Centramatic wheel balancers -- Review!
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From: SW VA
Centramatic wheel balancers -- Review!
Cross-posted in General Automotive Discussion.
A little background: I bought a 2006 Dodge Ram 3500 SRW back in early '09. I quickly ditched the crappy, dry-rotted Michelin LTX tires and sold the stock aluminum wheels in favor of some KMC XD Addict wheels (17x9) wrapped with some 285/70/17 Load E-range Nitto Dura Grapplers (junk tires, but not for this thread).
A friend of a friend used to own a small repair shop, and has a tire mounting machine and electronic tire balancer. He mounted them and balanced them for me. The tires required 0, 0.5, 2, and 3.5 ounces to balance. The 2 tires that required the most went on the rear. The tires rode smooth and I was happy at first...
After 5-6 thousand miles, it was time to rotate them. I did, and lo-and-behold...the front end and steering shook pretty bad. So I re-rotated them back to their original positions until I could get ahold of someone to re-balance them.
In my many thousands and thousands of hours surfing FTE, PBB, and a half dozen other message boards, I came across the Centramatic wheel balancers. I figured for $200, they will cure my problem, and in theory, pay for themselves as I would never have to balance a set of tires again. Couldn't hurt to try, right?
So they show up on my doorstep, and I begin to install them. Two of them are marked "Balancer A" and the other two are marked "Balancer B". Just make sure both A's or B's are on the same axle. They also come with 2 spacers just incase they don't clear the brake calipers. Installation instructions and test-fit guides are included in the box.
Problem #1:
The balancers did not slide over the wheel studs on the front of my Ram. I had to use a die grinder and open up the holes just a smidge to allow them to slide over my studs. On the rear axle, the balancers slid right on perfectly. These balancers are drilled for the 8x6.5" pattern (Dodge & Chevy & pre-SD Ford) as well as the 8x170mm SuperDuty pattern.
Problem #2:
On initial installation on the front of my Ram, there was about 1/4" gap between the balancer and my brake caliper mounting bracket. I threw the tires on and drove to work. When leaving work, I heard a grinding sound when I was making turns at a slow rate of speed. Sounded like metal-on-metal. Since the noise was new and the balancers were new...it was obvious to what the problem was.
The next day (I work nights) I removed the front tires and sure enough, the balancers were rubbing on the caliper brackets. I guess after tightening the lug nuts and minor flex from the calipers, that 1/4" gap I originally saw was greatly reduced. I took the balancers off, and installed one spacer on each side (1/8 inch) and threw the tires back on. All was well
Overall impressions:
YES, they work great! I am very impressed with this product. My truck rides like it is floating on air! I would reccommend this product to anyone with tires that took a lot of weight to balance, for those who lose wheel weights, for those who use their DD for offroading, and well....everyone who owns a truck!
Centramatic
I am in no way affiliated with this company. I just heard about their product, bought it, tried it, and am passing along the info.
(pictures are not mine. Google Images)
A little background: I bought a 2006 Dodge Ram 3500 SRW back in early '09. I quickly ditched the crappy, dry-rotted Michelin LTX tires and sold the stock aluminum wheels in favor of some KMC XD Addict wheels (17x9) wrapped with some 285/70/17 Load E-range Nitto Dura Grapplers (junk tires, but not for this thread).
A friend of a friend used to own a small repair shop, and has a tire mounting machine and electronic tire balancer. He mounted them and balanced them for me. The tires required 0, 0.5, 2, and 3.5 ounces to balance. The 2 tires that required the most went on the rear. The tires rode smooth and I was happy at first...
After 5-6 thousand miles, it was time to rotate them. I did, and lo-and-behold...the front end and steering shook pretty bad. So I re-rotated them back to their original positions until I could get ahold of someone to re-balance them.
In my many thousands and thousands of hours surfing FTE, PBB, and a half dozen other message boards, I came across the Centramatic wheel balancers. I figured for $200, they will cure my problem, and in theory, pay for themselves as I would never have to balance a set of tires again. Couldn't hurt to try, right?
So they show up on my doorstep, and I begin to install them. Two of them are marked "Balancer A" and the other two are marked "Balancer B". Just make sure both A's or B's are on the same axle. They also come with 2 spacers just incase they don't clear the brake calipers. Installation instructions and test-fit guides are included in the box.
Problem #1:
The balancers did not slide over the wheel studs on the front of my Ram. I had to use a die grinder and open up the holes just a smidge to allow them to slide over my studs. On the rear axle, the balancers slid right on perfectly. These balancers are drilled for the 8x6.5" pattern (Dodge & Chevy & pre-SD Ford) as well as the 8x170mm SuperDuty pattern.
Problem #2:
On initial installation on the front of my Ram, there was about 1/4" gap between the balancer and my brake caliper mounting bracket. I threw the tires on and drove to work. When leaving work, I heard a grinding sound when I was making turns at a slow rate of speed. Sounded like metal-on-metal. Since the noise was new and the balancers were new...it was obvious to what the problem was.
The next day (I work nights) I removed the front tires and sure enough, the balancers were rubbing on the caliper brackets. I guess after tightening the lug nuts and minor flex from the calipers, that 1/4" gap I originally saw was greatly reduced. I took the balancers off, and installed one spacer on each side (1/8 inch) and threw the tires back on. All was well
Overall impressions:
YES, they work great! I am very impressed with this product. My truck rides like it is floating on air! I would reccommend this product to anyone with tires that took a lot of weight to balance, for those who lose wheel weights, for those who use their DD for offroading, and well....everyone who owns a truck!
Centramatic
I am in no way affiliated with this company. I just heard about their product, bought it, tried it, and am passing along the info.
(pictures are not mine. Google Images)
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