Balancing wheels

[Simpson9508]

I am going to replace my tires with G614's. I know that if I have them balanced they must use the "lug centric" method. For all of you going to the G614's are you having them balanced or is it really necessary?

[DQDick]

We had ours balanced, don't know if we had to.

[HOOK]

Ours are not balanced.

[Johnnyg]

We had our new tires balanced

[jfaberna]

It was only $50 to have all 4 G614's balanced before they mounted them, so I did it.

[bigskyjimmy]

No,was told by Les Schwab tires it was not needed but he would if I wanted too but I said Nah the Old Marathons were not and the Monty rode smooth and it rides smooth now with the new G's unbalanced all's been good

[rohrmann]

We had ours balanced. I know there is a lot of talk about conventional balancing and lug-centric balancing, but having machinist background, and looking at the aluminum wheels, it sure looks like the machined center hole of the wheel is pretty well centered relative to the lug holes. I suspect steel wheels may not be as centered as the aluminum wheels, so maybe that is where the need for lug-centric balancing comes from. I have not seen any irregular wear, so far, that would indicate an out-of-balance condition, so I'm good with how these were balanced. I think the excuse that 'we don't balance them' is just that, a lazy excuse. There is already enough stress on these suspension systems and bearings, and having an imbalanced wheel just adds to the problems. All this is just IMHO

[WeBeFulltime]

I never have tires of any kind installed without having them balanced. I prefer the "force balance" which matches the wheel/tire before actual balancing.

[sambam]

I asked about balancing when I picked up the new tires. I was told they never balance trailer tires or dually tires? I accepted that since they're the "experts". The tire guy said something about the weight on the tires negating the need for balancing. I read something about trailer tire balancing in Trailer Life some time ago. Even those guys seemed kinda "meh" about the idea, so.........I guess we'll see down the road.

[Phil P]

Hi

I changed my G614’s out at about 50,000 miles because of the unusual edge wear that a lot of us have had. They had not been balanced and were beginning to show signs of wear caused by being out of balance.

Tredit had mounted my tires and they didn’t balance them.

I use a Goodyear commercial truck tire dealer for most of my tires. They balance most all of the tires they install on semi trailers.

I put new wheels and tires on 20,000 miles ago and they were balanced and they are wearing much better.

Also in the 70,000 miles I have put on the trailer I have had the axel alignment checked twice by truck & trailer alignment shops with no fault found either time.

I would recommend having a good truck tire dealer check you axel alignment and balance your trailer tires.

Phil P

[lostshakerofsalt]

From my point of view, at the cost of the G614s I want as much mileage as possible. So I balance mine. At one visit to the service center I had one that had severe enough cupping that Keystone replaced it because they deemed it unsafe.

By the way, if you have your new G614s mounted at Wally World, they will mount and balance for $12 each. Don't even have to buy them there.

[mlh]

I balance mine use synthetic oil, use diesel fuel additive. Does any of this matter ain't got a clue.
Lynwood.

[Crossthread]

If you have ever seen a car driving down the highway with one tire hopping, then think what is being shaken in the trailer. Not balancing the tires is kinda like never greasing the wet bolt kit after they are installed. Bill

[gkidsdlite]

Just my opinion but I would not only balance them but would rotate and also have them rebalanced as I would my car or truck especially if I was traveling a lot of miles! "An ounce of prevention" as they say. Its cheaper and less aggravating than being broken down out in the middle of nowhere!

[Montana Sky]

I have always balanced the tires on all my trailers - horse trailer, boat trailer, 5th wheel, and car trailer. I know how it feels driving down the road with one of the truck tires out of balance so I decided not to put any additional wear/tear/vibration on any of my rigs. Cost is cheap compared to repair bills down the road in my opinion.

[Lack of HP]

I had my 614's balanced. My dealer insisted on this as it was part of my deal anyway as I traded my old (new) marathons in with the deal he made with Goodyear. I would have done it anyway. Always have balanced.
Have seen some units go down the road with the axle shaking from what appeared to be a tire out of balance. Small price for what 4 tires cost. my 2 cents. Joe

[Drifty1]

I had our 614's balanced. My belief is when your tire is out of balance it transmits the stress to your wheel bearing and other parts. I think I like my tire,bearings and brakes rolling down the road in a smooth line.... How many times do you think company's balance their big motors and rotating equipment so it does not shake apart. That is my opinion....

[mazboy]

no. don't waste your money.

[brooksider]

If you believe that yor TV tires need to balanced, why would you not balance the trailer tires.Going down the same road, same speed. It only makes sense to balance them.