Tire Balancing

SilveradoWV · September 4, 2002

Well I got the aluminum wheels from Dihappy (thanks again) and also got some new tires for them! I went with Cooper Discoverer A/Ts in a 265/75/16 8 ply. Around 55 mph I have a vibration in the steering wheel, so I took it back to the place I bought them and they balanced the fronts again. The Drivers side was off 1oz and the passenger side was off like .25oz. So I thought this would fix the problem, but I dont think it did! While I was in there today they said it is really hard to static balance?? that big and that heavy of a tire! They recommended something that goes inside the tires, I think they called it "equal". What are my options and has anyone had any experience with that equal stuff? Thanks!

chevy4x4trucks · September 4, 2002

a lot of guys running oversized tires will use equal to keep down wheel vibration, but the place shouldn't have any problems w/ 265's (which aren't all that big of a tire by way of comparison). I had my 305's mounted by fireblowns w/o any problems.

Shaners · September 4, 2002

It's possible you might have a tire that is defective or out of round...

GreenRado · September 4, 2002

Yeah, WV I'd investigate the out-of-round possibility - you might need to go to an alignment shop that specializes in these issues, like radial force variation, etc.

Or if you can pin it down to a particular tire or axle, maybe have your tire dealer replace the offender(s) .

Hope that helps some!

carguru · September 4, 2002

The Equal stuff is actually pretty good. It can be used to keep the wheels from being scarred by balance weight being hammered on by the tire techs. I've been tempted to try it out. But as the others said, I'd check out whether the tires are out of round.

SilveradoWV · September 5, 2002

Thanks guys, I am trying to avoid putting weights on the outside, thats why they mentioned the equal, but a lot of people only run weights on the inside only. I am going to have them bubble balanced tomorrow versus the spin type balance I have had the last 2 times. Just doing this as a comparison, after 2 times on the spin machine they should be balanced, so if the bubble balancer says they are balanced I will start trying to find a bad tire! Thanks for the help!

racer · September 5, 2002

you might try having the tires balanced onthe truck

SilveradoWV · September 5, 2002

I have heard of that but not sure who does it around here????

Stepside Z · September 5, 2002

My 285's were balanced with the weights placed on the inside of the rim. I also agree that it might be a bad tire.

blacksab2 · September 5, 2002

Look for a shop that has a "Ride Match" machine. The machine measures wheel round-out and tire round-out and has the tech mark and index on the tire and wheel. The tech the unmounts the tire and lines up the two indexes. It costs about $15 a wheel, but I have used it and it does work. Discount Tire is who does it my area, and below is a link that takes you to there website to explain the procedure. Good Luck!

http://www.discounttire.com/dtc/brochure/i...esRideMatch.jsp

blacksab2 · September 5, 2002

Also, here is a link to the manufacture of the machine. Click on "Wheel Balancer" on the left side, then click on "GSP9700 Vibration Control System", then click "Locate a GSP9700" in the top right hand corner, it will take you to a search page so you can find out what shops in your area use this machine.

http://www.hunter.com/pub/product/braketester/index2.htm

SilveradoWV · September 5, 2002

Thanks, I just got back from having the fronts bubble balanced and I think that worked! We didnt have to add any weight or take any off, just move them some! Will drive it for a few days to be sure that got it, will let you know what happens next!

Also thanks for the links, will check them out!