Getting Running Gear Balanced?

[Utahgoldrup]

We had 4 new tires put on our trailer last Fall and the tire dealership told us it was not necessary to have the tires balanced for a travel trailer so we didn't. I talking about this, Andy at Inland RV said we were basically asking for trouble if we did not have ALL of the running gear balaced.

Question - what am I asking my Airstream dealer to do when I tell them I want all of my running gear balanced? I just don't want to sound like I don't know what that means when I talk to them and at the moment, I really do not know what that means exactly, can anyone tell me specifically what this means?

Thanks for your help!!

[ROBERT CROSS]

IMHO

Go to a facility that offers "road force" balance of tire/wheel.
Rotors/drums should be in specs.
Ask before getting an appointment>

[Al - K4GLU]

I'm another that would like to know just exactly what "balanced running gear" means. Looking forward to a reply from someone who knows. Andy?

[ROBERT CROSS]

"running gear"= for trailer, all rotating components, wheel/tire, brake rotor and/or brake drum.

[Utahgoldrup]

Okay - one last question. I can visualize how they would balance the tire & wheel but what do they do with the drums to get them balanced?

[Torii]

It basically means that the wheel, tire, brake drum are all balanced. From what I've read in many threads here, the brake drums can be very un-balanced in their natural state and require significant amounts of weight to balance.

I wonder then if having disk brakes makes balancing the running gear a mute issue... (assuming the tire/wheel combo is balanced as usual)

What is the actual cost to have the running gear balanced? Seems like it would run a few hundred dollars. I assume it must be re-done periodically and whenever tires get changed etc.

Then there is the question of centramatic wheel balancers... do these negate the need for balancing the running gear if you have drums? if you have disks?

I have read many threads on the topic of balancing running gear but only have seen vague unclear answers to these particular questions.

I dunno... I have seen evidence in my own trailer that would seem to support the need for balanced running gear but I am baffled as to why it is shrouded in such uncertainty. I've read here that Airstream does not do this on new units nor do they acknowledge the need to balance running gear. Anyone know this for sure?

[ROBERT CROSS]

The assembly can be spun and balanced on the vehicle. Not necessarily recommended.

Static Balance as per Andy at Inland, with Snap-on equipment,
IMHO the best static balancer.

Or road force, wheel spun on a machine while applying force to represent load.

In 28yrs in the auto biz, I found very few drums/disc out of balance, less than a dozen for sure and none in the last 10yrs.

After balancing if vibration still present, have the drum/disc balanced.

None on our trailer needed it, how bout others?

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Torii

It basically means that the wheel, tire, brake drum are all balanced. From what I've read in many threads here, the brake drums can be very un-balanced in their natural state and require significant amounts of weight to balance.

I wonder then if having disk brakes makes balancing the running gear a mute issue... (assuming the tire/wheel combo is balanced as usual)

What is the actual cost to have the running gear balanced? Seems like it would run a few hundred dollars. I assume it must be re-done periodically and whenever tires get changed etc.

Then there is the question of centramatic wheel balancers... do these negate the need for balancing the running gear if you have drums? if you have disks?

I have read many threads on the topic of balancing running gear but only have seen vague unclear answers to these particular questions.

I dunno... I have seen evidence in my own trailer that would seem to support the need for balanced running gear but I am baffled as to why it is shrouded in such uncertainty. I've read here that Airstream does not do this on new units nor do they acknowledge the need to balance running gear. Anyone know this for sure?

Balancing the rotor along with the tire and wheel, is as simple as with the hub and drum.

The cost to balance 4 tires, wheels, hub and drums, is far less than "several hundred dollars."

http://inlandrv.com/articles/wheel-balancing/

Rebalancing should be checked and/or done, every 10,00 miles when they are done with equipement such as we use.

The best way for you to check out the stance Airstream has about balancing, is to call them, and get "names."

We are not permitted to post "exact prices," since we are a vendor.

Andy

[jeftec]

Just a quick reply about the balancing question. I'm curious about the response concerning A/S saying balancing isn't necessary. I own a company that about yearly calibrates the wheel balancer they use to balance all the wheel/tire assemblies going on the new units coming out of Jackson Center.
As far as your situation goes, any good tire store with an up to date computer balancer (and nearly all of them are) should be able to balance your wheel/tire assemblies with little or no trouble. As far as balancing brake drums goes, without getting too technical; first nobody would be able to do it and secondly it would provide little or no added value to your trailer. A brake drum would have to be attrociously out of balance to affect any vibration given it's small diameter in comparison to your wheel. The small amount they might out be is not worth chasing down. Balance your wheels and you should be fine.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by jeftec

Just a quick reply about the balancing question. I'm curious about the response concerning A/S saying balancing isn't necessary. I own a company that about yearly calibrates the wheel balancer they use to balance all the wheel/tire assemblies going on the new units coming out of Jackson Center.

