Why wouldn't you balance trailer tires???

[johnpsz]

I have been to 3 different tire shops this past week doing price comparisons, and each one never included balancing in their quotes, when I asked for them to do balancing they each gave me similarly dumb looks and said that they never balance trailer tires.

WTH, why not? I would assume that 4 unbalanced tires on the trailer would vibrate the trailer worse than one unbalanced tire on the TV, right? Either way I'm insisting on balancing, but not sure why it's seems so common of a practice that each of the 3 places said that they "never balance trailer tires". It just doesn't make sense to me...

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[campers2]

You will get them balanced if you pay for it. If they refuse, keep looking.


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[Tombstonejim]

I balance all my trailer tires specially horse trailers. The things will flat spot in 100miles if you don't.

 

[jnbhobe]

10-4

 

[branson4020]

Was one of those dealers Les Schwab? When I got my new Maxxis tires from them, they just wrote it up with mounting, balancing, and new metal valve stems before I could even ask.

 

[Birchwood]

I guess Heartland sees no need to balance trailer tires either.My tires were not balanced when I bought our Landmark .

 

[Miltp920]

My tire store said the same thing. He said he does not even balance his own toyhauler tires. He balanced mine upon my request.

 

[wrgrs50s]

We all know how a washing machine running out of balance feels. Now imagine 4 washing machines out of balance under your rig at the same time. That may be a little exaggerated, but you get the idea.

It may explain a lot of water leaks, trim coming loose, wiring coming loose, etc., for those who dont balance their tires. Just saying !!

 

[dbbls59]

I had a tire dealer tell me one time, "if it turns, it needs to be balanced." I always balance my trailer tires.

 

[johnpsz]

We all know how a washing machine running out of balance feels. Now imagine 4 washing machines out of balance under your rig at the same time. That may be a little exaggerated, but you get the idea.

It may explain a lot of water leaks, trim coming loose, wiring coming loose, etc., for those who dont balance their tires. Just saying !!

my point exactly, why wouldn't they balance them?

As for the other comments, Les Schwab was the first one I went to and was pricing tires for the trailer when I was in getting my alignment done on my TV. the odd part is this Les Schwab is almost around the corner from my house and they know me well, and know how "picky" I am and they still said that they don't balance trailer tires. when I said I wanted it they added it onto the quote, but it still baffled me that people wouldn't balance trailer tires?

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[piet10]

When I replaced my Towmax tires with Michelin Ribs National Tire and Battery included balancing as part of the standard deal. I made sure they balanced them with the TPMS sensors installed. I noticed a big difference in ride. Later added the EquaFlex with Never Fail bushings (my stock nylon bearings were shot after about 4000 miles). Just got back from a 7300 mile road trip and the trailer pulls smooth as silk.

Al
HOC 2260

 

[campers2]

Only tire I would not balance is Tow Max. They won't be there very long.


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[JohnD]

We all know how a washing machine running out of balance feels. Now imagine 4 washing machines out of balance under your rig at the same time. That may be a little exaggerated, but you get the idea.

It may explain a lot of water leaks, trim coming loose, wiring coming loose, etc., for those who dont balance their tires. Just saying !!

It could also explain a lot of tire separations and blowouts, too!

 

[cfulton]

I always have the balance dust/beads put in mine (truck and trailer). Equal is one of the brand names. The tires rebalance every time you stop and restart. Never a problem thereafter. Do think that is what the big rigs do.
Cheers

 

[Lynn1130]

Discount Tire. They balance everything they put on no matter what the vehicle.

 

[Jim.Allison]

Its not tire balancing, it is wheel balancing. While a tire is not perfect, the entire wheel is not perfect, and neither is the brake drum. I paid 80 bucks to balance my wheels. But next time I will invest in these (see link) and never have to balance my wheels ever again and my wheel and hub will be balanced even when caked with mud or ice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ullnFQD4F1I

To make matters worse, when you have wheel assemblies that are not balanced, they all work together as the vibration between the wheels phases in and out. The vibration can increase and decrease depending on the relationship between teh unbalance wheel assemblies. IT is a must to balance any rotating assembly for added bearing life, tire life, spring and shock life as well as the life of the somewhat delicate trailer.

I guess Heartland sees no need to balance trailer tires either.My tires were not balanced when I bought our Landmark .

 

[johnpsz]

Its not tire balancing, it is wheel balancing. While a tire is not perfect, the entire wheel is not perfect, and neither is the brake drum. I paid 80 bucks to balance my wheels. But next time I will invest in these (see link) and never have to balance my wheels ever again and my wheel and hub will be balanced even when caked with mud or ice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ullnFQD4F1I

To make matters worse, when you have wheel assemblies that are not balanced, they all work together as the vibration between the wheels phases in and out. The vibration can increase and decrease depending on the relationship between teh unbalance wheel assemblies. IT is a must to balance any rotating assembly for added bearing life, tire life, spring and shock life as well as the life of the somewhat delicate trailer.

WOW, I never knew this product existed, we always used equal or even plastic bb's to balance big offload tires, I'm going to by a set of these to try out on my TV ASAP, if they balance it out then a set will be ordered for the trailer too. Thanks Jim...

 

[gtsum2]

After having brand new tires on a trailer vibrate at 62mph I had them balanced now smooth as glass. Recommend balancing all tires

 

[johnpsz]

Well I had the new 235/85/16 R250 Ribs mounted and balanced last night, and hoping to get them on the trailer this weekend.

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[Wrenched]

I learned something recently that demonstrated another important reason to have your tires balanced (in addition to all the excellent advice here).

We had a flat on one of the Towmax tires in our 4100 that couldn't be repaired because the belts had shifted. (2nd one so far).
At the tire store where we went near Sault St. Marie, MI., they trotted out a Carlisle replacement (not my first choice) and mounted it.
They were unable to balance the assembly, even with rotating the tire 90 degrees on the rim. Their tire machine kept rejecting it.
Our installer had to get another tire out of stock in order to have success balancing the assembly.

If I hadn't insisted that they balance the tire and wheel assembly, I never would have known that the tire was so out of round that it couldn't be balanced - until the inevitable advanced wear and shaking showed up,...

Items inside the trailer stay put much better with balanced wheels.

To answer your question - prevailing thinking is that trailer tires don't matter much, are cheap and mounted on things that don't carry precious cargo (tell that to anyone with a stock trailer) and face intermittent use - so balancing is a waste of money. Also, since they are usually loaded so close to their maximum, out of balance effects are somewhat less than on a lightly loaded tire/wheel assembly.

Most of us who haul further than a couple of miles and travel at highway speeds with our expensive homes on wheels appreciate the benefits of balanced assemblies.