Trailer wheels and tires need balancing?

[wavery]

I used to own a tire store that sold a lot of Rv trailer tires and we
started to balance all of them, We found out that 1oz out of balance
is the same as 70lbs at 60mph. So remember that if the steering wheel
in you 3500lb car shakes at 60 because you dont have the proper balance on your front tires and if you notice that your passanger seat
is shaking it means the rear are out of balance. so now think about the trailer and all the stuff that would shake inside. So for the 20 bucks that it might cost to be sure, to me its a no brainer

Murray

           WELCOME TO PUT!!!!

[Toby]

Murray, I'm still not sure on the right way to balance.  Most tire stores take the wheel off and balance it fron the center not on the lugs.  I dont know any shop that can balance it while the wheel is on the trailer.  I live in southern california I have a 2000 jayco on the  original tires, I also want to replace mine and want to do it right.  Last year I had the breaks converted to electric and I asked the shop to inspect and or replace the tires, they said they were fine.  The Tread is ok but they are seven years old and have what looks like cracks on the side walls, Do I go to a regular tire store or dose it need to be a RV shop?  Thanks for your thoughts.   Toby.

[flyfisherman]

The Tread is ok but they are seven years old and have what looks like cracks on the side walls, Do I go to a regular tire store or dose it need to be a RV shop?  Thanks for your thoughts.   Toby.

If they were my tires I'd be replacing them A.S.A.P.!
Regular tire stores can get the trailer tires as easily as any RV shop; they will all get them probably from the same tire distrubutor in your area anyway.
By the way, what size tires are on your Jayco?



Fly

[Toby]

Fly,  my tires are goodyear marathon st175/80r13.  I'm sure they are the originals.  I bought my pu two years ago from the original owner.  This has been an expensive week for us, I just ordered from RV work shop a new shademaker supreme awning and screen room.  Also looking at the BAL Levelers, I had now idea there was such a product all this time I have been leveling using pices of wood and trying to guess what side of the pop up to sleep on.  I still have a lot to learn this is a great resource my jayco dealer out here is Richardsons Rv in Riverside CA and they were less than helpfull when it comes to maintance when I called on advice to service the lift system there service department said nobody touches it untill it breaks then they buy a new one they seemed shocked that I was trying to do preventive maintance.  Toby.

[austinado16]

Great info!

In preparation for my upcoming trip to the south rim of the Grand Canyon (665mi/10.5hrs each way) I installed new metal valve stems and balanced all 3 tires on my '87 Starcraft Nova.

I called tech support at Starcraft RV and spoke to Brian.  Here's what he said:
1) There's no need to balance the wheels on a trailer, that most people don't, and that most people don't even balance the wheels on the rear axle of their pickup truck because it's not a steering axle.  

2) It doesn't matter whether the wheels are balanced using lugnut centric or center opening centric mounting of the wheel on the balancer.

I mounted the wheels using the center opening, spun them by hand and placed a fixed mounted rod at the edge of the rim with the tire removed the first time.  There was no noticeable out-of-round created by having them mounted on just the center opening.

So, I balanced them like that.  Guess I'll take it for a test drive and maybe have the wife follow and let me know if either are hopping.

[austinado16]

Back from a short test drive.  Had my wife follow and watch the tires.  They weren't bouncing at speeds up to 65mph, so I guess they'll do just fine.

[fallsrider]

Here's something to consider....it was mentioned that a smaller diameter tire doesn't need balancing as much because the effect of being out of balance is less. That is true, until you have to also factor in the fact that smaller diameter tires are spinning much faster at 65 mph than a car or truck tire. The extra speed adds back in the effect of being out-of-balance.

I had my new tires balanced just last month. They added a 1 oz. weight to each one. Don't know if they needed it, but they added them!

I'm not advocating that you get your tires balanced. But don't think that the smaller diameter alone means it is not needed. That effect is somewhat negated by higher rpms.

[austinado16]

Just back from 1,200mi to and from the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  We did 2 6+hr days getting there and one 12hr day getting home.  Air temps going across the CA and AZ deserts were over 100*F and the tire temps were peaking in the 140*F range at the tread.

Had no tire issues towing at 65-70mph the entire way.  Whether that was due to balancing them, I don't know, but it was cheap insurance either way.