A brake drum would have to be attrociously out of balance to affect any vibration given it's small diameter in comparison to your wheel. The small amount they might out be is not worth chasing down. Balance your wheels and you should be fine.

The idea of running gear balancing is not to increase the value of the trailer, but to "protect" the value instead of beating it to death.

Probably 99.9 percent of drums, prior to the "unicast" are all out of balance, up to 3 (three) pounds.

Spin those at 60 mph and you will soon see what's "not left intact" in the trailer.

Contrary to some opinions, the "small diameter" of the hub and drum, "PLUS" it's weight of 37 pounds, will shake the trailer to pieces.

We repair damages like that, everyday.

The small amounts of unbalance, are important as well. When out of balance, the tire will bounce up and down, causing hot spots, "AND" blowouts.

Our records clearly show even 2 ounces out, is more than enough, to cause long term damage, as well as cupping the tires.

Running gear balancing is not a "luxury."

It's a must, "or else".

My 42 1/2 years wth Airstream, has proven that thousands of times over.

Andy

[crispyboy]

I put a set of Centramatics on my pickup and a set on the trailer. I can't say much for the trailer yet as I haven't towed it far enough but the pickup (which had balanced tires/wheels) made a very noticable difference. I don't get any more shake/vibration that I had in the past. I plan on putting the Centramatics on my other vehicle I was so impressed by the product.

[Torii]

Originally Posted by Inland RV Center, In

The idea of running gear balancing is not to increase the value of the trailer, but to "protect" the value instead of beating it to death.

Probably 99.9 percent of drums, prior to the "unicast" are all out of balance, up to 3 (three) pounds.

Spin those at 60 mph and you will soon see what's "not left intact" in the trailer.

Contrary to some opinions, the "small diameter" of the hub and drum, "PLUS" it's weight of 37 pounds, will shake the trailer to pieces.

We repair damages like that, everyday.

The small amounts of unbalance, are important as well. When out of balance, the tire will bounce up and down, causing hot spots, "AND" blowouts.

Our records clearly show even 2 ounces out, is more than enough, to cause long term damage, as well as cupping the tires.

Running gear balancing is not a "luxury."

It's a must, "or else".

My 42 1/2 years wth Airstream, has proven that thousands of times over.

Andy

Thanks for sharing the knowledge Andy. I have a few follow-up questions.

How does one know if they have "Unicast" drums? Was there a particular year in which manufacturing changed over?

Are "Unicast" drums manufactured to tighter specs? maybe these drums the ones that Jeftec speaks of that rarely need balancing?

[Torii]

Originally Posted by crispyboy

I put a set of Centramatics on my pickup and a set on the trailer. I can't say much for the trailer yet as I haven't towed it far enough but the pickup (which had balanced tires/wheels) made a very noticable difference. I don't get any more shake/vibration that I had in the past. I plan on putting the Centramatics on my other vehicle I was so impressed by the product.

Thanks for the info on the Centramatics, Do you happen to know the limits as to what they can balance out in terms of weight? I assume they take the place of any weights that would normally be used to balance the tire/wheel assembly. If the brake drum is off balance by a few pounds as suggested by Andy, I wonder if the Centramatics are sufficient to counteract it.

[Torii]

Originally Posted by jeftec

Just a quick reply about the balancing question. I'm curious about the response concerning A/S saying balancing isn't necessary. I own a company that about yearly calibrates the wheel balancer they use to balance all the wheel/tire assemblies going on the new units coming out of Jackson Center.
As far as your situation goes, any good tire store with an up to date computer balancer (and nearly all of them are) should be able to balance your wheel/tire assemblies with little or no trouble. As far as balancing brake drums goes, without getting too technical; first nobody would be able to do it and secondly it would provide little or no added value to your trailer. A brake drum would have to be attrociously out of balance to affect any vibration given it's small diameter in comparison to your wheel. The small amount they might out be is not worth chasing down. Balance your wheels and you should be fine.

jeftec,

That confirms that the tire/wheel assembly gets balanced at the Airstream factory as I would certainly expect but I was really wondering about this running gear idea that gets kicked around here on the Airstream Forum. (brake drum balancing)... What you say about this makes sense because I can hardly imagine brake drums being manufactured today that are very much out of balance... That being said, there are some others here that suggest it IS the case. Did you see this? whaddya think?

