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Why in the world do all the ford trucks ive seen have the wheel balancers on the outside. I have an xlt with the cheap chrome clad over steels and they have rust starting around them. I keep them fairly clean and one year later they are looking like they wont last long. I wish i would have told them to put the painted accent stainless steel ones from another truck in the lot on like i was thinking of but never spoke up.
having wheel weights on both sides of the wheel is the best way to balance them. With weights on both sisdes you can achieve the best balance. The are some factory wheels, and many aftermarket wheels that don't have a outside lip on them, so you have to used tapped on weights or just place weights on the inner lip if their is one.
I can't believe how cheap the chrome clad steelies are. Not only are they hard to balance, but the cheap thin chrome that they smashed on top of the wheel will dent with finger pressure. If you take the hubcap off, you can see in the center just how thin the chrome clad is. I've seen thicker tin foil. In 04 these wheels were an option. Now they are standard equipment. It would be alot more honest if ford just went back to painting the steel wheels and maybe putting trim rings on them like the old days. This chrome clad BS has got to go!!!!!
Amazing the technology that we have today and they still keep making crappy products that don't last. That is how they keep us buying more and them making more money from us and us continuing to complain at how POOR their products are. All that said, we STILL continue to buy this cheap stuff. OR, you pay for what you get and step up to the plate and buy the real chrome wheels. Your choice. Just my two cents on the matter.
I Just Installed The 3 Inch Skyjacker Lift And Bfg At Ko 285x65rx18 Tires And When They Balanced My Wheels, They Put The Wieghts On The Inside (looks Much Better) And I Have Had Absolutely No Problems.
westtntrucker do you have these on your F150?
If so.. do you have some pic's ..Sounds like this could help a lota people.
Thanks John
I have a F350 DRW, No i do not have these on my truck "yet". They are a little more pricey for dually's I think about $800 a set. I have a few other things i need to do to the truck before i get a set of these (also waiting till i replace all the tires this summer) as i have only had the truck for 4 months.
I deliver into coal mines which are very muddy places and mud gets into the inside rims and throws off the balance with static wieghts, when we switched to the centramatics, the balance problem till we could get back to the yard and pressure blast the rims was eliminated as the centramatics compensated for the extra weight of the mud.
The was going to get the steel/chrome wheels...Just because of the total price of the truck.
The salesman told me to get the 17' aluminum wheel. He said I'd be happier in the long run. And I am just that, happier.
My wheels have been balanced 4 times and I've had the tires replaced once because of vibration.
The wheel weights my dealer uses are coated. They are not bare lead, even the piece the goes under the rim lip is coated..
I do not find any problems with the weights damaging the finish of my rims.
Now, the way the techs take off my center caps is a different story. They have chipped the rims in a couple of places. My next trip to the dealer, I'll let them know I want the rims replaced.
good luck with getting the wheels replaced!! i had to contact the owner of the dealership i went to, and call the ford customer concern line just to get the center caps replaced.