Tire Balancing

[StellersJay]

A trucker/Motor Home buddy of mine said he uses tennis balls in his tires as a means of balancing them. Anyone had any experience with this balancing method?

Sam

[wolfe10]

Sam,

No, haven't heard of tennis balls. Golf balls yes but have no first hand experience with them.

But I guess I am really old fashion. Particularly on front tires, mine are checked for run-out ON THE COACH. If over .035" that is fixed first because an egg-shaped tires, even if balanced rolls, well, like an egg). The "fix" may be rotating the wheel on the hub, tire on the wheel, or if neither of the above work, truing the tire. And, yes, there are still places that do tire truing.

I then have the fronts spin balanced on the coach. I want all rotating masses, not just tire and wheel to be in balance. Those heavy drums or disks as well as hubs may not be perfectly in balance.

Brett

[StellersJay]

Brett, thanks for the reply.

After posting, one dealer told me that internal golf balls or tennis balls MIGHT cause internal damage to the tire and he recommended that these items not be used.

Thanks for your reminder on truing the tire. It would be hard to "balance" an egg!

I've got a couple more local dealers to talk with. They say they can spin balance a 19.5 motor home tire, but I don't know yet if they do it on or off the motor home. I will also check into truing.

Sam

[StellersJay]

To update my situation, someone recommended Tire Rack. I went to their on-line site and they have Michelin XRV tires in stock in my size. They had two local tire shops as recommended dealers on their web site. I checked out one of the local shops and they could balance the 19.5 inch tires either on or off the motor home. They said Tire Rack would send the tires directly to their shop and they would call me to set up an appointment for installation. I ordered the tires from Tire Rack and they were shipped out the same day. Looks like it may be a good way to go for tires that are not readily available in the local tire stores. This could also be an option if a tire is destroyed on the road and your schedule would allow for a short layover until the tires are received at a local tire shop.

Sam

[wolfe10]

Sam,

Since you will likely be replacing the tires because of age, tread wear, it is a good idea to verify the tire build date (last 4 digits of the DOT.... number indicate the WEEK and YEAR of production. Try to find tires less than 3 months old.

This applies to in-person and long distance orders.

Brett

[tireman9]

Be sure to check with the manufacturer of your tires. Adding "stuff" to the inside may void any warranty.

[dickandlois]

A check of the Off Road Magazine sights might get you some good information. They have to balance the tires somehow, a neighbor had a mud truck with 48in. tires and he used golf balls to balance them.

I use the weight balancing powder in my 22.5's and it has worked well,takes special valve stems to keep the powder from fowling the valve seal. However ! I still have one stick open from time to time when airing up the tires,I just add some more air and just one more shot usually clears the valve. Just a little water on the valve stem is all ways a good way to check for slow leaks,no bubbles is always a good sign that things are air tight.

****.

[tireman9]

My son does off-road Jeep driving and is constantly replacing tires due to damage. He does not get replacements from the tire mfg.

Also using sealant or liquids or sand can also destroy a TPMS valve ($50 - $90). so again you might be better off having your tires balanced with external weights or "trued" on your RV.