22.5 Wheel Balancing

[BellaBo]

I recently bought 6 new tires for the M/H and the local tire shop did not do a balancing. What they did was trim rubber off the tires to try an true them.

They also did not remove the old weights. This past week was the first time I've been out to drive any distance at highway speed and the front end had quite a shake between 45-60mph.

I had the W/H shop check it out when they replaced the front calipers this week and they seem to think it is the tires. I called my tire guy this morning and he said if they pulled the wheels to replace the calipers and didn't put them back lined up with the way they were. Then the "balance/truing" is no longer any good and am scheduled to take back to them on Monday.

1. Has anybody ran into this issue?
2. Is this grinding off several good miles of rubber a valid method for balancing?
3. Where do you get these 22.5 wheels "really" balanced?

Thanks for any input

[ruppr]

Streamerman,
Don't know what to tell you for sure about your tire shop. Cutting has been a accepted mention of truing out of round tires for years. (It looks terrible to see it done, but the amount of rubber removed is minimal and actually surplus in that area, the rubber is not removed all around the tire just at the high spot) Most shops do cut and balance the tires in place, on the front end wheels.

The balance should not be effected by the removal and replacement of the tires. (Balancing on the axle is no different than a high speed balance machine, it's just using your axle as a substitute.)

Had mine cut and balanced two years ago, (2nd rig I've had it done on) removed all this year to fully check brakes and no noticeable difference when reinstalled.

Any major truck shop or truck alignment can do the work and normally work on RV's also.

Best of luck with finding your vibration. Extremly unlikely, but in removing/replacing your tires a weight was lost?????

I just reread your post, if they cut the tires, they have to rebalance the tires with new weights. Cutting completly changes the existing balance of the tires.

Best,

[Jack R]

I drove an 18 wheeler for 11 years, put new steer tires on a least one a year, some years twice. I have never heard of the method you mentioned to balance your tires. I only seen a wheeler balancer and lead added to the rim to balance. Call the tire manufacturer and ask them what they think of how the tires were balanced.

[dieselclacker]

Streamerman, did I read in your post above that the tire shop left the weights from the previous tires on your rims. If so there is no way your new tires could possibly be in balance. These weights were put there to balance your old tires to the rims, and must be removed. I am not a big fan, in this day and age, of having to true a new tire. Cutting the tread on a tire is done to make the tire round, a good quality new tire should already be round. Trueing a tire is more common on re-capped tires. Were it me, I would take the coach to a shop that is capable of balancing the tires.

Dieselclacker

[ernieh]

I think that you should post the name of this shop so that others won't be victims also. A friend that has been in the truck tire business over 30 years says he has NEVER changed a tire and left the old weights.

[two gone rvn]

I just had new Continental tires installed on my MH. They spun balanced them and its perfect all the way to 85. Thats when I slowed down as I never drive that fast. My tire guy said thats the only way to do it. Mine were installed at a Goodyear truck tire center so they should know. Just my opinion.
George

[dieselclacker]

George, 85 MPH? Yikes, my motorhome won't run that fast, (at least not with me at the helm) I'm chicken!!! Glad you got a good balance job at Goodyear.

Dieselclacker

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by two gone rvn I just had new Continental tires installed on my MH. They spun balanced them and its perfect all the way to 85.

George, Workhorse motorhomes can't normally go that fast and our XRVs are not rated for that much speed.

[BellaBo]

I'm certainly seeing a consensus here and confirming my thoughts as well. I pulled the old weights off today. I asked this tire guy why he needed to true these tires and he said it was to adjust for the out of round wheels and they never get centered on the hub right. I think he has some swamp land here in Florida too. We have some truck stops close by maybe I'll see if they have a spin balancer.
Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions.

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Streamerman Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions.

Steamerman, IF the wheel positions were that critical it would seem to me that a little spray paint would have been a BIG equalizer when the wheels were installed. That's my arm chair quarterback 20/20 hindsight speaking!

Just spray 1 lug and the over spray on the wheel would have been self evident.

[darbyjudy]

Steamerman a few years ago I had a out of balance problem on my sunvoyager. It would shake at the speed I wanted to drive. I also have 22.5 inch tires. I took it over to Tampa Truck in Tampa and they trued the tires first , then they spun balanced them on the vehicle. It has been fine every since.

[DAN L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Streamerman I recently bought 6 new tires for the M/H and the local tire shop did not do a balancing. What they did was trim rubber off the tires to try an true them. They also did not remove the old weights. This past week was the first time I've been out to drive any distance at highway speed and the front end had quite a shake between 45-60mph. I had the W/H shop check it out when they replaced the front calipers this week and they seem to think it is the tires. I called my tire guy this morning and he said if they pulled the wheels to replace the calipers and didn't put them back lined up with the way they were. Then the "balance/truing" is no longer any good and am scheduled to take back to them on Monday. 1. Has anybody ran into this issue? 2. Is this grinding off several good miles of rubber a valid method for balancing? 3. Where do you get these 22.5 wheels "really" balanced? Thanks for any input

what kinda tires did you get? michelins rarely need balancing.
you might try removing the existing weights.
deflate the tires and re-inflate them to make sure they are centered on the rims. with your moho on jacks, have someone rotate the tires as fast as they can by hand while you check for out of round with a 4X4 or something else to get a visual on. you might try this before deflating them also.
if it still shakes, take it back for a better balancing job.
the rims are self centering on the wheel hubs as long as the weight of the coach is not on them. some brake rotors are out of balance. that is the reason for marking the location of the orientation of the wheels.
make sure that the lug nuts are torqued to 475 ft. lbs. with a torque wrench. recheck the torque within about 1000 miles.

[BellaBo]

"what kinda tires did you get? michelins rarely need balancing.
you might try removing the existing weights."

The tires are Toyo. I had Michelin on before but got a lot of sidewall cracking. They also had been balanced and had weights on the rims. I removed the weights now and that might help a bit.
I think I'll take Darby advice and head for a truck tire place after these other bozo's check the trueness again on Monday.

[woodyk]

If they are Toyo M54's (245/75/R22.5) they are "e"balanced and will state as such on the side wall. They don't need balancing as long as the red or yellow dot on the sidewall is within 6" of the valve stem. I have them on my rig and have not had and problem with them.

Woodyk