Centramatic Wheel Balances

[53flyingcloud]

Mark just installed the new Centramatic wheel balancers for the trip out to Ohio. I gotta tell this is one slick operation`! Total cost for the set of 4 was, 206$
ciao
53FC

[53flyingcloud]

It's been requested in the past to see the Barn used for winter storage..
Reason for trip to Ohio..
Have a safe trip guys~!
ciao
53FC

[Chuck]

I'm droolin' over that barn!! nice!

say, who is that? your trailer is shinier than this one, isn't it? looks like an NH plate, though.....

[53flyingcloud]

Yep, I agree..It's a very nice barn..wooden pegs and, all..That's Mark on the tractor.
Lives in Bedford,NH, just down the road from me.
Ciao
53FC..
Most recent picture of my unit was taken last weekend at the "Virginia Commonwealth Rally".
Which I've posted under that thread.

[markdoane]

Yup, that's a nice barn alright. But isn't the Hensley Arrow a bit much for a Cub Cadet?

[Pahaska]

I have enough mileage on the Centramatics now (about 1000 miles) that I'm totally satisfied they reduce vibration in the trailer. Things stay put a lot better than before the balancers were installed.

[wingfoot321]

I assume you folks are not balancing the wheel and tire when you go to centramatics?
Does their literature mention anything as to how many equivalent ounces they can offset. A tire and wheel that is really out of balance may need 6 ounces+ of weights.

I am interested in tire pressure sensors but, one of the problems is battery life. Any time you need to change a battery would require a rebalance of the tire and wheel. The centramatics would reduce this cost to a mounting charge only.

[Coloradobus]

Our local tire shop likes to balance the wheel and tire pryor to adding the Centramatics. Do the spin balance, and then have Centramatic fine tunes for smooth running.

[53flyingcloud]

Originally Posted by Coloradobus

Our local tire shop likes to balance the wheel and tire pryor to adding the Centramatics. Do the spin balance, and then have Centramatic fine tunes for smooth running.

Coloradobus
This was the exact procudure Mark had performed on his unit.
John,
It's great to have such positive feedback`! I was telling another friend locally about the Centramatic and, he related to me that he had once used them back in the mid 60's on a Buick he had then..Worked like a charm~ btw, he remembers the cost back then to be around 49$ or so for the setup...lol
ciao
53FC

[53flyingcloud]

Originally Posted by wingfoot1

I assume you folks are not balancing the wheel and tire when you go to centramatics?
Does their literature mention anything as to how many equivalent ounces they can offset. A tire and wheel that is really out of balance may need 6 ounces+ of weights.

I am interested in tire pressure sensors but, one of the problems is battery life. Any time you need to change a battery would require a rebalance of the tire and wheel. The centramatics would reduce this cost to a mounting charge only.

So far, everyone has indicated otherwise..This seems to be just a "fine tuning" of the running gears. As to what the literature might mentions, I couldn't answer that question. Any help here John??

I must say, your last statement concerning battery life and, the need to rebalance the tires leaves me somewhat confused.
What does one have to do with the other?
Reflection..Are you saying that the battery for the tire sensor is located inside the tire? Bear with me as I've not used that system before.
There should be no mounting charge involved,It's so simple of a task, anyone can perform this. All you need is a torque wrench and socket set. Adjust the wrench for 85 lbs of torque to tighten the wheel lugs..Check them while underway at the proper intervals of 25 miles and, then later at 100 miles..Doesn't get any easier..Don't you agree?

ciao
53FC

[Airstream 1975!]

I just installed centramatics on my 27' Overlander along with new Marathons,new rims, new breaks and drums. Had the tires spin balanced then put them on and it rolls fine. I left some stuff on the counter (nothing breakable) to test for vibration and after a 2 1/2 hour drive everything was right where I left it. Centramatics will balance out to about 6oz.per wheel.They will give your money back if not happy within 30 days. I think I'm happy. Rob

[markjoandall]

Houdy folks,

Yes indeed those centramatic's are mine. I just completed a round trip to the factory in Jackson Center. I had to repair a dent I put in my trailer from backing it into the barn. It's somewhat ironic, I built a barn to protect my trailer, then I dent the as on the very barn I'm trying to protect to protect it with. (sigh).

The trip was a little over 2,000 miles and everything was fine until we blew a tire on the trailer returning home. Bear in mind, these tires are only three years old, came with the trailer and have about 20,000 miles on them. We were very fortunate to have the hensley, Airstream road service, and my wife driving. She is more diligent than I in constantly checking the rear mirrors. A truck was passing us on I80 in the middle of PA and she noticed blue smoke coming from the trailer. I told her to pull over immediately. The tire blew while slowing down to pull over. We never felt a thing in the tow vehicle, the trailer never moved or became unstable. I'm sure this is because of the hensley. There is almost no damage to the trailer from the blown tire. The molding around the wheel well was moved about a quarter of an inch. I can fix it in about 15 minutes.

The Airstream road service was great, we got a new tire, trailer rated D, and were on the way within an hour. Our only cost was the tire itself. The sidewall of tire blew without any tread separation. The tires were correctly inflated because I had just checked them that morning.

