wheel balancing

4 ounce rock...... really...... that's a 1/4 POUND ROCK...... what kind of tread do you have that will hold a 1/4 pound rock at faster than 25 mph....??

it does if you understand that the centramatic is balancing the wheel ASSEMBLY (both tires and brake drum)....... if 1 wheel is out of balance the ASSEMBLY is out of balance.... get it

 

I had Yokohama TY577's that would hold rocks like crazy at any speed. I still say dynamic beads will do a far better job balancing and don't think for a second centramatics are good for anything. I had them and I know how lousy they were. I run balanced drums but you can get a whole wheel assembly balanced with lead even if you don't. Don't need any of that with beads. They are cheaper.

 

From my experience I had irregular wear problems and balance issues with those TY577. Lead and centramatics didn't solve the problem. Had those casings capped and tossed away the centramatics, no more lead, just used beads and my tread wears perfectly now with no balance issues. So what conclusion do you expect me to reach?

 

I agree .
I've tryed those çentramatics .not worth a crap. Junk!

 

You guy's are killing my chance to sell them.

 

The moron who told you that needs to be took out back and slapped silly. Balancing devices like Centramatics or beads only have a limited ability to correct the balance of a tire. You should always have your steers balanced when they are rotated.

 

Lot's of folks use centramatics and have decent results. I am not one. I have been using the Balance Master version on my steers and have averaged 223,000 miles on set of steer tires. Still had 8-9/32 tread left and got $150 each for them both times from my tire dealer when I purchased new tires. I use balancing beads in the drive tires. Got 447,000 out of the last set, still had 8-9/32 tread, and I got $180 for each of them from my tire dealer. I only have the steer wheel/tires spun up and balanced. Drives just get beads.

 

Couple of queries on Equal, I just started using them on my steers. Are they susceptible to moisture? Do you recommend them for the eight drive wheels? What do you mean by beads or are they the same as Equal? I used to balance the steers but as they wear and I rotate them I had to re-balance. Equal seems pretty good so far after a few weeks of using them.
Also my Japanese Bridgestone R150 steers were scalloping, or rib punch, yet the alignment, caster and camber are in spec by a very reputable wheel aligner. Run them at recommended 120 psi, I wonder if wheel balance was causing this. Running on not very good roads with often bad camber.

 

my experience with equal and glass beads. equal will clump up if you have a (wet) air supply. glass beads you have to watch when checking your air pressure. the beads will get in the valve core and jam it open. even with the cores that have the little cup and spring on the end. I ended up going back to lead weights on steer and centeramics on drives.

 

I'll give Equal a go. It's $27 a wheel here. I've talked to a few guys who use it and they say they like it. So far so good. The only problem I can see is if I am running a lot of miles on a dirt road I've got to let the pressures down to 50 psi then air them back up when I get back to sealed roads.