Unbalanced tires

[Hoopy Frood]

And if you do have them balanced, they need to be done hub centric and not wheel centric (I forget why!). Not every place that does balancing can do it correctly.

I think you mean "lug centric" and not "hub centric". It's because the lugs locate the wheel rather than the hub, unlike most other vehicles.

[Captcolour]

Thanks. Knew I was off a little but knew there was a difference.

[Dakota]

“ What??? Any tire that spins should be balanced. Have you ever seen a tire bouncing vertically on the highway? There could be other factors (out of round, bad or non existent shock absorbers, etc). Thanks for the questionable quote but my tires will always be balanced.”

Good for you. Obviously you are smarter than the NATM.

[Hoopy Frood]

“ What??? Any tire that spins should be balanced. Have you ever seen a tire bouncing vertically on the highway? There could be other factors (out of round, bad or non existent shock absorbers, etc). Thanks for the questionable quote but my tires will always be balanced.”

Good for you. Obviously you are smarter than the NATM.

No reason to think otherwise. I'm sure the NATM doesn't have a lock on smartness. And keeping things simple for the trailer industry is to their benefit.

[AZMike]

No trailer (RV, boat, utility) I've ever seen came with balanced tires.

The reason is two words - Money and Time.

[huntindog]

There are two camps of thought on this. and each side is generally stubborn on their opinion.

Many years ago when I was young and broke, I was looking at some used tires for my car... New was out of reach, and used was a stretch...When the older gentleman behind the counter wrote up the tires and installation, He could tell that the price was a big problem. He told me that I could save some money by not balancing the rear tires.... That since it was a solid axle it would be OK. He then cut the balancing charge for the fronts in half, telling me that since they were independant and move in many directions, that they needed to be balanced. He did warn me against ever mounting the rear unbalanced tires on the front.

I found that he spoke the truth, even though it reduced his price, and to this day I still appreciate what he did for me that day.

Fast forward to today. I have plenty of money so it is no longer an issue. When buying new tires, I have always asked for free balancing to seal the deal. I have always got it thrown in.... But I am not hard core in my opinion. My new trailers have never come from the factory balanced....And I don't stress over it.

So what ever camp you are in, I will just leave with one caution. Trailer wheels are lug centric, not hub centric. This means the the center pilot hole is larger that the hub (which is usually not machined anyways) it may not even be centered on the wheel. For this reason, the only sure way to obtain a balanced tire/wheel is to have the shop use a lug plate when doing it. Forgoing this extra step may well make the out of balance condition worse.

[nuggett]

Ck this out .....
Centramatic
https://www.centramatic.com/videos.rhtml
Ordered set for my 351M should be delivered next week.

[Scott'n'Wendy]

I am no tire balancing expert. I'm in maintenance and see what out of balance equipment can do to bearings and mounts of those bearings in the long term. So I balance every wheel I own. Except the wheelbarrow......and thinking about that...cuz sometimes I run....lol
That said, I'm not sure about the hub centric/lug centric debate. With todays CNC machines that are cutting and drilling wheels I'm willing to bet that there is virtually no difference anymore with regard to balancing one way or the other. The CNC runs from a datum and I would find it hard to believe that there is more than one or two thou variance between the two radii of the hub and the lug holes from centre.
Just my opinion.
Also...I've seen people driving vehicles down the road with a wheel going up and down like crazy. I figure the vibration must be ridiculous in the car but it must be caused by out of balance wheels. And it will wear stuff out fast.

[ElSimon]

On out last trailer, Creekside bumper pull, I ended up needing the dual axles aligned shortly after buying the trailer new. I also had the tire balanced. The difference in pulling was VERY noticeable. I haven't needed to have the axles aligned on our 310GK...yet...knock on wood. Just another thing to think about. The alignment specialist we took the last trailer to said he has seen a few over the years and everyone was out enough that it required his services. Not sure if every trailer does but the ones he has seen did. I wonder if the unbalanced tires had enough affect to cause the misalignment??

[huntindog]

On out last trailer, Creekside bumper pull, I ended up needing the dual axles aligned shortly after buying the trailer new. I also had the tire balanced. The difference in pulling was VERY noticeable. I haven't needed to have the axles aligned on our 310GK...yet...knock on wood. Just another thing to think about. The alignment specialist we took the last trailer to said he has seen a few over the years and everyone was out enough that it required his services. Not sure if every trailer does but the ones he has seen did. I wonder if the unbalanced tires had enough affect to cause the misalignment??

Trailers are not like cars where alignment can be adjusted. The alignment is fixed when the spring hangers are welded in place. If it is done properly, it will be aligned. If it was not, the proper fix is to cut the hangers off and weld new ones on in the correct position. Some will go to an alignment shop, and they will bend the axles to compensate for the incorrectly installed hangers. This can fix the immeadiate issue but, if the axle ever needs replacing later due to an accident or a spun bearing, the new axle would need to be bent at an alignment shop to match the one that was damaged.This can be pretty hard to do on the road, and cost more time and money. If the proper fix of replacing the spring hangers correctly had been done....Install a new axle and be on your way. It can be done on the side of the road. I have personally done this due to a spun bearing.
If your spring hangers were installed correctly from the factory, and you develop an alignment problem later, then that means something got bent, worn, or damaged. The proper fix is to determine the cause and try to prevent it. The causes can be worn spring bushings (replace and upgrade them),overloading (lighten the load and or get heavier axles) Damage due to potholes, curbing railroad crossings etc( be more careful and consider heavier axles.)

Visiting an alignment shop can solve the immeadiate problem, but if the underlying reason is not addressed, it will reoccur sooner or later.
The RV industry tends to put the lightest axles that they legally can on their units. They are easily bent from a normal impact such as the road hazards previous mentioned.. Upgrading axles is the second most important change one can make to their trailer. The first is putting good tires on it