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Old 01-17-2013, 03:59 PM   #1
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Balanced Tires

Does anyone know if Jayco as a normal practice balances the tires on new units? One of my neighbors with a Designer just replaced his original tires and noticed that the original tires / wheels did not have any weights on them. So being curious, I checked the tires / wheels on my 2012 351 RLTS and again no wheel weights or signs where they might have been.
I am wondering if I should have the wheels pulled and balanced. I dont see any signs of abnormal wear, cupping etc.

This amy not be in the correct nitch in the forum so please moderators. feel free to move if appropriate.
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Old 01-17-2013, 04:32 PM   #2
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That's a good question. I don't know if Jayco or the dealer balances tires. But we all know anything that turns at high speed should run smooth. Vibrations would damage more than just the tires. I don't think it's a big problem (maybe not a problem at all), but I'm going to check mine.
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Old 01-17-2013, 04:55 PM   #3
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Mine aren't balanced.

A close family friend is a 3rd generation owner of a large multi-location tire service specializing in Agriculture & Trailer Equip for over 75 years. I took my TT to him to check brakes, inspect bearing and balance wheels. He did everything but balance the wheels. I questioned why it wasn't donw and he said not to worry about it unless you were experiencing a ride issue. 1.5 camping seasons on this trailer with no issues without balancing, TT pulls smooth and the tires aren't showing any signs unusual wear patterns.

All that said, if I wasn't talked out of it by someone I trust, these tires would be balanced :-) It ceratinly isn't the cost...around here a 4 tire balance is $30-$50 depending on the shop. Certainly not something I would skimp on to save a couple $ if it was necessary.

I'll be interested to hear others oppinions.
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Old 01-17-2013, 05:18 PM   #4
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I would assume that unless the RV has a drivetrain, the rims/tires were not balanced.

A year after purchasing my 2005 Jayco I had all five rims/tires balanced (during brake/bearing PM), and all five tires required weights.

Last summer (2012) I purchased a new set of rims/tires and had them balanced, all four took weights.

The way I look at it is minimizing any vibration in the TT while in tow is a good thing

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Old 01-17-2013, 06:47 PM   #5
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I have not had a trailer yet from the factory that has the tires balanced. And yes I balance all my tires on everything I own and don't have any trouble. For what tires cost a little to balance them and get a little more out of them is worth it to me. And yes everyone has taken weight.
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Old 01-17-2013, 10:32 PM   #6
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I spent a good portion of my working years in the tire business- In my opinion based on my experience, all wheel/tire units should be balanced and rotated on a regular basis- Very few wheel/tire units will not require some weights- Reducing vibrations in the coach will allow items not properly stored to stay where placed and reduce breakage or damage- JMHO- DD
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Old 01-18-2013, 12:41 AM   #7
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My new tires were balanced.
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Old 01-18-2013, 05:13 AM   #8
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I always have trailer tires balanced. And rebalanced after every few thousand miles. Weight requirements change as tires wear on trailers just like they do on our tow vehicles or passenger cars.
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Old 01-18-2013, 11:00 AM   #9
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I have owned 2 new fifth wheels from different manufacturers and seen plenty of other new ones. Never saw one balanced from the factory. I pulled them and had it done myself. I did not have any abnormal wear patterns or such but it makes sense to eliminate the source of a problem.

Some say the balancing is not for the tire but the passenger, I say it is a pipe dream to expect any tire and rim to be balanced w/o checking it on a proper machine.

