Balance Trailer Wheels ?

[picklenjim]

I bought a new set of 4 wheels for my trailer.The place I bought the wheels mounted my tires.They said they never balance trailer wheels because they don't have shocks so there's no need to.Does this sound correct?

 

[jaxnjil]

Re: Balance Trailer Wheels ?

no; having shocks has nothing to do with a out of balance tire shaking.

we balance all our trailer tires, and makes a difference.

 

[windsors03cobra]

Re: Balance Trailer Wheels ?

The place I bought mine at balanced them, didnt ask if I wanted it or not.

 

[204 Escape]

Re: Balance Trailer Wheels ?

I balanced all "8" of them !!!!!!!! Hopefully will never need the spare, but in the event that I do, and put it on, will probably with my luck, NOT be under the best of conditions, so nerves, and temper will be shot, and I do NOT want to feel a shaking tire, and have it aggrivate me even more.

We had bought new 8 ply trailer tires, for our old boat, and they only had about 200 miles on them. The COOPER tires that we kept replaced the new "Carlisle" tires that came on the new EZ Loader trailer. My tire shop charged me $7.50 to balance them, only. I'd paid another shop when we bought the new boat, to change them over to the new trailer. There was a "bit" of shake in the tires, on the way home. After balancing them, the shake went away.

Money well spent !!!!

 

[LIQUID PROZAC]

Re: Balance Trailer Wheels ?

anything that spins needs to be balanced

 

[4JawChuck]

Re: Balance Trailer Wheels ?

I have two brand new tires (Carlisle) mounted on new white spoke rims, they came mounted already from Canadian Tire. Not a balance weight on either of them anywhere...I can't feel any vibration. I would balance them if I had to change the tires but they didn't come balanced.

 

[imported_knightgang]

Re: Balance Trailer Wheels ?

I tend to disagree with the majority opinion here. I pull a 24' enclosed trailer everyday. I also have a boat, a camper and several other trailers that I use for work. None of them have balanced tires. There is no vibration in any of them either. I agree that shocks have nothing to do with balancing tires. Additionally, as a tire wears, it can get out of balance and hence need a rebalance.

I know trailer tires are not cheap and if you feel that having a balanced tire will increase its life, then by all means have them balanced. I have pulled trailers with balanced tires and currently all of none of mine are balanced now. I can't tell a difference either way.

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: Balance Trailer Wheels ?

I agree with the last poster...I have three trailers, and have never seen any need to balance the tires on any of them!

I personally would not like to have anything attached to my rims, that can rust (or corrode) from being submerged every outing....

Just my (inflated) $0.02 opinion!

Happy boating!

 

[Searay 150merc]

Re: Balance Trailer Wheels ?

I would have them balanced.

 

[marlboro180]

Re: Balance Trailer Wheels ?

I balance them. Imaging the rotating mass of the wheel and tire rotating more than 600 rpm.....

 

[NCSU4x4]

Re: Balance Trailer Wheels ?

Do you have to? No. Of course you don't have to balance the tires on your tow vehicle either now do you? I'll continue to balance my trailer tires as it will be one less thing to shorten the life of lugs, bearings, etc.

 

[Flying Sushi]

Re: Balance Trailer Wheels ?

Why would you balance the tire for your car or truck but not trailer? Anything rotate should be balance for maximum performance and risk protection? It is a short money to do it.

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: Balance Trailer Wheels ?

Why would you balance the tire for your car or truck but not trailer? Anything rotate should be balance for maximum performance and risk protection? It is a short money to do it.

Because it is a waste of your boating budget money...? Why not put nitrogen in your trailer tires? How about 'rotating' your trailer tires...from one side to the other?

Seriously...how many trailer tires have YOU seen with wheel weights on them, at the launch ramp? I have never seen even one...!

Happy boating!

 

[brianvolt7]

Re: Balance Trailer Wheels ?

My small utility trailer has 8" tires that are not balanced. My 20' Bayliner has 205 14's that are balanced. I was not getting any vibration from the trailer that I could feel but I had Schwab check anyway. They were way out of balance and they put one weight on there that looks like a deep sea fishing weight. I'm no mechanic, but I think that hubs and axels would be damaged by excessive vibration.

Cheap insurance against any (possible) damage caused by vibration. I would have them balanced if you are pulling anything big.

 

[Flying Sushi]

Re: Balance Trailer Wheels ?

how many trailer tires have YOU seen with wheel weights on them

Many of newer and large trailers in my area have those.... We do not mind spend a extra money for insurance..... Some one can say it is a waste of money that is up to individual but there is a lot of force going to the bearing and it is logical to balance any wheels and tires especially the wheel diameter gets larger than 14".

 

[GT5-S]

Re: Balance Trailer Wheels ?

I own an automobile transportation business (mainly show and race cars) and ?ALL? of wheels/tires on our trailers are balanced. It is regardless of small or large trailers. It should not make any difference for boat trailers. It is not a waste of money and I would highly recommend to do.

 

[Bass Tracker TX17]

Re: Balance Trailer Wheels ?

I balance mine and every trailer tire I do. In fact i go so far as doing a road force balance.

No question. Balance........

You may not think there's a balance problem because you can't "Feel it" but your trailer can.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Balance Trailer Wheels ?

i have a 4x8 trailer that I know a wheel is badly out of balance. I can actually see it hop in the rear view mirror if empty. But you would NEVER guess it by the feel of it pulling, there is no hint of it at all.

so yes, if you do lots of high speed mileage with your boat, get the tires balanced!

 

[fseventy]

Re: Balance Trailer Wheels ?

Any and all rotating assemblies can see longer life, less wear, less vibration transmitted to attached components, greater control and safety, etc... by having a neutral balance. Why some trailers come from the factory with out balanced tires could just be a financial decision. If there is no perceptible vibration to the user in the tow vehicle,why would manufactures loose out on the possibility of increased parts replacement (tires, bearings, etc...)?!

I suspect cost is a similar reason for not having shock absorbers on most trailers. You get what you pay for when you buy shocks, so a good set of shocks can contribute a large % of the cost of a trailer and it's difficult for manufactures to justify that cost to consumers who are used to seeing trailers w/out shocks for decades. I suspect that another reason is that it would be difficult to mount shocks on most boat trailers as shocks are most efficient mounted vertically. My trailer would have to be much wider to accomidate a well mounted shock. Another issue might be dousing a very warm shock absorber (long highway trip) in relatively cold water repeatedly when launching.

Another reason we probably don't see shocks on trailers is the rust factor. I don't doubt the friction of the rust in between the springs of my leaf spring pack act in a small manner to damp the oscillations to some degree and negate the need for shocks.

It's all about money in my opinion, but there are proven benefits to having shocks and a neutral balance on the tires. Is it worth the money? In my case probably not. I tow about 40 miles round trip about 10-12 times a year, at a max of 45mph. My trailer tires dry rot long before the tread is even close to worn down.

 

[virgil47]

Re: Balance Trailer Wheels ?

My little 14' Valco's trailer has 12" bias ply tires. I went to two local shops and they were not able to balance them due to their light weight. The spin balancers just wouldn't do them. None of the shops in my area seem to have the old bubble balancers that seemed to work on every wheel made. I've been told that because my trailer has bias ply tires they would most likely hop a bit anyway at least until the flat spots went away.