After reading this thread maybe Ill try centramatics, I do get a vibration that comes in about 65 that feels like wheel balance.

 

Tire balancing machines (road force balancers) are very expensive. A lot of shops are not going to pay for one, and aren't going to remove their old machine that still works to go into debt for a new one. Couple that with most shops hiring teens/early-20's kids right off the street with no experience...most places, the tire guy is the low man on the totem pole. If you can breathe, you got the job!

 

That's true, probably more so for people in rural areas. I've always lived in fairly urban places, so the shops have a bigger budget and more competition for workers. That or I've just gotten very lucky...

 

I've run lifted and modified vehicles for 30+ years. If you are running stock sized OEM tire sizes, your odds of running into tire issues is diminished, but does not necessarily go away. The minute you start upsizing the tires, problems begin to surface more commonly. The larger tire sizes contain a lot more rubber and rotating mass which can equate to stiffer sidewalls, taller sidewalls, and lead to tires that are not perfectly balanced nor are perfectly round. If you add these "issues" together, it creates annoying vibrations and I really dislike a vehicle that does not run down the highway smoothly.

As a result of my CDO (also known as OCD), I end up watching the tire change teenagers like a hawk. I get my tires balanced every 10,000 miles or less and after 1 million driven miles, that means I've been in the bay of a tire shop at least 100 times. I try to go and be one of the first ones in the morning and ask if the machine has been calibrated for the day. While they always say yes, I sincerely doubt it most of the time. Without me watching, they seem content if they can get the tire within 1 oz. I expect to see a perfect balance of 0, but you also have to make sure the tire is round which is the other reason I watch them like a hawk. Many tire shops don't want you in the bay, but I make it clear that they won't get any business from me unless I can watch the tire balancing process. You need to closely watch the tire and make sure there is no significant high or low spots on the tire. A good road force balance should catch this, but if one is not available, any tire hop should be less than 1/16" or less.

With all this said, I've recently had the chance to access a mid-level tire machine at a military installation where I can do my own tire changes and balance. I did a test the other day and balanced a passenger car tire. I then loosened the tire on the balance shaft, rotated it 90 degrees and re-balanced it. While you would expect it to remain balanced, it now showed to be .75 oz. off. I repeated many times and discovered to my dismay, that the machine was not repeatable (well, it did give me a different result every time). I even tried lubing the centering cone to ensure a more consistent and repeatable mounting procedure. At least for this machine, even when you think you have a perfect balance, it's probably not as perfect as you'd expect it to be.

Also, if the tire calls for a ridiculous amount of balancing weight, I'll ask for the tire to be dismounted and rotated 90 degrees and try again. I like to have 3 oz or less weight on each of the tires. Lastly, even when I've had tires road forced balanced at the initial purchase, I've had tires fail a road force test less than 20,000 miles later. BFG was the worst for this and as such, I'd have a hard time buying another set of their tires again.

 

Been running large oversize tires for 40 years.. Discovered Road Ford Balance about 30 years ago at a smaller car dealership of all places here in DFW by accident. THAT is the answer... Now it is almost common had my tires rebalanced this past Friday. Smooth as glass at 90. 325x60-20 BFG KM3's.

 

When I go to get my tires balanced/mounted/un-mounted etc. (I have a Corvette Z06 that I tracked in the past - went through a lot of tires) - I give the guy doing the work a $20 before he starts - they sure take care that I'm happy and put in some extra effort to get the tires balanced right. Plus - tire shop guys work hard (esp in the Las Vegas heat) and are not paid all that much. A tip after the job doesn't really get you much but a "Thanks" a tip before gets you better service.

Jim

 

Jim-you are very much on target with this one! I have sports cars as well the C7 Z06 with major engine modifications and tires are a consumable that is very consumable on that car lol.

 

This is a great idea I will steal and implement immediately.

 

Thanks - some of the best money I've spent both for the great service and the sincere smiles from the hard working kids (me being an old guy now) at the tire shops.

Jim

 

Yep - $1400 for a set of "cheap" track tires (like Nitto NT-05s) that last only a few track days - and I was only doing HPDE (high performance drivers education) track. But fun to take a fast, capable car to a place like Spring Mountain Motor Ranch with its 3.2 mile, 19 turns of asphalt. I'm sure the monster C7 Z06 can go through tires even faster.


My Z06 just just north of Las Vegas

 

Beautiful car! I remember once filling up with diesel at Bucee's in Wharton TX, and this guy pulls in with one of the new Corvettes in a candy apple red. Of course the trophy female gets out to go inside, upon return he starts that thing up and my gawd that car sounded incredible. Must have had some serious engine work done on that one. He left, turned onto the access road, started banging those gears with that engine wailing. Every guy there had to stop what they were doing just to watch that. Incredible.

 

You say you ordered 300-328, but all I can find on the site for the same truck is 300-318.

I’ll be calling them today to place an order.

 

you need the 300-318

 

• Just did an interesting test for the duals on my F450. Here is how smooth the truck was, from worst to best.

1. Normal balance.
2. Normal balance with dynamic balancers
3. Renoved weights with dynamic balancers
4. Road force balance without dynamic balancers


Next test... road force balance with dynamic balancers.

The difference between each step was large; steps 3 and 4 were a surprise.

 

Originally Posted by andybull
You say you ordered 300-328, but all I can find on the site for the same truck is 300-318.

I’ll be calling them today to place an order.

Update;
I called in order to verify the part number and the lady who answered the phone said 300-318 was the correct number, so I placed the order online, using PayPal.
Later today I received a call from Centramatic. The fellow who called me said that because my truck has 20” factory wheels, the correct part number is 300-328.