To balance or not to balance

[jeff64]

Of course it is. Way back when that's all that was around was bubble(static) balancing. Spin balancing (dynamic) probably came in about the mid 60's appeared and it was done on the vehicle with an adapter on the hubs and a heavy,duty spin motor apparatus, or driven by rear wheels on the hoist. It was a PIA process and primitive at best. It evolved to the machines in use today. With static balancing you sometimes got a harmonic imbalance at certain higher speeds that is minimized with current art. Way back when, with the static(bubble) balancing it was done with 4 weights, 2 on the inside of the rim and 2 on the outside triangulated to the heavy spot. IYGAF! That's what you had and was acceptable.

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[MR.M]

If you can put the tire wheel on a ballancer and it requires no weight then don't balance if it does require weights then balance . old timers never balance trailer tires because they didn't care how the trailer rode . you can not easily see out of balance tires . our trailers go through enough with bad roads why make it worse .

[AZ Pete]

always balance, if you want the best life and performance from your tires.

The tires of today are much better and consistent than in years past, but they are not uniformly perfect, nor are the wheels that they are mounted on. Balancing can, and will make a good tire, wheel combination better, and will also reveal some problems with the tire, such as being out of round, heavy splice etc. Quality control is not perfect in any industry.

[GravelRider]

Besides the minimal cost savings, I can't think of a good reason not to balance your tires. After the expense of the tires and mounting, why not spend the extra few bucks to get them balanced? Even if you can't feel the smoother ride, your camper, and the items in it, will. I'm surprised that this is even a discussion at all.

[Comanchecreek]

Originally Posted by scottnlindsay

This raises a question for me. I just had new tires put on my TT. The shop that did it asked me if I wanted them balanced. I asked him do you static balance them. He said if I do that then why balance them at all. I opted not to due to have weights corrode my nice wheels.

Question is, isn't static balancing better then not at all?

When I would help out my buddy at his shop, I would static balance the nicer fancy expensive rims or rims you could not put an outside weight on.

If you're worried about rim clamp weights, use stick ons. They go inside the rim out of sight and work just as well. Many new wheels don't even have a rim edge to clamp weights onto, and you have to use stick ons.

[JimM2109S]

Are the wheels balanced when they leave the factory on a new camper?

[5picker]

Originally Posted by JimM2109S

Are the wheels balanced when they leave the factory on a new camper?

Does the sun come up at midnight?

Heck no they are not balanced. That would cost a few pennies extra.
But... just because the factory is too cheap to balance doesn't mean they shouldn't be. I'd even bet you'd have a tough time balancing some of those Castle Rocks brand new!

[D W]

Originally Posted by GravelRider

Besides the minimal cost savings, I can't think of a good reason not to balance your tires. After the expense of the tires and mounting, why not spend the extra few bucks to get them balanced? Even if you can't feel the smoother ride, your camper, and the items in it, will. I'm surprised that this is even a discussion at all.

X2. Not to mention the out-of-balance stress on the tire, wheel, bearings, spindle and suspension.

[Mike134]

Originally Posted by JimM2109S

Are the wheels balanced when they leave the factory on a new camper?

Is the camper double checked for quality when it leaves?

[rsdata]

owners complain when trim pops off or cabinets shake open... why do you think that happens? could be the trailer is shaking them off and open... if it was a utility trailer... NO balance needed

[nrkmann]

All rotating masses need to be checked for balance. If the wheel and tire were in perfect balance just the valve stem would put the system out of balance.

Before you balance the wheel & tire they should be trued, I.e. put on a special lathe to trim the tread to be perfectly round.

An unbalanced wheel without truing the tire can beat the hell out of a suspension system.

[Jboshell1]

I’ve pull trailers all my adult life and I’ve balenced them all.

[Ebbs]

Originally Posted by Mike134

To those who say no. Why balance any wheel then? Something different about the round wheel on your truck vs your trailer? Yes I balance

Yes, your truck tires are turning your truck. Not so on your trailer.

[charles l]

My neighbor said why waste money on balancing? That eats into his alcohol funds.

I balance all my tires. Even balanced the 13 inch tires on my old dolly.