On my new rig, I replaced the valve stems with all metal when I balanced them.
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Old 01-18-2013, 09:29 PM   #10
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Thanks for the response. Looks like I will make an appointment to have the wheels / tires balanced as soon as we get home.
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Old 01-19-2013, 04:57 PM   #11
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Anytime I buy an RV the first stop is always at my tire dealer to get the tires balanced... just because U cannot feel the shaking from the RV does not mean it is not doing any damage...
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Old 03-17-2013, 01:11 PM   #12
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I have a Pinnacle 36 REQS and they do not balance from the factory. I had cupping on the inside of one tire and it had to be replaced and also the rim was way out of whack and have had to replace it.
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Old 03-18-2013, 11:53 AM   #13
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We've owned three boat (two were tandem axle) and 5 TT's. None of them were balanced. When I replaced a tire on my Boat Trailer, my tire guy did not balance them. I've been doing business with him for over 17 years. He states that there is no need to balance trailer tires.

I'd like to believe that if the manufacture is not balancing them out of the factory, then it's not needed. Just a thought!
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Old 03-19-2013, 10:10 AM   #14
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Can't hurt. Might help.
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Old 03-19-2013, 11:18 AM   #15
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I had mine balanced. My mindset is that if the tire is distorted under high speeds it can't be good. Each one of mine needed weights when it was done.

There has to be some benefit to balancing aside from comfort. Our trailers do hundreds of miles at highway speeds where most other trailers like boats or utility only stay local. In the local case I can see balancing not making much of a difference since the tires dry rot before they wear out.

Do big rigs balance the trailer tires? I am always swerving out of the way from some trucks retread or blowout during our excursions.
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Old 03-19-2013, 12:10 PM   #16
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No, big rigs do not balance their tires.

In fact is is rare that trailer tires are balanced, but usually tire shops are more than willing to balance them, most often customers don't want to pay the difference.

With dual wheel rims, most often the tire companies will only balance the front wheels, they claim that the rear dually will offset any imperfections in the balance, however, over the years of driving duallies, I have always insisted that all 6 tires are balanced.

Yes there are advantages of balancing the tires more than just comfort, it will help a tire wear more evenly.

One more thing about trailer tires, on average, trailer tires are not worn out, rather will age out. Tires are good for about 4 years, so if you estimate 3,000 miles a year, that's only 12,000 miles tire life.
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Old 11-02-2013, 01:47 PM   #17
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I did a search for this topic, so I know this is an old thread. But I had the same question, to balance or not?

I was reading an article about this topic so I checked my wheels too and no weights. I was wondering if most trailer tires are smaller in diameter than car tires so balancing has less effect. However the wheels on my 33bhbs are similar in size to a car tires. The article talked about vibration inside the trailer while towing being significantly higher with unbalanced tires. Trailers are a sprung mass without damping. In other words only springs with no shocks. You shouldn't under estimate the destructive effects of vibration. We do extensive testing in the auto industry to ensure products can survive the vibrations found in a car. I would doubt the trailer, it's fasteners, equipment, plumbing, fridge, furnace etc go through that level of testing. I would go for anything that reduces vibration. I would be interested in any other thoughts.

BTW I have aluminum wheels on my trailer and I noticed they don't have the normal lip found on normal steel or auto rims. Can these be balanced?

Flyrotor, my friend in Canada invented a system to inject a balancing material through the valve stem on truck tires. The material flows inside the tire and continually balances the tire from the inside. I don't know if it ever took off. I need to ask him if it would work for my trailer tires now that I think about it. Maybe he worked on this because most do not balance, so I could be wrong. I know he talked about how much labor was involved in removing and balancing 18 tires!
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Old 11-02-2013, 08:02 PM   #18
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Last time I had one of new tires balanced with cast aluminum rims they used some type weight that sticks on the inside of the rim, not the lip.
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Old 11-04-2013, 07:57 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by norty1 View Post
Last time I had one of new tires balanced with cast aluminum rims they used some type weight that sticks on the inside of the rim, not the lip.
Thanks norty1, now that you mention that I've seen that before and didn't think about that. I was wondering if the back side of the wheel has the standard lip. My trailer is in storage so I can't go look at the wheels.
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Old 11-04-2013, 08:55 PM   #20
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No mention of balancer fluid so far. That is what I use.
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