Handling improvements Tire shaving, balancing

[Rick g]

Last week I took My 2020 FR 3 DS 30 into a truck repair shop and had them rebalance the tires, and true them (shave). I also had them do an alignment. The total bill was just under $200. I took a 500 mile round trip afterwards and there was a noticeable improvement. Ive also self-installed a Safe T Plus steering stabilizer over the summer, which had a huge positive impact (Approx. $500). I’m having Timbren springs and anti sway bar installed next week. (Approx. $2500 + estimated $200 labor). The point of this post is to give people an idea of costs involved in improving handling of MH’s. Ill post the results of the springs and anti sway bar when done.

[Chris Pastuzyn]

Great information, Can't have enough upgrades to improve the rig,Thanks.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Rick g

Last week I took My 2020 FR 3 DS 30 into a truck repair shop and had them rebalance the tires, and true them (shave). I also had them do an alignment. The total bill was just under $200. I took a 500 mile round trip afterwards and there was a noticeable improvement. Ive also self-installed a Safe T Plus steering stabilizer over the summer, which had a huge positive impact (Approx. $500). I’m having Timbren springs and anti sway bar installed next week. (Approx. $2500 + estimated $200 labor). The point of this post is to give people an idea of costs involved in improving handling of MH’s. Ill post the results of the springs and anti sway bar when done.

I know that tire truing has been done for decades. On old bias and bias/belted tires, and especially retreads it offered a lot of benefit.

That said with the advent of radial tires it's a hit/miss process. In many cases it can actually make one's ride worse. The big issue is WHY is the tire not running true.

Truing (or shaving in most Southern shops) only blindly cuts off rubber without any diagnosis of the underlying problem. Is he wheel out of round? Does the tire have built in force variation (all have some, some more than others)? Can the ride disturbance be solved by merely rotating tire on wheel? If so, how do you determine where the "stiff part" of the tire is and the low spot on the wheel?

If it worked for you, fine. Hopefully it will continue to work and no future problems will develop with the tire.

The best way of course requires different equipment (which costs more than a truing machine) that measures the force variations in the tire FIRST. Think of a tire as an infinite number of springs supporting the load. Some springs are stiffer than others and whenever the stiff ones reach the road it forces the wheel up which then is transmitted to the occupants. Truing machines only cut off the high spots which may or may not correspond to "stiff spots".

For the skeptics, this fact was proven by tire manufacturers back in the 1970's. It lead to better manufacturing ) especially in the radial tires and more actual testing, sometimes with actual correction by grinding some tread only in the areas where the tire tested as "stiff".

Before merely having tires trued, it would be a good idea for someone to actually diagnose what the problem is. Checking the wheel before mounting the tire (or dismounting and checking) would be a great first step.