I am in the process of taming some vibrations in the coach wheels. I pulled the front wheels and had them spin balanced in the conventional manner. They needed over 8 oz of weights to balance well.

The subject of "balancing beads" was discussed. I have minimal experience with this method of balancing. I am somewhat skeptical since I removed my drive tires earlier this year. The beads inside had become damp and were clumped up in the tire, looked like mud. Considering most compressed air sources are not free of water I worry that moisture may cause clumping. I'm sure dry nitrogen would be a better choice for inflation but not practical for adding air on the road.

I would appreciate feedback on what balancing methods have been used and how effective they are. I found some old posts on this topic here but nothing recent. Anyone have experience with this lately, and which product they used would be appreciated.

I tried the beads, but could tell no difference. The vibrations I suffered with were traced to warped wheels.

We have the beads on our coach put on by PO. Also had new tires put on all around after we bought it and did not balance the tires since the beads were there. Coach still rides like a Cadillac.

www.centramatic.com
We are using CEntramatic wheel balancers on all 5 axles on the semi and they do their job. Also reusable.

I was hoping you would see this. I figured you have some experience with big tires and balancing!

I have heard of these, they make more sense than junk in the tires. I will check these out. Thanks.

I ran Centramatic wheel balancers on the Barth and now on the Foretravel. Learned about them from Marvin and would never be without them in the future.

Nick

That does it! Thanks Marvin and Nick. I will call them today. Based on their website they do make them for the rear P30 dually tires but I'm not sure about the steer tires, but those are already balanced now with weights.

To be continued:

Ordered Centramatics for the rear wheels. Not available for the steer wheels. They made the last batch years ago, sold them all and can't find the tooling! The tech rep told me they planned another run when they find the dies, etc, and he will let me know.

Thanks for the feedback.

...is that one for each wheel or two?/one? for duals???

There are two per axle. On the steer tires they mount between wheel and hub, on the drive axle they mount between the dual wheels. When I install them I will post pictures, etc.

Steve, I also got centramaics at Pilot stations. Take care & good luck.

Boy this discussion is just in time, I am on my way to Texas but left early for some R&R. I will stop in Dallas area to review the transmission electronics repair shop and then go to get the balance adapters for mine. They are also in the Dallas area. I have been plagued with tire balance problems and maybe this will solve the issues I have been having.

Will post the results after my visits to the mentioned shops.

Ed: First dismount the tire and check the wheel for true in both the alignment and the circumference. Correct or replace as needed. Then watch the balance operation. If the weights on the machine are more than 2oz. Tell them to dismount the tire and move it 30 degrees, either way. Re-balance and see what it says. If it improves to less than 2oz stop and tell them to proceed. If it gets worse have them rotate the tire the other direction and run the balance again. The idea is to get the tire on the wheel with the weight as balanced as possible.

Thanks Tom, I did all that years ago. I first took the wheels and did a rotational check for both balance and runout. if the wheel had any runout I replaced it. Then each wheel was independently balanced with out tires. At first I left the weights on the wheel and then balanced with the tires. If they would have been steel wheels, I would have welded weights on much like driveline balancing but being aluminum not going there.

Later, all I did was to mark each wheel the weight (and position) required to balance it by itself. Then I matched tires as closely as I could to counter the wheel balance and externally balanced to compensate for what was left.

Problem is tires do change their balance over time. In the most extreme case I had was from 2 oz to 16 oz over a 3 year time frame. I suspected the tire was coming apart but the manufacturer did not agree.

Word of caution for all you guys with aluminum wheels!

A year ago, I had the tires replaced on the rear of the coach. I made a BIG POINT that they do not use an impact wrench to tighten the lug bolts. Tires were being mounted when I went in to pay. As I came out I saw the tech using an impact wrench, I immediately told him to stop and got the supervisor. He told me that hey do this all the time and their wrenches with a calibrated extension was set for 450 lb/ft torque. I should have immediately backed them off and then use my long bar to re-tighten them.

Before last trip I was checking tire pressure and on the left rear dually there was a crack in the wheel that went from the lug nut hole outward to one of the outer holes.

GRRRR I had a spare wheel so when taking off the cracked wheel, I used my 1 inch impact wrench to remove. I had to set it on FULL torgue and it rapped for over 15 seconds before the lug nuts would move. It took over 1500 lb/ft to remove.

NEVER again! I will stay there until job is done MY WAY!

A few years ago i found out that my steel steer wheels both had cracks between two of the lug nut holes. Also had a heck of a time getting the rears off because they were over torqued. Got all new steel wheels and now nobody touches them but me. Had the same thing happen on my jeep.