Balancing trailer tires may be pointless.

[andymil]

I discovered something about balancing the wheels on the trailer today. The drums are not balanced. I only checked the last one before installing new bearings, but it was 2 1/2 oz off. I used a Snap-on static balancer made in the 70s.

I bolted the hub to the wheel and balanced the whole assembly. The holes in the center of the wheels were too big for the cones that came with the balancer. I marked the hub in line with the valve stem to make sure the wheel was in the same place on the hub when putting the wheel on the trailer.

If you just balance the wheel/tire, the assembly will be out of balance when the wheel is on the hub.

Overkill?

[kandl]

Originally Posted by andymil

If you just balance the wheel/tire, the assembly will be out of balance when the wheel is on the hub.

Interesting. Although, we're assuming that the drums are out of balance to begin with. Perhaps some are not, notwithstanding this archaic design. We recently changed over to GY Endurance tires and for sh_ts and giggles, had the wheels balanced. While the Endurance tires feel tighter and sway less than the old rubber, there was otherwise no perceptible difference (vibration/bounce) in towing the TT over a variety of road surfaces over the old, unbalanced wheels. Things that make ya go hmmm...

[wahoonc]

A well known phenomenon in the Airstream world. They have been balancing entire hub assemblies for years. An unbalanced assembly is very noticeable on the older ones, and causes damage. We either used a bubble balancer or a dynamic on the trailer style. Both are very difficult to come by in this day and age. Quite a few people have gone with either the balancing beads or Centramatics.

Aaron