Community Forums

rhodes1 · 05-21-2022, 03:36 PM

i have a 33' Dolphin Class A motorhome that hasn't been driven much last three years. The tires feel like they are unbalanced bad but I had them balanced 2 different shops no help.any idea what could wrong. The tires are about 5 Mo. old.

Thanks Don

**Lt Dan** · 05-21-2022, 03:41 PM

If it has been sitting a lot chances are they have developed a slight flat spot which should work itself out with some driving.

Flyer15015 · 05-21-2022, 03:50 PM

Don,
Did you SEE them balanced ?
Was there runout (side to side) or hop (up and down) while they were spinning ?

We use balance beads, so it takes a couple of rev's to settle things down. Then they ride like glass.

Mike in Colorado

Tha_Rooster · 05-21-2022, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhodes1

i have a 33' Dolphin Class A motorhome that hasn't been driven much last three years. The tires feel like they are unbalanced bad but I had them balanced 2 different shops no help.any idea what could wrong. The tires are about 5 Mo. old.

Thanks Don

Hasn’t been driven much in 3 years and the tires are 5 months old?

Mudfrog · 05-21-2022, 04:19 PM

You'd think a tire shop would catch it but, it could be that one of the tires is bad. Maybe a belt separation or the tire is out of round.

Gary RVRoamer · 05-22-2022, 10:28 AM

Given that they've been balanced twice (spin w/weights or beads?), it's probably not an actual tire balance problem unless one or more is actually defective, e.g. a tread separating. You didn't describe why you think there is a balance problem, so we can only guess.
Modern tires don't hold flat spots for more than a couple minutes of driving (less than that in summer weather), so I doubt that's the issue either. It's possible the wheels are not being properly centered on the hub, though that's not common on a Workhorse chassis (is this Dolphin on a W22?). Maybe bad wheel bearings or out of alignment? Excessive toe in/out will cause tire bounce similar to balance.

**Petro** · 05-22-2022, 11:30 AM

I had a previous 2003 Winnebago Chieftain on a Workhorse W22. I had a shaking front end so I took at to a truck service shop that had the ability to spin balance 22" wheels. They told me I had a out of round Alcoa wheel and they could not balance it.

I took it back to the regular shop when I had my RV serviced for my oil, filter, & lube. My friend Bill told me to run it in the shop as he wanted to see for himself if the wheel was really out of round or sprung. He jacked the front axel up enough to lift the wheels about a couple of inches off the floor. He positioned a wood block on the outside of the wheel and another in front of the wheel. He had a piece of yellow chalk and spun the wheel by hand while holding the chalk to look first for an out of round situation and found it was ok. Again he spun the wheel and checked for a wobble and found nothing. He checked the other wheel and found that OK as well. Bill told me he thought the truck shop either used a wrong bolt plate or tried to sell me a new Alcoa that I did not need.

Bill made me a deal that if I would let him remove all the weights from all six of my wheels and install beads that if I was not completely happy with the results I would not have to pay him. I took him up on his offer and no more balance problem. I used beads on all future wheel balancing I became a strong advocate for bead balancing.

Don

MrMark52 · 05-22-2022, 11:39 AM

If your talking the 1999 coach that’s in your profile - are the shocks original?

Shocks age on time, not miles.

1st coach - 17k miles @ 27 yrs old (when we got her), OEM shocks -1 bad shock, 2 marginal, 1 good (tested using shade tree mechanicing methodology).
2nd coach - 38k miles @ 19 yrs old, OEM shocks, 1 bad, 3 marginal.

LETMGROW · 05-22-2022, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhodes1

i have a 33' Dolphin Class A motorhome that hasn't been driven much last three years. The tires feel like they are unbalanced bad but I had them balanced 2 different shops no help.any idea what could wrong. The tires are about 5 Mo. old.

Thanks Don

Your information is a little lacking in information. Did you have a vibration before the tires were replaced? Do you feel a thump, thump when first starting out? At what speed does the vibration start to show up and at what speed is the vibration the worse? Does it get better or worse at higher speeds?
There are more reasons you could have a vibration other than the front tires. An out of balance or out of round rear tire or even a bad universal joint in the driveline can cause a vibration. Do you feel the vibration in the steering wheel or more in the seat of your pants? Does the vibration change when the brakes are applied?
If your vehicle was in my shop these are just a few of the questions I would ask before trying to diagnose your problem. Of course a road test would be in order before attempting any repairs.

Ray,IN · 05-23-2022, 02:27 AM

Properly mounting tires on rims does require skill. First are the red and yellow dots to guide positioning on the rim. Then there are the tiny concentric circles on the tire to guide the installer when centering the tire on the rim.

If a tire is not mounted correctly it may never run smoothly, or ever be balanced properly.