Observations after swapping out the China bombs

[BigH]

I know there is a ton of threads related to this topic but I have a couple questions and some observations on the tires I swapped out yesterday.

My trailer came with Castle Rock 225 75 R15's load D and after researching on the internet I decided I wasn't willing to travel without swapping them out. I went with the Goodyear Endurance and upped to load E.

Observations first:

The rims/tires were not balanced.

The tires were just barely rated for the max trailer gross. I knew this from checking before our first trip last year and it bugged me.

I noticed on the trailer that the tire's contact patch had a curve to them leaving the center depressed somewhat. Off the trailer with the tire still inflated on the rim you could see the center was considerably recessed when compared with the edges. Surprisingly the flashing on the center of the tire was still visible with the edges showing normal use on all four tires. Considering the tires have always had max pressure and the camper was near max load...I found this a little disturbing.

I had planned to sell the Castle Rocks on CL but I couldn't do it after inspecting them close up.

The Questions:

I've gone through some tires in my days and it never crossed my mind not to balance anything that was going to do highway speeds. Is not balancing a normal or accepted practice with RV's?

Anyone else seeing tires that the center is not making hard contact with the road?

BTW I sleep better last night...

[Asrabbit]

I posted about this in another thread and some member came back telling me I did not have a certified air pressure gauge. Regardless, yes, I had the same experience. From what I saw, the center of the tires was collapsing inward under the load and the tire was riding on the edges. I can assure you, regardless of my pressure gauge, the tires were not under inflated.

I went from a C load rating to a D. I also went with a radial tire. Again, I posted earlier that I could tell the difference in the rolling resistance and some member just felt like I must be off of my rocker as I did not do any real test to prove that. Well, no I did not do a real test, but again I know what I felt and I no one will convince me that my rolling resistance was not improved by a good set of tires. I could absolutely feel the difference.

So, no need for anyone to post and tell me I have no idea what I am talking about as that has already been done and it did not change my mind one bit.

[DDC]

I’m a retired mechanic and I believe it should be mandatory that all tires on any vehicle capable of highway speeds and this should include attachments such as RV trailers and unility trailers should all be balanced.

[AZ Pete]

Originally Posted by DDC

I’m a retired mechanic and I believe it should be mandatory that all tires on any vehicle capable of highway speeds and this should include attachments such as RV trailers and unility trailers should all be balanced.

+1

[BigH]

Originally Posted by DDC

I’m a retired mechanic and I believe it should be mandatory that all tires on any vehicle capable of highway speeds and this should include attachments such as RV trailers and unility trailers should all be balanced.

Completely agree..

The tire store that put on my tires asked me if I wanted them balanced. I said yes of course but in my head I was thinking: Duh! -Considering they asked and the sets were not balanced from the factory maybe it is a common practice? Like I said, it never occurred to me they wouldn't be balanced.

Not that it really matters now but did my trailer somehow get the wheel balancing skipped or is it common to not have them balanced from the factory?

[Jeff95814]

Originally Posted by AZ Pete

+1

X2

[Tablack]

My china bombs weren’t balanced either. I replaced with Goodyear endurance. (After a blow out) They did not balance them either. I called Goodyear and they stated they do not have to be. I took it back and had them balanced anyway!

[jk510]

I always figured the reason the manufacturers don't balance the tires on trailers is that they feel since nobody is riding in them that it wouldn't matter, nobody would notice.

[My17Ram]

I just installed new Endurance tires on my 233s, replacing the original Constancy China bombs and can offer my observations:
The original tires were not balanced. I own my own tire mounting/spin balancing machines and the new Endurance tires were far more difficult to balance than any passenger car tire I have ever balanced, requiring more weights and multiple spins. However they all ultimately balanced out to zero. I spun two of the china bombs before dismounting and they would have required a similar amount of weight. There were balanced with a lug centric adapter by the way. I attribute the amount of weights to them being a heavy tire and not manufactured to as exacting balance specs as a car tire.

Test drive: WAY better feel than the originals. Seems to be less rolling resistance and sway/side to side movement is all but gone. Very smokth and vibration free.

[mjones12]

Originally Posted by Tablack

My china bombs weren’t balanced either. I replaced with Goodyear endurance. (After a blow out) They did not balance them either. I called Goodyear and they stated they do not have to be. I took it back and had them balanced anyway!

I called the Maxxis factory, and they also said no need to balance them.

[ckeeling]

Another interesting thing that I noticed when I swapped out my Castle Rock's for Goodyear Endurance---- The Castle Rock's lose air pressure over about six weeks of setting, from five to ten pounds. The Goodyear's, nothing. Here, here, for a set of Goodyear Endurance, steel valve stems, and balanced! I agree that the feel is completely different when towing between the two tires, and to the positive with Goodyear.