-T

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Torii

Thanks for sharing the knowledge Andy. I have a few follow-up questions.

How does one know if they have "Unicast" drums? Was there a particular year in which manufacturing changed over?

Are "Unicast" drums manufactured to tighter specs? maybe these drums the ones that Jeftec speaks of that rarely need balancing?

A unicast hub and drum is evident when you remove a wheel.

They are once piece instead of the old 2 piece, or the realy old 3 pieces.

The unicast drums have been around maybe 10 years or more.

They are cast to closer tolerances, and then machined.

They are not in balance but within an ounce or two, normally.

Rarely, very rarely, is a hub drum tire wheel assembly, even today, totally in balance.

Many people who thought their tires were ok, then added centramatics.

Without exception, everyone of those owners could tell a dfference. Many have so stated here in this Forums.

Amazingly, no one would "EVER" think or dream of riding in their car, truck or tow vehicle, unless things were balanced.

But when it comes to the trailer, opinions jump out of the walls.

The fact is, unbalanced running gear on an Airstream or Argosy trailer, causes unnecessary repair bills. Always has, always will.

Andy

[Utahgoldrup]

I called my Airstream dealer and talked with a guy I have worked with before and he said they don't balance the tires/wheels themselves but that it should be done. He also said that it most likely wouldn't be necessary to balance the drums and wouldn't even know who would do that.

Does anyone know who would also be able to balance the drums? If I were in CA, I would love to take the trailer down to Andy and have Inland do this but here in Utah... I don't know who is going to understand the need for this and provide the service, too bad all Airstream dealerships do not provide the same services, unfortunately, our Airstream dealer does not specialize "only" in Airstreams.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Torii

jeftec,

That confirms that the tire/wheel assembly gets balanced at the Airstream factory as I would certainly expect but I was really wondering about this running gear idea that gets kicked around here on the Airstream Forum. (brake drum balancing)... What you say about this makes sense because I can hardly imagine brake drums being manufactured today that are very much out of balance... That being said, there are some others here that suggest it IS the case. Did you see this? whaddya think?

-T

Travel trailer brake drums, are not made to the same tolerances as autombile drums.

I have never seen a wheel balancer in Airstreams production facilities, and I visit the plant every couple of years or so. I can roam the plant as I wish, without any escort. I can also use camera's, still and moving, as much as I wish, without any restrictions.

I have seen one in the service department., many years ago.

We have not seen any "as delivered" Airstream trailers, with any lead weights on any wheels. They simply do not do it.

However, a selling dealer might balance, or the owner may have it done.

If not, then they have us do it for them, and sometimes even watch us do the balancing.

Andy

[centennialman]

Andy,

Everywhere I have asked in the Denver area says they don't have the equipment balance the drums and hubs and they generally argue with me about the need to have it done.

Any idea where we go in this part of the country?

Thanks!

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Utahgoldrup

I called my Airstream dealer and talked with a guy I have worked with before and he said they don't balance the tires/wheels themselves but that it should be done. He also said that it most likely wouldn't be necessary to balance the drums and wouldn't even know who would do that.

Does anyone know who would also be able to balance the drums? If I were in CA, I would love to take the trailer down to Andy and have Inland do this but here in Utah... I don't know who is going to understand the need for this and provide the service, too bad all Airstream dealerships do not provide the same services, unfortunately, our Airstream dealer does not specialize "only" in Airstreams.

From early 1970 to late 1973, I visited over 90 percent of the Airstream dealers in the USA.

I encouraged many of them to do balancing, and with the Snap-on system that we use today,sinc it so safe to use.

Probably 30 or 40 of them did make that investment. Of course many of those original dealers are not around anymore, so who knows what happened to their balancing equipment.

Sadly, Snap-on discontiuned that balancer many years ago.

Unfortuantely, regardless of the brand of travel trailer or 5th wheel, running gear should "always" be balanced.

All to many tire failures are related to unbalance.

Yeah, I know, it's got to be that the tire is no good, as it couldn't possibly be a lack of "PM".

Andy

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by centennialman

Andy,

Everywhere I have asked in the Denver area says they don't have the equipment balance the drums and hubs and they generally argue with me about the need to have it done.

Any idea where we go in this part of the country?

Thanks!

I have no idea where you could get the balancing done in your area.

But, everyone who has the same problem, could always add the Centramatics.

And no, we don't sell them, but maybe we should.

Andy