Has anybody tried the "Centramatic" Wheel Balancers (www.centramatic.com) on their truck?


I was wondering if someone could confirm what the bolt pattern is for my F-150, as
from a diagram I downloaded, it shows that if you measure from stud-to-stud, I should have a 5" bolt pattern, but there are no Centramatic's that fit a 5" pattern, only 4.5" and 5.5"'s.
I would think that a Ford F-150 would be a very common size to fit.


2001 Ford F-150 truck with LT315/75R16 tires on aluminum rims (5-bolt).
-2001HiBoy-

 

Interesting - I went to the link and watched the video clips. Seems to make sense. It didn't appear they made them for my 18" wheels, but I may give them a call and research some more. I haven't had the vibe problems others have had with their 04 Fords, but this may be a solution for their problems.

 

$200.. no way. I had rather have minor inbalance than to pay that much. I could see maybe if I drove an 18 wheeler or somthing.

 

I have first hand experience with those balancers. I bought three sets, one for each axle of my over the road tractor to try and stop wheel shimmy.

After putting them on I still had bounce and shimmy. I then had all 10 tires trued and spin balanced on the truck. When balancing was completed I reinstalled the centramatics. The shimmy and bounce was still there. I returned to the tire shop that trued and balanced the ten tires. I informed him about what was happening. He said "I didn't want to say anything because you spent all that money on those balancers, but I have taken piles of them off because they don't work".

He jacked up the front wheel and hooked up his speed balance equipment and ran the tire up to speed. The whole front of the truck shook and vibirated. He then removed the wheel and the centramatic from behind it. He put the wheel back on and ran it up to speed. No bounce or shimmy at all. He did the same test on the other front wheel and one of the rear, all with the same results.

I took all six centramatics off, went to where I bought them and got my money back.

Without them, and with all tires trued and balanced, I had the smoothest riding truck that I had ever driven.

The secret to smooth riding is to have the tires trued to the rim while on the truck, and then speed balanced the same way. That way the tires are round to the hub whether the wheels are or not, and they are also balanced with the rim that is mounted on that paticular hub.

I am not here to slander "centramatic", or say that their product does not work at all, it could very well work in most cases, this was just my experience, and the experience of my tire man.

 

i have installed 12-15 sets of the balancers on H1 Hummers and have never had a complaint. ive ridden in all of them and have never experienced even a slight vibration. this is the only way my shop will balance the h1's now. they are getting big in the 4wheel drive industry. people with the 37" and above tires seem to love them. mainly because they dont have to take their tires back to get them rebalanced. im sure they can drill them for any bolt pattern but as ford changed to a new pattern this year its not common at all. and the last time i talked to them they were not selling to any 5-6 lug for a couple months. they had some large production needs in the large truck side.