[youroo]

If it Rotates it should be balanced,BUT remember a" Square Block" can be balanced but it will NOT rotate very smooth going down the road! Youroo!!

[My17Ram]

Originally Posted by mjones12

I called the Maxxis factory, and they also said no need to balance them.

How do you define need? If I was hauling gravel in a dump trailer, then no. To reduce or eliminate vibration in my travel trailer that I’m taking on a 4000 mile trip at freeway speeds, then YES!

[Slow Moon]

I always balance trailer tires because with nobody riding in the trailer, I won't know if they are badly out of balance.

Trailer tires may not "need" to be balanced because nobody is in the trailer to complain if they are not, and they don't have tires rated for very high speed.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by My17Ram

I just installed new Endurance tires on my 233s, replacing the original Constancy China bombs and can offer my observations:
The original tires were not balanced. I own my own tire mounting/spin balancing machines and the new Endurance tires were far more difficult to balance than any passenger car tire I have ever balanced, requiring more weights and multiple spins. However they all ultimately balanced out to zero. I spun two of the china bombs before dismounting and they would have required a similar amount of weight. There were balanced with a lug centric adapter by the way. I attribute the amount of weights to them being a heavy tire and not manufactured to as exacting balance specs as a car tire.

Test drive: WAY better feel than the originals. Seems to be less rolling resistance and sway/side to side movement is all but gone. Very smokth and vibration free.

This is not meant to be argumentative or snarky. I'm just seeking some education.

Since you have your own spin-balancing machine, you could answer this question: are trailer wheel hub holes really eccentric? After you balanced the wheels with a lug-centric mount, did you re-try with a hub-based mount? If not, could you do it the next time you have a wheel off and post the results?

You could also measure runout both ways if you are able. (I had an awful experience with runout on German Goodyear sports car tires back in the early 1970s and remember it well. Not only were the tires WAY out of round, but so were all the replacements. I finally replaced the tires with General tires and sure enough, while they were being mounted, there was a VW beetle in the next bay, with runout problems on German Goodyears.

Larry

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by youroo

If it Rotates it should be balanced,BUT remember a" Square Block" can be balanced but it will NOT rotate very smooth going down the road! Youroo!!

See my post about runout.

Larry

[5picker]

My opinion... all tires should be balanced... need or no need.

As for the Castle Rock tread with the center indentation... I think I was the first to post here about Castle Rocks a couple years ago. Mine had the center tread concave pattern and every one who has them, has posted theirs were the same. Good?... bad?... I don't know but that is how they are made.

My Castle Rocks lasted one year and about 8000 miles and they started to separate. Not at the center but at the edges where seemingly more road contact occurs because of the concave design.

I replaced with Goodyear Endurance, balanced the tires and there is a noticeable difference in the way the 5th wheel tows... for the better.

[My17Ram]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

This is not meant to be argumentative or snarky. I'm just seeking some education.

Since you have your own spin-balancing machine, you could answer this question: are trailer wheel hub holes really eccentric? After you balanced the wheels with a lug-centric mount, did you re-try with a hub-based mount? If not, could you do it the next time you have a wheel off and post the results?

You could also measure runout both ways if you are able. (I had an awful experience with runout on German Goodyear sports car tires back in the early 1970s and remember it well. Not only were the tires WAY out of round, but so were all the replacements. I finally replaced the tires with General tires and sure enough, while they were being mounted, there was a VW beetle in the next bay, with runout problems on German Goodyears.



Larry

Hi Larry,
Yes in fact I did balance the first tire using the tapered cone in the hub. The machine was asking for quite a bit of weight, and I was already aware that many claim trailer tires are lug centric. I stopped, and made the decision to order the lug centric adapter right then. Not cheap but I’ll always have it.
Spinning with the adapter yielded virtually the same results, confirming, at least in my mind, that aluminum rims are machined accurately and the hub as well as the lug holes are at the true center of the rim.
On the runout, 3 of the 4 tires had noticeable side to side runout; none had any up/down runout at all, disproving the “square tire” comment elsewhere. I’ve seen many new car tires with just as much runout as these.
Hope this helps
Mark

[Tom48]

Originally Posted by AZ Pete

+1

Ditto wheel balance.

[JP Camper]

Originally Posted by jk510

I always figured the reason the manufacturers don't balance the tires on trailers is that they feel since nobody is riding in them that it wouldn't matter, nobody would notice.

The RV manufacturer don’t install the tires onto the rims, they come to them from a supplier already mounted on pallets