Centramatic wheel balancer

[GEMCART]

What are the pros and cons on the balancers 22.5 wheels. Is there a better way to balance your tires.

[twinboat]

My rear tires have weights on them but they got switched around after I bought the rig, so it had a shake back there. I put the centramatics on the rear of my 19.5 wheels and fixed it.

[TonyMac]

Personally, I'm a big fan of beads over Centramatics for my 22.5s. Cheaper, easier to install, and if there's still a shake, you can add more and see if that fixes it. But I believe either are better than weights, as they both constantly rebalance as you drive.

[Domo]

We like traditional external weights and road-force balance.

When the characteristics/health of the tire changes we know it as it's not masked by something we can't inspect that tries to compensate.

But, I'm old and maybe too old-fashioned.

Yes, thousands of folks swear by all manner of fixes and that's fine.

[Flyer15015]

I'm a fan of balance beads, and have had them in the last 4 sets of tires, both 22.5's and 19'5's. Since both our coaches have had steel wheels and covers, we could have gone wheel weights, but my local shop recommended beads, and since the owner is a childhood friend, I took his advice. They do a lot of OTR trucks. Been very pleased so far.

Mike in Colorado

[Dutch Star Don]

I've placed the Centramatic on all three of my DP's and wouldn't own a coach without them. I first started using them on my 2005 Monaco Diplomat when I pulled the rear duals and saw wear from unbalanced tires. Many believe that balancing the rears is not necessary. They come to that conclusion because truck drivers don't. Truck drivers don't pay for their tires or feel issues because of the weights they haul.

When I bought my 2014 Dutch Star, the first thing I did I was add Centramatics to all three axles. Same with my 2019 Dutch Star. I just hit 50K miles on the 2019 and the tires are wearing perfectly. The chassis/tires run smoothly down the road.

The Cons.....they cost about $225.00 an axle.

My opinion is based on someone who actually uses them!

[vtwinwilly]

I'm with Don. I've had Centramatic balancers on my last 3 motorhomes and yes . . . I am a believer.

I can feel the elimination of rolling vibration, and can see the difference in even wear on my tires.

On my current coach I have them on all 3 axles (steer, drive and tag).

I find it best to have the tire shop do conventional balancing with weights, then the Centramatics fine tune that for perfectly balanced tires.

[Gravelette]

OP, did you get the RV after all?

[TonyMac]

"The Cons (of Centramatics).....they cost about $225.00 an axle."

YOWSA. Beads are about 1/10th of that, and I feel they work well for my applications. I put them in my trailer tires and my motorcycle tires. They did not work well in the 31X10.50s on my Blazer, and I figured it was because they work primarily in the horizontal plane, not so much in the lateral plane. They work better in tall tires, not so much in wide tires. What that ratio is, I have no idea.

Question: Are Centramatics bigger on the duals than on the singles? Beads are per tire, so there's twice as much on the duals than the singles.

[GEMCART]

Originally Posted by Gravelette

OP, did you get the RV after all?

Hope to close Saturday. Inspection today. Should be an expert by the time I get one LOL.

[Old Scout]

Two coaches -- have used the Centramatics--just the front axle. [Over 150k miles on the first, 30k+ miles so far on the second.] I figure beads are fine for the rears or tags. I worry more about how the fronts drive and feel.

[Dutch Star Don]

Originally Posted by TonyMac

"The Cons (of Centramatics).....they cost about $225.00 an axle."

YOWSA. Beads are about 1/10th of that, and I feel they work well for my applications. I put them in my trailer tires and my motorcycle tires. They did not work well in the 31X10.50s on my Blazer, and I figured it was because they work primarily in the horizontal plane, not so much in the lateral plane. They work better in tall tires, not so much in wide tires. What that ratio is, I have no idea.

Many will spend $10K on Lithium and $2K on a new stereo yet won't spend $500.00 to $700.00 for a good ride and extension of their tire's life.

[NXR]

Originally Posted by TonyMac

Question: Are Centramatics bigger on the duals than on the singles? Beads are per tire, so there's twice as much on the duals than the singles.

On my front 22.5" wheels the Centramatics are kind of bowl-shaped. The tire is removed, the "bowl" placed, and the tire reinstalled. The bowl shape covers the caliper so I cannot see it from the outside anymore.

On the duals the Centramatics is disc-shaped. The outer tire is removed, the disc placed, and the outer tire reinstalled. So one disc between the tires is used.

Can't really compare the front and rear on mine because they are different shapes. I never weighed them.

Ray

[TonyMac]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

Many will spend $10K on Lithium and $2K on a new stereo yet won't spend $500.00 to $700.00 for a good ride and extension of their tire's life.

Yeah, especially when you can do the same thing for less than $100. Brrrr.