I posted in another Centramatic thread that the real benefit I see from the Centramatics is compensating for rocks stuck in the treads (gravel road to the barn) and mud and/or snow in the rims. Not all of it gets slung off at highway speeds and the Centramatics make a huge difference there.

 

Rather than no balancing at all, I would suggest Road Force Balancing with the Centramatics. That would give you about the best possible balance of wheel/tire without weights.

 

I went with a set of ION Alloys in 17" I didn't want to add spacers or lifts, don't like most of the wheel choices out there so I found a set I actually like and wanted to keep the 17's. I like white letters so really rotating would require dismounting the tires anyway. I don't put a ton of miles on the truck and the original tires have lasted me 6 years with just a side to side rotation schedule and I figure the centramtics will make it better. If I have to replace the tires every 6 years I'm ok with that. This journey all started with my OCD and some corrosion on the original wheels.

Sarge

 

Makes sense. I usually replace tires around 5 years whether they need it or not.

 

I just installed a set on my F-450 last week. I talked to Centramatic (bet they are getting tired of these calls) about the weights; was told leave them on or take them off; your choice. My wheels from the factory had 4-6 ounces on each wheel; evenly split on the inside/outside of the rim. I bought the Centramatics for a few reasons. 1) get rid of the ugly weights on the outside of my rims 2) hope to keep my wheels balanced with age/changing conditions 3) increase tire life and prevent the cupping I was seeing on my '19 F-450 at 25k miles. I ended up pulling the weights off the outside of each rim, but left the weights on the inside since these rims are polished on only one side (shame on Ford) and will never be reversed/rotated. I left all the weights on the rear inner steel wheels. The truck rides smooth; but it did before; I am not trying to solve a problem just prevent a future one. The Centramatics obviously work since I pulled half the weight off each wheel and the truck still rides smooth. I do not hear any noise yet (only driven it twice), but, with my hearing, there are a lot of things I can't hear; just ask my wife.

PS: I asked Centramatic how much weight these could compensate for and was impressed. I have the numbers written down out in the shop; can't remember exactly but it was far more than the amount on my wheels.

 

Thanks, Scott for the reply, Its nice to see some real world answers. Ill try mine with no weights on the polished wheels, I do still plan on balancing the inner steel wheels. If all goes well I will order a set from my GMC...we all kmow how the GM's love to cup a front tire.

Sarge

 

I wonder if these would work to remove the 48-55 MPH vibrations from hard spot tires that have road force above 15. They can only be balanced to a point and will still cause vibrations in the Aluminum trucks. Wont bother a steel truck, but you definitely feel them in the aluminum trucks.

I have the wheels and tires off my 2014 F150 that got totaled with snow tires on, and there wasn't a bit of vibration from them, but I do have them on the 2018, and had them re-balanced on a road force machine and they came back 17-29 road force. This was with remounting the tire to move the weight around to match the rim. Have had this vibration from day one, and reason I know its tires is because when I swap wheels to the 2014 ones the speed point changes to 44-53 MPH.