Community Forums

Glen and Sal · 06-16-2014, 09:21 AM

I have a bad vibration when driving between 50 and 60 MPH. I had all the tires looked at and they were all out of round. The two fronts were the worst. Two of the rears were out a little but not to bad. This shop charges $45 each to true the tire, and another $45 to balance. I would guess I would need to have them balanced after shaving off enough rubber to true the tires. The tires are about 3 yrs old, (1811) and otherwise in good shape. They are Linglong F280's. I was told these are "cheap" Chinese tires and that even after truing them, I may still have a vibration. I'm just wondering if it would be worth $90/tire to try to true these, or should I just live with the vibration until I can buy two new tires for the front? I do not have a spare, so I could save one and carry as an unmounted spare.

lllkrob · 06-16-2014, 09:33 AM

Have the "BEST" two tires trued, balanced, and put on the front. Don't worry about the others on the rear. Then start saving your nickels and dimes to by decent tires like Hankook AH12's.

dons2346 · 06-16-2014, 09:35 AM

I would bite the bullet and get new tires on the front and take it from there. The rears might not be bad enough to notice once the front end stops shaking.

MSHappyCampers · 06-16-2014, 09:38 AM

I would try using balancing beads before spending that kind of money. They can put them in without dismounting the tire.

I elected to use the Crosman High Impact 6 mm seamless airsoft BB's from Wal-Mart instead of the DynaBeads like most folks use. I bought a container with enough to do four tires for about $15. I did this after talking with a guy who owned a trucking company that had been using them for years. The Dynabeads are about $20 per tire.

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

89sandman · 06-16-2014, 09:49 AM

You also might have the ujoints in your driveline checked. Often when you have a vibration at certain speeds this is the cause. I guess it also depends on if you have a gasser

Glen and Sal · 06-16-2014, 02:01 PM

I was considering trying the beads, figured it might be worth a try. Especially if the BB's from wal-Mart would work. Do you just remove the valve core and pour them in? Sounds like something I could do myself.

MSHappyCampers · 06-16-2014, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glen and Sal

I was considering trying the beads, figured it might be worth a try. Especially if the BB's from wal-Mart would work. Do you just remove the valve core and pour them in? Sounds like something I could do myself.

No, they're much too large for that. They have to jack up the wheel, let the air out of the tire, break the tire away from the wheel at the top, and pour them in. Only takes a few minutes to do each wheel. The tire company that did mine only charged $10 per wheel to do it.

Glen and Sal · 06-16-2014, 04:00 PM

Seems like I saw a chart on Dynabeads site that called for 10 or 12 oz of beads, does that sound about right using the BB's? My tires are 255/70R 22.5.

dons2346 · 06-16-2014, 09:06 PM

Balancing beads will not cure wheel hop caused by an out of round tire.

JFNM · 06-17-2014, 06:08 AM

I made the mistake of purchasing cheap tires. Initially, the vibration at the speeds you mention was horrible. I finally took them to a good tire shop and had the beads removed and a "Road Force Balance" performed on the fronts (google that term to see what it involves). This made a huge improvement. I think it cost about $50/wheel. They also advised me to stop buying cheap tires - get what you pay for. :-(

Glen and Sal · 06-17-2014, 10:09 AM

Hi JD. These tires were already on when we bought the motorhome. The place I had them looked at can balance the tires while they are still on the motorhome. Is that the same as "Road Force Balance". They can also shave the tires to make them round again. There price was $45/tire to shave and another $45 to balance. Glad you improved your ride for $50/ tire. Did you just have yours balanced? I could justify that much if it would help. I just don't know if it would be worth it to spend 90/tire for truing and balancing.

kb9tf · 06-17-2014, 10:33 AM

By the time a guy spends that much to fix up cheap tires, he should have bought good ones to start with. I won't use anything made in China that my family depends on. My last motor home had Coopers on it and were new. They were made in China. I ran it a year local and sold it. My next one needed tires, so it got Michelin. Even good tires can have a bad one too. But I will take my chances with those. I managed a tire store for a few years and really like Michelins. Sold a lot of junk tires too. I went through the years where Uniroyal was junk and then when Firestone had some bad ones. An out of round tire should have been taken off and a round one put on. They should have not even sold it. Of course quality service is not even expected anymore like it used to be. We are getting too much a cash and carry place. I retired from the coal mines and a lot of rubber products coming out of China now. They have problems with weather cracking and lasting very long.

JFNM · 06-17-2014, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glen and Sal

The place I had them looked at can balance the tires while they are still on the motorhome. Is that the same as "Road Force Balance".

I don't think so. Read this - gives a reasonable description of the process. There may be several "good" ways to do it - I'm only familiar with the one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glen and Sal

They can also shave the tires to make them round again. There price was $45/tire to shave and another $45 to balance.

If mine were that bad (out of round) and three years old, I would likely opt to purchase new.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glen and Sal

Did you just have yours balanced?

My entire battle was long and tiring. In the end, removing the balance beads, road force balance, and reducing pressure from maximum to appropriate for the weight were the things that solved my problem. The road force balance mostly eliminated the vibration and the pressures reduced the ride harshness. I suspect it would have been cheaper (certainly less time consuming) to have just purchased quality tires from a quality shop from the start.

Not related but possibly worth noting. While the tire work was being done, I had the shop install new valve stems on all six wheels (long, solid stems on the duals). This eliminated a slow pressure loss problem and made checking the pressure easy. I previously had flexible steel extensions that leaked like crazy - once removed, access to them stems was a challenge.

Glen and Sal · 06-17-2014, 08:19 PM

Thanks for the explanation of the road force balancing. That is differant that what my local shop was going to do.

I am planning to just live with the vibration untill I can replace the two front tires. I'll save best one to use as a spare. Hankooks keep coming up in the forums here, so I need to do a little homework and decide what to get.