tire balancing

So each tire was off by exactly the weight of 3 golf balls? Plenty of cheap ways to do it, but none of them are going to be right unless you have had the tire on a balance machine and know exactly how much weight should be added.

Throw in a hand full of sand or lead shot, that's cheaper than golf balls...

 

Balance your tires when mounting then install 6 centramatics so your drums or any pebbles caught in the tread don't cause imbalance. While you're at it get a 3 axle alignment. It's not the cheapest way but it's the only right way imo. You'll have a truck that rides like a caddy with tires lasting a lot longer.

 

Centramatic balancers...I swear by them. They have increased my tire life to almost double what I was getting before I used them!

 

Adding anything to the inside of the tire causes the tire to be worn on the inside by the rotating object. The inner liner of tires is made of a special material designed to hold air in, because rubber is porous and allows air to escape at a slow rate. This liner is thin compared to the rubber compounds used to make the tire. If you would like to increase the likely hood of having tire problems............then add the golf balls. You also won't get any casing credit on the tires at the next rade in......a good recapper won't take them. If you would like to have a smooth riding truck, make sure the tires are installed correctly on the wheels and use a centrifugal balancers.......Balance Masters......Centramatics

I personally like the Balancer Master, because they use liquid mercury as a balancing agent inside a bladder in the outter ring. It never wears out or goes bad.

 

If you install a quality name brand tire that is not made in China, and it is installed properly you will never need balancing. There is more than one way to install a tire and get the bead to seal. You should never have to use a tire cannon, or ether, these are too violent and make the tire mount off center. When a tire is properly installed you have to spin it once it is mounted and make sure it is running true. Many times the tire will not mount perfectly square in the rim and will run out-of-round. I see most vibration problems are because of this. You cannot balance this, the tire has to run smooth first. If you have a quality tire and it is mounted perfectly and it is still out of balance something is wrong with the tire! A new tire should never need more that 6 oz to balance. A driver will not feel 6 oz anyway, so again balancing shouldn't be needed. If your tires have more that about 10,000 miles on them and they develope a shake, chances are they are worn out of round and again, you cannot balance a tire that is not round in shape, it will shake no matter what you do. Balancing will not put rubber back onto a tire. We are seeing more and more lately where there is a minor gap between the locator tabs on the hub and the edge of the center of the wheel. This locator tab, (usually 4) are what is used to center the wheel on the hub. Because of this gap the wheel will not sit perfectly centered on the hub and run out of round. This is why spinning up the wheel when mounted on the truck is so important. I have never seen a good recap. I don't recommend recaps for highway use. Recaps are good for construction, snow plows, city transit, that sort of thing. If you want to run recaps then I would recommend centrifugal balancers to help out. Keep your suspension in good shape, get an alignment done once a year, replace your shocks every few years and keep a good eye on your tires. Too many times we see guys come in with tire wear and they waited way too long and the tires become junk!

 

You forgot rotation. I've also found that to be the life of tires also.

I disagree with you on the recaps part, but there is a key to buying them. Alot of people don't know and end up getting bad tires when in fact it wasn't the fault of the cap, it has more to do with who did it and where you got it.

 

What he said....

 

Golf balls, Ha- there were 3 in each tire on my tractors drives. From the looks of those tires--they do NOT help a bit !! And the steers were replaced every 20-25K miles. Talk about wasting money. Small company...long gone...that may be why he's gone !!