When we returned home, I took the new tire and rim in for balancing. It needed some weight. The rim and tire spun very smoothly without any noticable wobble. The replacement tire is a Cooper.

Just out of curriosity, I took the other roadside tire into the tire store. It had a very noticable bump in the tire. The tire man said the steel belt was broken, and the tire should not be used. I guess we were lucky to have made it home. I now have four new goodyear marathon's on order. I also have a spare rim on order, for some reason we never got a spare with our trailer. I'm going to use the Cooper for our spare.

I'd like to say the centramatics worked great. I just don't know yet because I have to replace the tires. btw, the tire man said the tread was about 1/32 from the wear bar. So I guess one should not expect a lot of miles from their trailer tires.

[Creampuff]

I just got my 2 Centramatics after much ado finding a dealer close enough to order them in from Tx. as the factory will not sell direct.
They fit on the hubs of my Safari like a glove, but when I went to mount the rims (with my new Goodyear Workhorse 700x15 bias ply's) -NO CIGAR!
The original rims will NOT fit over the Centamatics as the o.d. is too large and the rim will not seat on the hub.
NOW WHAT ????

[87MH]

Originally Posted by Creampuff

I just got my 2 Centramatics after much ado finding a dealer close enough to order them in from Tx. as the factory will not sell direct......NOW WHAT ????

I would contact Centramatic at:

http://www.centramatic.com/

I had a total of 6 mounted on the 345 at the factory service center. Everyone was knowledgeable and courteous. The service tech even looked up the recommended torque values for the wheel nuts and asked me if I had a different setting I preferred to use, then took out an actual torque wrench and CORRECTLY sequentially tightened the nuts -- I was impressed.

Just my thoughts from dealing with them the one time - Even though I had the unit right there, there was some question of the proper size to be installed on the tag axel, and the techs, sales people, and stocking clerks worked together to determine the "best fit" for the 345 (P-3X chassis, OEM rubber torque tag, and aluminum Alcoa rims).

Most of the Fort Worth base service appeared to be geared to 18-wheelers and large (and heavy) industrial service/transport 5th wheelers and trailers.

The entire operation appeared to me to have a "do it right the first time" attitude.

I would imagine, if you accurately describe your problem to them, they would have an alternative size that would fit your rim/hub interface.

[flyfisher]

J just had the running gear balanced on my new 30' Classic Ltd. last week. I had considered the Centramatics but in the end decided to not get them. Now that I see they only offset about 6 oz. of unbalance I'm really glad I didn't get them.

It took 1-3 guys working steadily for 4 hours and 15 minutes to get my 2 axles and 4 wheels balanced! The owner told me they had a bugger of a time getting one of my wheels balanced and it took 12 oz. of weight to do it! I was told about 3-4 oz is normal. They planned to put all the weight on the inside of the rim, but had to put some on both the inside and outside to finally get it in balance! Since they were balancing the entire tire, wheel, hub and rim assembly mounted on the trailer, they said they couldn't tell me which part was the major culprit.

Part of the 4 hours, however, was spent "truing" the tires, which were not entirely round - which I could see on their machine that they test the tires with. Since I'd never heard of truing tires, I had to ask them to explain it to me. They said if you don't true the tires when they need it, and balance just the running gear, it would still be like trying to roll an egg on a flat surface. They actually shave off the high spots on your tire tread to make it truely round.

I don't know if any of you have had your tires trued, but it might be something to think about doing.

John

[87MH]

Originally Posted by flyfisher

......I don't know if any of you have had your tires trued, but it might be something to think about doing.John

Thanks for the hint, John......that may well be the source of my rear end "bed bounce" .

I have a time (build date/age) issue with the rear tires, and they will be replaced in the future - I'd rather spend the bucks on new tires (insurance) rather than taking a chance on rebuilding the rear sheetmetal/systems due to damage from losing a tire tread or casing.

[davidz71]

I've had tires trued on both my old '77 K5 Blazer and one problem tire on my '92 Z71. I usually balanced every 5,000 miles with the tires on the blazer but let it go to 8,000 miles and this is why I had to have them trued. The one tire on the '92 just seemed to not be right from the time I had 4 new tires put on. It must have been bad from the factory but truing fixed it.

[Creampuff]

I would imagine, if you accurately describe your problem to them, they would have an alternative size that would fit your rim/hub interface.[/QUOTE]

I talked to the Centramatic tech rep today and unfortunately they have no other model in a 6 bolt pattern that will work with the older rims. They are not set up to 'customize' a set either.
I am now exploring getting the drums balanced by a machine shop.

[jlawrence]

I ordered some today - I'll post an update in a couple weeks on how they are performing.

[Chuck]

Hmmm...my brother-in-law makes drive shafts, and has a lathe to balance them. wonder if he could balance a brake drum on that thing?

flyfisher: what type of business was it that did your balancing with all that attention to detail, on the axles, etc? wondering how to search for someone locally that can do it "the right way". I suppose I could always go see Andy at Inland, but that would be the most expensive balancing job in history. lets see...3000 miles @10mpg x $2/gallon, + campground stays...plus whatever Andy charges for balancing, which I'm sure is reasonable ...then come home again....yikes!