Installed Balance Masters today on the beast. Amazing improvement!! Worth the $’s in my opinion. All vibrations gone and smooth as can be on the highway. Yah that rear hubcap was a major PITA to get off.

 

My Centramatics are arriving Saturday for my SRW. I'm taking all the wheel weights off.

 

Yes, removed all weights and not impressed with the leftovers. Everyone has broke through the plastic coating with 2 really nice gouges in the rims from how they were installed at factory. Wondering if there is anything to put on them to prevent the corrosion from kicking in. 5 months old and already have rims that are not in prestine shape.

 

I'm sure you can buff them and clear them with something.

 

let me know what you think of them..been checking them out myself

 

Will do.........

 

I have bought and paid for both Centramatic and Balance Masters.

The Centramatics are in use on my truck.

The Balance Masters are gathering dust on the shelf.

The customer service at Centramatics was excellent. When I reported a leak with one of the balancers, Centramatic immediately sent a replacement, without waiting, or even requesting, me to send the leaking balancer back.

The customer service at Balance Masters was horrible. Perhaps the worst customer service I've encountered from any company. First, they sent the wrong product for the application I ordered. I had to endure a rigorous grilling... despite the mistaken product being their error, not mine. I didn't even own the vehicle they sent product for. After finally receiving what Balance Masters claimed to be the correct product for my vehicle application, it turned out that the balancers rubbed against the disc brake calipers bracket.

Can you imagine a thin sheet metal tube rotating hundreds of times per minute per mile while scraping against a disc brake caliper bracket when cold?

Now imagine when the metals expand from heat... and the brakes are the source and epicenter of heat at the hub. And imagine the friction heat from the expanded balancer grinding against the expanded bracket.

Now remember that the fluid inside the Balance Masters is poisonous mercury. So as the circular tube is penetrated from the rapidly rotating interference and friction, super heated, vaporizing, and mercury would be flung from the wheel wells.

I provided photos and videos of the scraping Balance Masters to Balance Masters, and they refused to replace them with balancers that actually fit the application advertised, and also refused to refund the nearly $400 I paid for them.

The brake calipers for the application were bone stock original equipment, as were the wheels, tires, hubs and rotors.

Despite the loss of $400, the "quicksilver" lining in all this is that the pitifully poor customer service experience combined with the lack of fitment forced me never to use Balance Masters, and as such I cannot be held liable for exposing emergency responders, fire personnel, tow truck drivers, etc to toxic mercury in the event of an offset collision that crushes into a wheel well, or a vehicle fire.


So all the risks I was trying to avoid by simply asking for balancers that do not rub and scrape against a brake caliper bracket, to avoid penetration of the tube at super heated temperatures that would vaporize the mercury into a colorless odorless toxic gas that I and those close to me would be most likely to inhale, being in the nearest proximity, or driving with the windows rolled down... would still be present even if the Balance Masters fit perfectly... in the event of an accident.

Therefore, the Balance Masters sit unused on the shelf, and for the last decade I've used the Centramatic Balancers, which do not have mercury, do not have fitment problems, from a company that does not send the wrong product, and does not have any hesitation or issue standing behind their product.

The photos to follow are of the Balance Master collision with the brake caliper issues I encountered, which Balance Masters did not resolve or refund:
















The above photos are not for a Super Duty application, so your mileage may vary.

 

Watching this. I had my truck aligned and tires balanced just before a recent 3k mile trip (national tire company). Alignment seems ok, but they left my steering wheel about 25 degrees off; had to fix that myself. Half way through my trip, lost a weight and ended up driving the last half out of balance. I took it back to them after the trip to be rebalanced; see photos to see what they did to my wheels and hubcaps. After some discussions, they ordered me a new set of hubcaps. I wouldn't let them touch the truck again and paid another shop to balance properly (referred to by the local Ford dealer who declined the job saying they did not have equipment to work on medium duty wheels/tires). At this point, things seem ok, if I get the new hubcaps, but I am ready to try the Centramatics.

PS: I can't blame them for the amount of weight it took, just the way they applied it. These tires were originally on the front and the truck was out of alignment (I think from the factory) so the tires have problems. I had them moved to the rear to try and get some more life out of them. I had the new shop move the worn tires to the rear, inners; the weights won't be visible and will be on the steel wheels.

 

I also have Centramatics with no weights and they work perfect.

As far as removing the center caps, these work perfectly. I tried the 2x4, ratchet strap thing and it was a circus. My only tip for these is to put a rag between the wheel and tool as to not scratch the surface.

 

Thanks, still looking for the perfect method. Which length pry bar works best? You need two, right? I could order the set or two 12" bars.

 

I ordered the set of 3, I played around with the different sizes and they all worked. I also used just one, removing one side then going to the other side of the cap and it worked that way also. I'm planning on keeping them in my truck in case I need them on the road.

 

I've poked around the balance masters website and don't see any balancer applications listed for the super duty.

 

The Balance Master part numbers are SAF-450 (front/steer) and DTF-450 (DRW rear/drive). I've got them om my 2021 F450 and they are awesome.

 

did you find them on their website?
I don't see anything for the F450 on their site, even searching the part numbers you have.

 

I don't have a 450, and even then I didn't see a listing.