[jaymz]

With the occasional rare exception, every tire is out of balance to some degree when it leaves the assembly line. Spend the extra $10-20 bucks and have them balanced.

[Dakota 1120]

Originally Posted by 5picker

Any mass that spins (especially at highway speeds) should be balanced whether you can feel it or not.
If a few ounces of weight will make the tire/wheel run smoother, and possibly be a bit easier on the suspension and the R/V as a whole, why wouldn't you?
I balance all my trailer tires.

Of course you balance any tire that runs at highway speeds - it's so simple even a caveman knows it.

[Thomas ho]

weights stick to inside of rim . like a command hook sticky. no rust they arent made of steel.

[flyflotrtim]

Like the majority above, I balance my trailer tires.

[wabakami]

Originally Posted by 5picker

Any mass that spins (especially at highway speeds) should be balanced whether you can feel it or not.
If a few ounces of weight will make the tire/wheel run smoother, and possibly be a bit easier on the suspension and the R/V as a whole, why wouldn't you?
I balance all my trailer tires.

X9

[Wes Tausend]

...

Devil's advocate here.

I don't like to balance tires on any vehicle at first. I'd rather drive the vehicle and then sample any vibration. Good tires properly mounted are usually good enough for me and a penny saved is a penny earned. Driving beside a trailer with fresh mounted tires is probably a worthy idea, but to be honest I've seldom seen a bouncer on one. It would probably make more sense just to inspect the tires to see that they are properly mounted and keep large mud chunks out of the rim center.

Generally if any new tire does vibrate on known good wheels, I'd rather not accept the defective carcass and just return it for a good tire. But a few years ago, on the way home, I found the worst vibration ever (on new winter tires) that would have been especially difficult to return. They were already custom studded which isn't real common and is labor intensive.

The first thing I did at home was put the vibrating pick-up 1 inch off the ground on jack-stands in the driveway and let all tires idle in 1st gear (It was a 4x4). Then I checked the tires for concentricity, sighting with a can sitting beside them as they rotated around. They were way off. I imagine the extra weight of the studs made the elliptic effect even worse.

Looking at the moulding seams around the bead, I could see that the tires were mounted way off center. The beads were rolled. It turned out the kid who mounted them was short on bead lube so he just mounted them half dry and they seated crooked of course. He apparently didn't know any better. I had better teachers. I may not balance my new tires, but I always check that the beads are fully seated and not rolled.

Later that day, back to the tire shop. These new tires were still soft enough that the rubber hadn't taken a set, so I let the kid carefully remount them after he properly got some lube and they were fine after that. I never did have to actually balance them. I only regret that I didn't make him ride with me before and after so it would sink in what he did.

I bought the tires for ice traction, but... they accidently happened to be one of the highest rated mud & snow tires made at the time, Armstrong something-or-another. I was open to taking any mud & snow tire that could be studded at the time (They have small holes cast in the tread for studs). These tires had so much grip in deep snow that I didn't need 4 wheel drive in order to push snow deep enough to be shoved by the front bumper.

But 4-wheel still worked better because the truck was a factory mildly off-road model that was jacked up about 2 inches with cheap axle blocks. Those high-perched spacer blocks produced substantial axle wrap by the greater leverage of the axle twisting under high traction and that caused severe SSSing of the rear leaf springs. Now that kind of sporadic bouncing will break things.

After correct mounting I drove the truck several winters with those 'unbalanced tires', drove them until the tread was down to about 1/3rd tread and only 2/3rds of the studs were still in. Magnificent performance.

Modern tires are so precision made that most are near perfect from the factory. From experiences I've had working in tire shops and personal use, I think a major problem with vibration (aka balance) is due to many tires not being seated correctly on the rim. If crookedly-mounted beads have already taken a set shape from heat, even remounting won't help. If folks do get their tires balanced and any tire needs several ounces of weight, I would definitely at least recommend looking for crooked mounting.

Otherwise balancing is optional in my book. Tiny imbalances are the easiest thing tires ever face. Larger imbalances are merely an indication that something else is wrong. Balancing is mostly just a feel-good thing for customers and a few extra bucks for the shop.

Wes