Balancing Trailer Tires.... - Page 4

REW · #31 09-22-2016, 10:38 AM

HanR3,

I respect your opinion on trailer tire balance, but will continue to always balance the tires on my trailer.

Many folks run trailers that do have high speed ratings on them. Many folks also install vehicle wheels on their trailers as well.

But in any event - as Bobby has said - I drive along side a trailer that has tires bouncing up and down and find that they have not had the tires balanced.

Then, I repeat the test driving along side the same trailer after the tires have been balanced - and there is no visible vibration or bounce on the tires.

So, I will continue - as will many other folks - to balance each and every tire that they or myself every tire that they own - whether it is on a car, truck, motor cycle, or car trailer, boat trailer or other style trailer.

I just don't like to have bouncing tires and wheels on the trailers that I pull down the road.

p.s.
A very good way to have a trailer tire balanced is to use the balancing equipment that is used at many big rig service centers. This is where the unbalanced wheel is mounted on the hub that it will be run with. Then, a motor with a spinner wheel is brought next to the wheel and the wheel is brought up to about 100 mph. Before doing that, a balancing assembly has been attached to the wheel. Then, as the wheel is spinning, the balancing assembly is adjusted so that there is 0 bounce. Then, the wheel is stopped, and weights are attached to the wheel in the location specified by the balancing assembly. Then, the balancing assembly is removed from the wheel and the wheel is run up to speed again. Thus, the tire, wheel and hub are balanced as an assembly and will run very smoothly. Therefore - with this system, it is important to mark the wheel, hub and tire - any time that the wheel hub and tire can be reassembled in exactly the same locations to maintain the balance of the assembly.

Be safe

Hanr3 · #32 09-22-2016, 11:45 AM

REW,

Appreciate the feedback. It's not my money, you are free to spend your money as you choose. Just trying to provide information from the tire experts.

You mentioned folks are using car/truck tires on their boats. Highly not recommended. Truck/car tires are not designed to carry the load a trailer tire is designed to carry. Also may be why some are having bouncing issues, remember vehicle tires are hub-centric balanced, and trailer are lug-centric, they are not mix and match. You can physically put a hub-centric wheel on a lug-centric spindle, however any balance was for naught. The balance points are different. Not only that, a car/truck tire is designed to work with a suspension system and provide ride comfort. Trailer tires are not designed for ride comfort. They are designed to follow and carry a load at max psi. Remember, trailer tires do not deflect when under inflated, you can't see it in the sidewall. Truck/car tires do deflect under load and when under inflated.

Most people think the tread of a tire is the strongest part. That is incorrect. The strongest part of a tire is the sidewall, it carries the load.

If you must balance your trailer tires, spend the money and get them road force matched. This is better than balanced. As pointed out, balanced doesn't compensate for the egg shape. Road Force match accounts for the egg shape and balances the assemble. If your serious about spending the money, do it right and get them Road Force matched. Be advised most tires shops cannot Road Force tires, call and ask before you buy your next set. IF you have "balance" issues they will road force for free if you paid for the lifetime balance and rotate package. If the shop doesn't have the road force machine, that isn't an option and they will tell you the tires are balanced and there isn't anything else they can do. Your screwed and stuck with a set of tires that don't perform to your expectation. Its not the tires fault, its the shops fault, they don't have the proper equipment.
Next time your in a service center talk to them about road force balance and ask about balancing tires in general.

Lastflight · #33 10-10-2016, 02:03 PM

Hanr3, thank you for the information!

It seems some on here are very set in their ways and not capable of accepting new concepts, regardless of the facts being presented.

Hanr3 · #34 10-12-2016, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lastflight

Hanr3, thank you for the information!

It seems some on here are very set in their ways and not capable of accepting new concepts, regardless of the facts being presented.

You are correct. The same general conversation happens all the time. Modern machines are capable of holding tolerances previous generations could not imagine. We have machines that can hold thousands of an inch all day long for years on end. We have diagnostics to determine when a machine needs parts replaced/repaired long before it shows up in the work as defects. Seen 2" thick and thicker welded parts hold tolerances in +/- 1mm range over a 8' span. I have been in manufacturing quality for going on 40 years now. Things change, like it or not, things change. What we lack is skilled labor to operate the machines. The newest generations have a negative image of manufacturing and want to work in IT. But this is another subject for another thread.

ia bhtr · #35 10-16-2016, 09:07 PM

Not everyone will have the hi tech balancing available to them , wheel/tire balancing such as REW has referred to does in deed work , to the aero space levels that some on here have touted as the only way to go , no not that good , but very serviceable , to the extent that it is in fact noticeably smoother pulling down the road than a trailer that hasn't had its wheels spun balanced

Another option that works incredibly well that comes from the trucking industry is the bead bags placed inside the tire at mounting , acting somewhat like a gyro scope as the wheel turns

hub centric or lug centric , yes there is a difference in mounting to the trailer , but are we to assume that the center hub hole has been drilled other than dead center on the lug centric rim.... I can not imagine that it is not on center , nor that the lug holes are not on center , anything else would give you the oblong wheel effect going down the road

I guess for the $10 bucks or so to spin balance a wheel , if the owner of that wheel wants or doesn't want to spin balance it , that is that owners prerogative and his money to do with as he chooses , that person has earned his/her own money to spend or save as they choose

one last comment , one of the departments in my business that I have run for 40 years is a tire shop , and one thing I can say for certain is that if a trailer tire or any other tire throws a weight , trailer empty or loaded , that would have been a very incompetent job of balancing