We match mount tires at work, seems to do very well with little effort. Here's a link on that process;

https://m.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=17

 

[manholt]

DD69 has bead bags in his that he was testing for a company, about 2 years now, have not asked or heard any pro/con on that.

FIVE.  My Michelin tires that I replaced last month for BFG's, had less than 5 years on them, August 2014!

[wildebill308]

I had my Continentals spin balanced on a machine. So far they have performed well.

Bill

[five]

1 hour ago, manholt said:

DD69 has bead bags in his that he was testing for a company, about 2 years now, have not asked or heard any pro/con on that.

FIVE.  My Michelin tires that I replaced last month for BFG's, had less than 5 years on them, August 2014!

I'm done with Michelins....by far the most expensive, and the worst performers for me.

[rossboyer]

Mine had seven years and 87,000+ miles without incident. 

[manholt]

Ross, you should have one removed by a professional, to look for any breakdown on the inside of tire.

[ianbullock]

I've had beads in my 4 rear drive tires since May of 2016.  They seem to work ok and so far no issues. I am also running Michelins.  Fronts installed 2014. All seem to be holding up well..

[f433921]

Have been running Hanhook AH 12 tires on my 04 Holiday Rambler for last seven years  (50k miles) and none of the tires were balanced. I never experienced any vibration and there was no unusual wear on tires when removed due to age.

I replaced them last week with Hanhook AH 35 and also had them mounted without balancing.  Just completes a 1K mile trip that included driving freeway and secondary road driving and there was no signs of vibration or noises.

When purchasing both sets of tires (different dealers) both dealers were neutral on the need to balance or not and recommended to drive them for a while to determine if it was needed. .

 

Jim

[desertdeals69]

15 hours ago, manholt said:

DD69 has bead bags in his that he was testing for a company, about 2 years now, have not asked or heard any pro/con on that.

FIVE.  My Michelin tires that I replaced last month for BFG's, had less than 5 years on them, August 2014!

Three years now and still working fine.  Front Michelins and rears Toyos.

[rayin]

I always balance all wheels, in my thinking an unbalanced set of duals might bounce/rebound enough to over-stress the air springs or wheel bearings. Then there is the sidewall flexion factor for the same reason. IMO it was money well-spent.

Now where is Roger when he is needed?

[tireman9]

I agree with Brett.

1. be sure your runout is good. Remember it is possible to balance a cinder block but it would not give a good ride

2. It is possible to have a wheel & tire in good balance but the hub & brake drum could be out so you could spend lots of time and $ re-balancing the tire off the RV and never solve the problem.

3. "Beads" Some tire companies say their warranty is void if you put anything inside the tire

4.  The possible downside to variable balance systems such as beads and other bolt-on balancers. Assume for a moment you have a tire that starts to develop a belt separation. You hopefully would get an early warning of vibration feel in the steering wheel.  With internal balancing or bolt-on balancer the tire is "re-balanced" every time you startup. This could possibly mask the vibration from the belt separation.