Tire balance

[Ray]

Hey everyone, First up I searched the forum and couldn't find anything on this - but then as I have said before for some reason I cant figure out how to search and get good results - so if this is a repeat sorry.

Just looked at my tires - I need new ones. I am looking at Michelin MS2, Firestone Trans force HT, or Uniroyal Laredo HD. I have heard really good things about all of them - so if you have any opinions pls throw them in with any response.

But the real question is about balancing them. I am asking the stores if they road force balance cause I really do believe that is way better than spin balancing (from experience)

But I have been hearing about some people not doing either and just throwing a bag Of "equal?" inside the tire and that would be a lifetime balance. I guess its ceramic beads. I know nothing about this and was wondering if anyone has used this and what they thought about it.

I read somewhere that some people just throw some BB's in there and that works - I am not going to do that, I have been told a bag of this equal runs about $15.00 - I can afford that if that's the way I go

Thanx, Ray

[whemme]

I am on my 3rd set of Firestone Transforce HT tires. I install new every 5 years and as a result have never suffered a tire failure.

Currently the Tire Rack price for the Transforce tire (LT225/R75-16E) is $146 whereas the Michelin LTX tire is $194. Evidently the Tire Rack does not handle the Uniroyal Loredo HD tire in that size so has no price for comparison.

In retirement, I had a part time job for 10 years at our Regional Transit Authority and they owned about 50 transit buses on the Ford E350 and E450 chassis. The mechanics these always used the Transforce tires on those buses.

The tire shop that I use has a Hunter balance machine that is capable of road force balancing tires. That is the best way of balancing these tires although you may need to ask the tire technician to make sure they use that mode of the machine.

I have no experience with using beads inside the tires for balancing them that way.

[SteveS]

My Born Free came with Michelin tires and I had a great deal of problems with them. The first set developed sidewall cracks. Michelin replaced them at the 82% level. The next set resulted in 3 blow-outs in two years. I took Bill's advice and switched the Firestone Transforce tires and have had no problems. I used the Balance Beads and have been very happy with them. Plus it is " do it once and done!"

[Ray]

Thanks guys - I am between the Uniroyal and the Transforce.

Its strange, so far everyone I call says the Michelin's are the best. But they sell the most of the transforce and Uniroyal and they say they excellent tires. When I question them why Michelin are the best they can not tell me a good reason. The only thing I can come up with is everyone says they are the best cause they are named Michelin. One ford dealer told me that Michelin was the best, but they dont stock them, but they do stock transforce. Strange.

Anyhow - I am not sure about these beads - they are only 5 bucks more than balancing the tires and and they last forever. I guess I am wondering if they work that good, and if they are that cheap ----- why is anyone balancing tires anymore?????

I guess I am the big skeptic - LOL

So far I have not heard anything bad about them - but I really want to here from RV owners and their thoughts and experiences.

[cmeadows]

Ray,

Beads work great on the Born Free. I use beads instead of rim-mounted wheel weights and they run smooth as silk. I put in 3 ounces per tire when the tire is mounted to the wheel. The beads that I use will not fit through the valve core so they must be added while the wheel is off the coach with one side of the tire pushed off of the rim enough to pour them in.

Beads work well over the long-term by continuously balancing the tires without the need for a re-balance after the tire has worn. Beads balance the entire wheel assembly including the stainless steel wheel liner and air hose extensions. Beads will not correct an out-of-round tire or dynamically out-of-balance tire. If the tires are good, beads work perfectly for a static balance on the tire as you drive. If you have any doubt about the dynamic balance condition of your new set of tires, you can have them computer balanced to correct the dynamic balance and then leaving the rim weights intact, break down one side and add the beads for a long-term static balance.

