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Wirat
Groupie
Joined: 31 Jan 2020
Location: Florida
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 67
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Topic: Balancing Tires Posted: 18 Mar 2020 at 1:36pm |
Another travel trailer owner was telling me most trailers do not come with balanced wheels like on cars. He said having the wheels balanced makes them run true and smoother with less wobble same as with cars.
I looked at my R-Pod rims and did not see any balancing weights on there, so at least in my case he was correct about not being balanced. I took the tires off one at at time and went to my local Sam's club and had them balanced for about $3.80 each.
Has anyone else here done that and did it make a difference? I don't see how it could hurt to reduce the "earthquake" effect going down the road.
Here is one rim with the weights after it was balanced:
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2019 R-Pod 191
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Woodmiester
Senior Member
Joined: 03 Aug 2018
Location: Greenwood IN
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Posts: 142
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Posted: 18 Mar 2020 at 2:18pm |
I know the factory does NOT balance the wheels! I have always taken my wheels down to the local tire store and had them balanced.
I dont ride in my trailer so I cannot tell the difference going down the road. I can tell you however, that my tires do last longer with no experiences of premature or "spotty" treadwear.
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Swampfox
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mjlrpod
Senior Member
Joined: 27 Sep 2016
Location: Massachusetts
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Posts: 1215
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Posted: 18 Mar 2020 at 4:07pm |
I heard that they don't require balancing. I can't exactly recall where i heard it, probably on the internet, so we know it must be true. I so far have not balanced my tires on 2 previous campers, or my current. Doesn't mean I'm right though.
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2017.5 Rp-172
2020 R-pod 195
2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl
I'll be rpodding
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lostagain
Senior Member
Joined: 06 Sep 2016
Location: Quaker Hill, CT
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Posts: 2595
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Posted: 18 Mar 2020 at 4:26pm |
That's odd. The FR factory where they built my Sonona put balance weights on the rims. I suppose they did it to balance the wheels, but who knows?
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
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mcarter
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 07 Apr 2016
Location: Greenbrier, TN
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Posts: 3419
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Posted: 18 Mar 2020 at 5:21pm |
I balance mine, cheap and better for the tire. Most do NOT come balanced.
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Mike Carter
2015 178
" I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability."
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Toyanvil
Senior Member
Joined: 15 Feb 2019
Location: Bakersfield
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 157
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Posted: 18 Mar 2020 at 7:17pm |
Yes, I always balance my wheels. You should always balance your trailer wheels and it's a bad idea not to. Think of it this way, if your wheel is spinning out of round when your suspension is working too hard and your tires and suspension will wear out faster. My 178 Hood River took more weight then my truck,
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5290
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Posted: 19 Mar 2020 at 4:40am |
Agreed. It costs money to balance wheels so the manufacturers don't do it and justify that by saying its unnecessary. Its certainly unnecessary for them......
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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