Wheel balancers

[kenty]

Does anyone have any experience with the various wheel balancers that are out there? I have seen a couple advertised - Centramatic is the only one that comes to mind right now. I am considering adding these but want to know the pros and cons. I have an '03 3500 dually quad cab.



Big Bertha's driver.

 

[Slow Six]

I've had the Centramatics for over 4 years and I like them. I still get new tires balanced. Since using the Centramatics I have not had any cupping or vibration problems due to an imbalance situation. I had a partially worn set of "not" Good Years when I started using the Centramatics. There was no further cupping of the tires until I took them off. The only con I can think of is the whoozing sound at low speeds. You can only hear it when the windows are down. We are hoping to upgrade our fiver soon and if they will fit I will put a set on it.

 

[dram99]

i have extenstive experience with wheel balancers when i purchased new or remounted used tires. . it's called the tire shop. one thing to remember is to buy top quality tires with a life time warranty that includes balancing and rotating anytime. . if the tires give you any vibration when newly mounted take them back for a rebalance. i recently did this with a new set of mich. mtx when they were not smooth running down the highway and also the extreme amount of weights on each wheel (3/4-1 oz). they rebalanced the tires and remounted one, now i have 1/2 or less on each wheel and they run extremly smooth. .
i think of snake oil----- if they were so good you would see them on the big rigs and or on some of the exotic forigen cars. .

sorry for the apperance of a slam but i hate to see anyone taken for a ride. just my opinion

duane

 

[amsoilman]

Does anyone have any experience with the various wheel balancers that are out there? I have seen a couple advertised - Centramatic is the only one that comes to mind right now. I am considering adding these but want to know the pros and cons. I have an '03 3500 dually quad cab.



Big Bertha's driver.

I have a 2003 CTD SRW truck using the "Balance Masters" wheel balancers. They work very nicely and I've never had any problems with them in the three years I've owned them. In my opinion, they are well worth the money! As a side note, my tires have worn better since using them as well.



Wayne

 

[MHorner]

I have them on my truck and fifth wheel. Work good after three years.

 

[Semicrazy]

I have had centramatics for a few months now. I installed some used choppy315s that I picked up cheap on new rims and I only had them balanced with weights on the inside. The centramatics have done a nice job at most speed and I can see the tires wearing very evenly. You can not tell the tires were all choppy before.



I keep trying to hear the centramatics, but with the stacks I can not hear them even if I stick my head out the window.



Otherwise with a stock exhaust I would have gone with the balance master.

 

[2 Ram Fam]

I have the centa-matics on my 2004. 5 for about a year now. The goodyear silent armours had a slight vibration at high speed before the balancers. They are perfect now. I believe no matter how good your tires are balanced on a machine,they can still be off balance when on the truck,for a couple reasons. Most wheel balancers use the center of the wheel for mounting it to the balance machine which can be a little different than the actual lug holes. Also my centra-matics balance the entire rotating assembly,hubs,rotors ,axels,ect.

 

[SWithrow]

I installed them on my truck and have driven about 5000 miles on a new set of tires. They work great and my tires have very even wear. I would suggest you get them.

 

[MickeyMiller]

I have been using Counteract Balance Beads for 22K miles (rotated every 6K). If wear is detectable, it is uniform on all 6 tires! [Not a dually... I just ended up with 6 nes BFGs and H2 rims, so why not... ] Couldn't be happier with the beads!

 

[rweis]

Centramatics on truck & 5er. Very satisfied, good wear pattern, smoother ride. They do the swoosh up to about 20 mph, then no noise.



Bob Weis

 

[rbattelle]

i think of snake oil----- if they were so good you would see them on the big rigs and or on some of the exotic forigen cars. .

Commercial trucks do use something similar. But they put the beads right in the tire when mounting.



Ryan

 

[4xquadrod]

I had to remove the Centramatics from the front because they would rub on my calipers after a while.

 

[drury]

Love my BalanceMasters -- considerably less tire wear than stock.



Two things to be aware of with Centramatics: (1) some complain about low speed noise coming from the internal ball bearings in a parking lot & (2) I have seen several reports on this forum of the bearings getting stuck after a few years. Neither is an issue with the BalanceMasters.

 

[MickeyMiller]

Ryan,

The Counteract balancing beads are used by the commercial market, and did just cut open the bags and dump them into the tire while mounting. I think it was 6 oz/tire. Counteract says you can toss the bag in and wait for it to break open but I didn't really want the remains of the bag floating around in there. I do rap on the sidewall of the tires when I rotate to free the beads up to re-balance at it's new location. You can feel the 'out of balance' when you start moving after rotation and raping! Smooths out in a couple of blocks.

 

[Bachant]

I use Balance Masters, didn't notice any difference after installing them. I don't get and cupping at all and the stock set of tire had legal tread on them at 105,000mi when I replaced them, rotated every 10,000mi. I don't know if one help the other but I won't take them off. Just my . 02

 

[MMeier]

Been running Centramatics on the '03 for a few years now. With almost 90k of hard use on the Michelin LTX/ MS's, they appear almost new, might get a set for the '93, and the 40' GN if I keep it.

 

[Burner]

a friend of mine has a used set of Centrmatics that he is willing to sell.



... . side note, they work well but he swaps tires so often it really doesn't matter.

 

[kenty]

Thanks all for your input. Now it is decision time!



Kent

 

[Jefff929]

Ryan,
The Counteract balancing beads are used by the commercial market, and did just cut open the bags and dump them into the tire while mounting. I think it was 6 oz/tire. Counteract says you can toss the bag in and wait for it to break open but I didn't really want the remains of the bag floating around in there. I do rap on the sidewall of the tires when I rotate to free the beads up to re-balance at it's new location. You can feel the 'out of balance' when you start moving after rotation and raping! Smooths out in a couple of blocks.

Counteract
like these Tire Balancing Products?

 

[DonFitzwater]

Snake oil HELL!!! I put a set on at roughly 10,000 miles thinking I was probably wasting my money. I didn't notice any difference for the first couple of miles due to the 45 mph zone I was in. Then on the expressway I hit 70 and it was like a new set of freshly balanced tires! Worth every penny and the naysayers have no clue simply because they haven't tried them.