There are lots of brands of balancing beads and powders out there. Many are ridiculously expensive. I use Crosman "High Impact" .25 grams 6mm airsoft BBs (available at Wal-Mart). They work well and stay in the tire when adding/removing air. They are also the highest weight per BB on the market. They are a polymer and will not rust. I weigh them with postal scales and put 3 ounces worth of these in each tire when mounting. I also keep a couple 3oz pre-measured zip-lock bags of these beads in the coach in case we ever need tire repairs while traveling.

http://www.amazon.com/Crosman-AirSoft-5 ... B003QNGOTY

General comments on tires and balancing . . .

I mount and balance my own tires. It’s not that I like doing tire work—it’s more because I’m picky. I like to clean the rim extremely well to prevent future leaks. I don’t mind taking my time and doing a good job because usually the result is less required maintenance later.

One quality that I like to see in a new tire is the ability to balance it on the dynamic spin balancer with minimal weight added. Another indication of tire build quality is the location of the weight needed to balance it. If the computer balancer calls for weight on the inside and outside in drastically different locations (greater than 90 degrees circumference) then the tire/wheel assembly is dynamically out of balance. When I find this condition, I break down the tire and rotate it 180 degrees on the wheel. If the spin balancer then calls for the same weight distribution, I rotate the tire 90 degrees on the wheel and try again. If the balancer again calls for the same weight distribution, I conclude that the tire is dynamically out of balance and use rim mounted wheel weights to correct the dynamic balance. This also results in a tire that is statically balanced.

In a set of 4 tires, 3 are usually good and sometimes all 4 are good. As an indicator of tire quality, I've often seen 3 tires balance with very little weight where the 4th one then requires several times the weight required by any of the others. I don’t know if Michelin makes a better tire, but I’ve never had a set of Michelins with this 3-out-of-4 condition. My guess would be that they have tighter standards of what passes through quality control and maybe the price is higher to pay for the bad ones that never ship—I don’t know.

Tires sold as blems are often tires that failed to meet manufacturer standards for roundness, dynamic and/or static balance. I bought my last set of blems 36 years ago—they ran just fine but they needed re-balanced every 5,000 miles.

My wife's car has a set of Michelin tires that required one-quarter of an ounce of weight on one wheel and the three others required no weights. They are wide, low profile tires (beads won’t work in them). I re-balanced them at 50,000 miles and added 2 weights at a half-ounce each. I fully expect to make the 90,000 mile warranted mark in 12,000 miles without another re-balance.

Beads work well on tall, skinny tires and will only correct a static balance. Beads don’t work well on wide low-profile tires.

Chuck

[Ray]

Thanks for all the feed back and suggestions - I decided to go with the Firestone Transforce H/T 225/R75/16E - $1050.00 for six out the door. They should have them in a couple days.

I went with the road force balance - the beads intrique me but not yet ready for that yet - hard to teach a old dog new tricks - lol. Maybe next time.

Now my only concern is what the manufacture date is - they said they have no control over that - I explained that I did



My spare has a bent rim - anyone know what I need to know to get a new one?

[cmeadows]

As an update to my post where I mentioned my wife's car with low profile tires, I installed a new set of tires (205/60R-15 Michelin Primacy MXV4). As a test, where beads are thought to not work on low-profile tires, I balanced them solely with beads and they are running perfectly smooth without any rim-mounted weights. My only conclusion as to why beads work on these low-profile tires is that the tires are in good dynamic balance from the factory. On curves at freeway speeds, the beads shift within the tire toward the outer edge of the curve but still maintain static balance. For the tires to continue to run smooth in a curve, both sides of the tire would have to be in good dynamic balance. While I am very pleased with the results, I’m also a little surprised. The variable that I did not test was the tires on a computer balancer to see how much they were out of balance in the first place. When mounting them, I put 1 ounce of beads in each tire and skipped the computer balancer. It could be that the tires were in perfect balance from the factory. If this is the case, the beads have proven, at worst, to not interfere with a perfect balance. It will be interesting to monitor the balance as the tires wear. I’m fully expecting to avoid using rim weights to balance them. So far, these low profile tires are working perfectly with the balance beads.