Centramatic Wheel Balancers

[beanious]

Hello all, I was having some trouble getting my tires balanced. Running 37" humvee tires on aluminum American Racing 16.5 8-lug wheels. So I took them in 4 times to different shops, trying to get them balanced. Sometimes they would balance them and call 'em good. Sometimes they would say they were way too far off and couldn't be balanced. Some small shops and some big shops, I even got them road force balanced. The tires had zero miles and were manufactured in 2018, with whiskers still on them. Everytime they would shake violently after 55 mph.

I got to doing some research and found out with a dial indicator you can detect the high and low spots of a tire and rim. Then match them up to get the least runout, to get a better balanced tire. Sometimes you can go by the dots on the tires but it varies by manufacturer, etc. So its better just to find the high and low spots and then have them mounted and matched correctly to get the best runout. That made it a better. With the axle jacked up and the car in gear I could see the difference and the measurements confirmed that I cut the runout in half. Two of the tires were mounted by the tire shop in the worst possible spots...

The next part was to remove the wheel weights and install the centramatics. I have to admit I was skeptical about them at first. I'd never used them, but 37's aren't cheap and I figured what the heck I'll buy a set. Wow they made a difference, I can drive at 70 mph down the freeway with no shake or vibrations, acceleration, deceleration and turning is smooth. The best part is if I ever have to change the tire or I get a different set I don't have to re-balance ever! I don't have to worry about throwing a weight or rebalancing later on either because the centramatics dynamically balance the tires.

I can't say enough how thrilled I am to not have to buy another set of tires like what was recommended to me by two shops. I hope this helps someone else out there with large tires that is having difficulties balancing them.

Bryan B.

[beanious]

[beanious]

[beanious]

[burnin oil]

These tires are notorious for balance issues. Go to a place that does big truck tires and ask them hom many balance bead packs to run in them. That is probably your best bet. The larger the tire is the harder to balance and more likely to be out of round. Large mud tires fall into this category.

[beanious]

I figured I had the worst case scenario for balancing since I went with the Military quadruple quintuple sidewall tire. The tire-rim runout matching and centramatics did the trick, totally good now. I looked into the beads, but I didn't want to fiddle with valve stem filters when airing down and having to swap them when replacing a tire. Now when it comes to tires, the more I can do myself the better. I was not impressed by the skills and capabilities of the tire shops I went to. It seemed like everyone watched a 10 minute video and tried to balance them as a quickly as possible also everyone in the shop is a balance guy, they all trade out so you can never get consistency.

Bryan B.

[71gmcC15]

I run powder in my tires. (Balincing beads ) mainly I dont like the wheel weights carodding my aluminum rims. And the stick on ones fall off. When first installed they tire vibrates a bit but smoothed out. If left to sit for awhile the same thing.

[beanious]

I guess in big rigs and large Military vehicles the run antifreeze in the tires to balance them. It's got additives to keep corrosion away. Weird!

[71gmcC15]

Originally Posted by beanious

I guess in big rigs and large Military vehicles the run antifreeze in the tires to balance them. It's got additives to keep corrosion away. Weird!

My dad doesn't balance any of the tires beside the steer tires on is peterbilt.

[beanious]

What it's like having balance beads while going slower than freeway speeds...

[burnin oil]

Originally Posted by beanious

I guess in big rigs and large Military vehicles the run antifreeze in the tires to balance them. It's got additives to keep corrosion away. Weird!

Only if it is never going to see the road again. You use anti freeze (calcium water back in the day) to add wieght to the tires. This is common in tractors or backhoes. Those balance rings have mixed reviews. Balance beads are pretty common on big over the road type stuff. Large off road equipment doesn't generally get balanced. Personally I gave up on balancing tires years ago. I line up the sticker with the valve stem and call it good. If both are quality parts then no vibrations. Worked for me for over a decade now. What is a couple ounces of wieght to a 40lb rim and 60lb tire?

[beanious]

That's what I love about the internet, tons of info. I can tell ya that I'm not reposting other info that was posted on another site, or what someone told me. I installed the centramatics last week and they eliminated 60-70 percent of the vibrations before I recentered the tires on the rims. After both centramatics and recentering, smooth as glass. On probably the most difficult tires I can think of to balance (Military 37" MT's). Without re-entering the tires they went from violent shaking to freeway driveable with the centramatics. I read all the mixed reviews myself and believe me they work, saved me from buying 4 new tires at 250-500 a pop.

[burnin oil]

Big open lug mud tires are the worst to balance. Lots of mass hanging out there and they usually are out of round to boot. They will wear in and feel better until you cram the brakes hard and flat spot them somewhere else. One balancing trick i learned along time ago is if a tire takes to much wieght you need to break it back down and reinstall it 180 degrees. Usually that will fix the problem. I had one a tire shop did that had over 14 ounces hung on it. After breaking it down and remounting it has less than 2! They didn't line up the sticker.

I never tried the rings myself but I looked into them years ago. Some guys were having luck and some not. Beads do work most of the time and are cheap. I am glad that rings worked for you. Like most things in life there are many ways to get the desired result.

[beanious]

Thanks, Im just glad I finally got them to be smooth on the freeway. I took some time to say the least to match them the way I did though. I went and measured each knobby on the tire while mounted with a dial indicator found the high and low spots, marked them. Then had the tire dismointed did the same with the rim and took them in had them mounted matching up the high and low spots. One of them was literally 180 out, the other was 90. I measured the runout max at .112 before and. 043 after. Which is pretty frustrating because with the road force test its supposed to be able to tell them where to reposition the tire on the rim for best balance! I think I was pretty frustrated with the tire shops after four of them and looking to pass on a way to get past the terrible balancing jobs most shops do. I should have take pics of the dial indicator setup , if I do it again with the wife's truck I'll post pics

Bryan B.

[jjzepplin]

I was tire guy for General Tire when I was young. I worked in Oakland CA. I was at a capping plant as well as big rig alignment and passenger vehicle repair shop. I was known for balancing big 4WD tires on our big rig balancer. You did it right. Centramatics were used mostly on big rigs but in extreme cases we would put them on the 4xs. I ran 36" Super Swampers with the internal beads and was happy. They were smooth enough to drive across country. When I aired down I just made sure the valve stem was at the top.