Big Sugar
Beeton Ont.
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Joined: 06/12/2008
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Please ,...Does it not make sense for a reputable Trailer company to simply balance the rims and tires for their customers ?
It just astounds me at the simple things that are neglected just too save a few dollars,
I tell you what I'd sooner spend a little more and buy a trailer from a Manufacturer that really cares.
I can't imagine what it must feel like to pack up the kids the dog and all the goods too head out for whats supposed to be a great time as a family unit only to possibly blow a tire or shake the bejesus out of yout Trailer, only because the manufactuer didn't want to spend a little time to ensure your trailer was Road Ready.
Balance those wheels guys, If you haven't looked yet there's a good chance those cheape tires are taking one heck of a pounding.
Ron
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skipnchar
Topeka Kansas USA
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Probably right. If I'd have balanced mine I may have gotten more than 40,000 miles from my Marathons.
2004 F-150 HD 3,050 lb. payload
Rockwood 8314SS 34' travel trailer
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Chuck_S
Broadview Hts, OH, USA
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Unless you have a special spindle that mounts the wheel to the balancer you're spitting into the wind trying to balance trailer tires. Unlike automobile wheels which have an exact center hole that positions the wheel exactly on the center of the car/truck spindle, trailer wheels just have a hole maybe, maybe not, in the exact center purely to let the hub stick thru.
Attempts to balance trailer wheels without the special spindle have as much chance of making balance worse as better.
I know of no tire shops with such a spindle -- they don't need it. Nor have I seen the machine that will balance them on the trailer in years.
-- Chuck
'06 Roo 23SS behind '07 Expedition out of Cleveland
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SJones37
Upstate NY
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I have never in my life seen a trailer tire balanced.Best you can do is make sure the air preasure is good every trip out and make sure they are torqued to spec.
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fullautodave
Northwest Arkansas
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The tires on my 2005 Prowler are balanced and I assume they were done at the factory, the dealer may have done it but he never said anything about it. I recently replaced my tires, I carried them in to my tire dealer and had them mounted and balanced. I see no reason you can't balance them unless you have mobile home axles under your trailer
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Chuck_S
Broadview Hts, OH, USA
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You must have special wheels. Normal trailer wheels will fit on a balancer, but the hole in the middle isn't a true center hole so you can make balance worse by doing this.
-- Chuck
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2009Roo23SS
AL
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Joined: 06/09/2008
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People's Tire locations in Cullman, Tuscumbia and other Alabama locations have the adapter for the lug holes and have balanced tires on 2 of my trailers and several others I know. I also find their wheel bearing packing service to be excellent and very friendly priced. Easy enough to do oneself, but time is a commodity with us.
Just for the record, Alabama IS in the United States.
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Big Sugar
Beeton Ont.
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Strange I've had my 12"snowmobile trailer tires/rims balance when I built my trailer years back, There was no trouble mounting them on the balancer.
If the centre hole was not centre it would clearly be visible on the machine and the excessive vibration from the non concentric wheel would prevent the newer balancers from running at full balance speed.
I'm sure the trailer manufactuers use Rims that are cheapest possible rims they can buy, but Im pretty sure the cetre hole would be directly centre between the tire lugs, Especially if it's an aluminum rim.
I'd say you'd be better of having them balanced , than rattling the******out of your Hybrid.
Ron
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camp4fun family
Cincinnati, Ohio
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Chuck is correct about the axle hole not being in the true concentric center of the rim. There is no secondary machining process in the manufacturing of trailer wheels to insure the hole is in the center of the rim like there is on automotive wheels.
However, for the most part the manufacturing process is still the same. The steel wheels are stamped out of a steel disc and welded into the formed rim. So why it is true that no secondary machining process insures the hole is in the center, quite often due to the repeatability of the manufacturing process, it will be pretty close to the true center of the wheel.
So, while you can balance a trailer tire, I think the results will be suspect. Maybe the shop can mount the wheel on the lug holes and get a good balance this way. But they are probably just charging you 8 bucks per wheel for little extra precision.
There are a couple of products out there that claim to “self-balance” a trailer tire. I have no personal experience with them. They sound a little “fishy” to me, but that doesn’t mean they don’t work.
http://www.innovativebalancing.com/gallery1.htm
http://mrtruck.net/centramatic.htm
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Scott_C
NJ
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You can only get a true balance on a trailer with a loaded, on-"vehicle" machine. It matters not if you balance hub or lug-centric because they mean nothing in the whole of the trailer running gear system. Why? The tolerances on trailer axle and spindle assembles just isn't there (let alone the hub-drums) - I know, I see them jig welded constantly, and torsion axles are even worse. They are no where near automotive specs... If they were, we'd pay so much more but then we'd also have less tire issues!!!
The best thing you can do for trailer tires - make sure you do not have excessive runout - try to pair the tire runout to the wheel runout so the tolerance is as tight as it can be. The straighter they run, the less heat they'll produce.
If it makes you feel better to balance the tire to the wheel, it certainly does no damage, but don't do so until the runout is matched. The very minimal effect on the true running of the trailer is probably not worth the expense. Some places just balance regardless free of charge. Where I took my two trailers recently knew trailers and the Hunter 9700 was chucked with a lug-centric adapter, assembly loaded (it's a road force machine), and then tested for eccentricity, runout, and lateral force. Had to break the bead on 4 out of 10 tires and spin them on the wheels (3 were Maxxis M8008s and the other one was a Denman Express).
FYI - my equipment manager just had our low-boy in a frame shop because it was eating tires under the load of 11,000 pounds of fluid. The frame shop corrected the triangulation to the coupler, and then squared and tracked the axles - $561 of labor, installed 4 new tires $520, and balanced them on the trailer with a strobe-spinner unit for $300!!!
FYI - I would NOT use a product like Equal or other "permanent" balancer powder or gel in a recreational trailer tire. While this and several other prodcuts are used in over-road semi trailers, it's a different animal IMO.
* This post was
edited 08/11/08 08:30am by Scott_C *
2008 Shamrock 21SS
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