Tire Balancing and Lower Load Tire

[themelterman]

Has anyone used (Dynabeads) in there tires for balancing?

[HANKHEIN]

On the 27th Sept we replaced 6 non-leaking but jumpy Goodyear tires on our Alfa SeeYa with Michelins thru FMCA Michelin Advantage in Hickory NC.  All tires have Equal which was recommended and 100 psi. We experienced a less rough ride and 70 miles later in Gaffney SC we found the outside dual was totally out of air.  Problem was the Equal was on the rim and caused a large leak, causing a somewhat rough ride.  This morning at least 2 tires were at 85 psi at Freightliner.  They do not appear to recommend Equal and prefer balancing weights.  I will see what to do after it is finished in the shop today and may revisit the tire shop.

I have had past problems of leaks which required daily pressure monitoring which had a lot to do with extensions.  Borg tire stems cured that problem.

[obedb]

If I am lyin/ I am dying. Run my tires a little above 110 and have not had to add any air to keep them there for over a year. Check them daily. Don't run in the winter. Stems are whatever the dealer put on 2 1/2 years ago. Michelin XZEs mounted by a well known truck tire dealer. Centramatic balancers. Maybe it is the Equal, although a very popular item with truckers in my area.

Good luck.

[tetonchief]

Just had 6 new Michelins (255 X 80r x22.5) installed this past Monday at a dealer (Marlboro, NY) using the FMCA program. They balanced the front tires but not the drive's (said not necessary and waste of $ on the drives with duals, also would have had to use stick on weight there and could lose them miles down the road and then out of balance). They also stopped using the powder/beads inside tires for balance as they had more problems with it than worth.

[hermanmullins]

Chief,  

I am of the ole school. I balance all tires on the coach,  steer, drive and tag. Same on my truck and I even balance the tires on my 14 foot utility trailer.

I just feel better doing it, just me.

Herman 

[manholt]

Herman, your not alone! 

[BillAdams]

I like my tires balanced but that's still not perfect.  I just installed Centramatics on my drive tires and the new tires were not balanced by the dealer.  Smooth running and nothing to clog my valve stems.

[jleamont]

I have used equal on many occasions, the bags are not supposed to break until the tire is aired up. If there was a bead leak caused by the product the process was done incorrectly i.e leaking bag tossed in without looking. I don't care for the product since it takes so much time to clean it up when you break a tire down but it does work. Centramatics are expensive for a fleet, on a coach it should be standard equipment in my opinion, this is where equal and the others are useful. We Match mount our tires at work, here is the definition;

Match mounting tires on wheels is a process where a tire's installed position on the wheel is specifically selected to help minimize the final combination's force variation and/or imbalance.

It works and we order them from the factory this way also.

[tetonchief]

I was planning all wheel balancing but as I mentioned the Michelin dealer said it was not necessary on my drive wheel duals. If I wanted it done they would have to do stick on weights with the rear aluminum wheels and I have seen them fall off the wheels on my car more than once. They also stopped doing the powder and bead inside tires. Will see how it goes--first 45 miles from dealer to my daughters and it drove great!

[tireman9]

On 9/29/2016 at 0:29 PM, HANKHEIN said:

On the 27th Sept we replaced 6 non-leaking but jumpy Goodyear tires on our Alfa SeeYa with Michelins thru FMCA Michelin Advantage in Hickory NC.  All tires have Equal which was recommended and 100 psi. We experienced a less rough ride and 70 miles later in Gaffney SC we found the outside dual was totally out of air.  Problem was the Equal was on the rim and caused a large leak, causing a somewhat rough ride.  This morning at least 2 tires were at 85 psi at Freightliner.  They do not appear to recommend Equal and prefer balancing weights.  I will see what to do after it is finished in the shop today and may revisit the tire shop.

I have had past problems of leaks which required daily pressure monitoring which had a lot to do with extensions.  Borg tire stems cured that problem.

So did you scrap the tire that you ran flat?  Did the Equal dealer also install the correct special valves that are needed or did they "forget" as they didn't want to loose the sale by telling there was an extra cost for the valves?

 

RE putting balance material may void your tire warranty so be sure to check with the tire manufacturer.  Remember that some tire stores are "company" stores and some are independent dealers so independents may or may not follow all tire company guidelines.