New Tire, s and balance ?

[lbriant]

I received two new 315 Michelin under warrantee and bought 2 first set went on the steers the other set of 2014 went on my inside duells 2012 s moved to outside duells and 2011 went to tag all tire weights came off and went to bead balancing ??
So any opinions on bead balancing 16 oz bag each tire ?? Came with pretty valve stems :rolleyes:

[truxton]

Larry

Are you putting a new tire next to and old tire on the drive axle. I can't grasp what you trying to do. 1 new tire on each side of the drive axle?

Later
bv

[lbriant]

Yes I put both new steer tires on and put 2 new inside duells my outside duells are 2012 and moved 2011 to my tag axels.
So my inside duells is a 2014 and outside is 2012,
What about the balancing have you tried that ?
Did I do a boo boo ?

[lbriant]

We are also talking about very low mileage tires less than 1/32 tread difference,

[Gil_J]

I've done traditional wheel weights and Equal; both based on the recommendation of the shop. You also have the option of installing balancing rings between the wheel and hub. I think I'm sold on Equal. With that said, at the Prevost seminar in Nashville, Prevost experts said Michelin considers in tire wheel balancing material to be an abrasive. If true, that could impact a tire warranty claim. Maybe, that's why Prevost moved to Centramatics (sp?).

[jetart]

I put two new steers on last spring and the tire shop used the beads. I don't know if it's the right thing to do or not but I do not get any vibrations in the wheel when I drive. So far I'm happy!

[Joe Camper]

Ive used all 3. Wheel weights, equal and centramatics.

Centramatics is what I would use going forward. Equal is good never had any adverse affects from it, conventional wheel weights r a thing of the past.

[lbriant]

The new bead balancing beads are made of ceramic and are round not like an abrasives sand I know I am not coming close to wearing my tires out on the outside I and im guessing the inside would be the same, they said if they break a tire down that has ran these for thousands of miles the tire isn't full of any rubber dust or marks ? Oh well we're running them now .:eek:

[lbriant]

Also as a tire wears the balance can be off as a matter of fact I was missing a couple wheel weight that flew off somewhere, the beads re-balance the tire every time you drive for the life of the tire,

[lbriant]

Here is an excellent example remember snow ice or mud also can get in your rims, effecting tire wear and fuel mileage,

http://youtu.be/eq263AYgyYg

[Reagan Sirmons]

The bead balancing ...is this the powder?
If so, they will coagulate similar to moist power creating balls... Nothing beats the balancing done by a professional tire operation. I believe the powder is for truck trailers more so than perhaps the ride you might be seeking. Stay aware of how these ride.
Best.
Pres

[Joe Camper]

Similar. Equal is powder. The beads R another brand and like the equal just small beads instead.

With old type wheel weights sometimes it is necessary to put them on the visible side. On a truck maybe on a shiny bus rim no way.

I used equal in my truck for a while. Too much fuss but I had tires on and off the rim way more than the bus so I would think that product would lend itself better for these campers.

The balance rings R the most expensive but do not bring either issue.

[jack14r]

You won't believe this but in a panic stop the front tires will move on the wheel.I maintain 4 vintage stock cars for customers and I drive also in vintage races and we see the tires in a qualifing session moving 120-180 degrees on the rims.

[coreygrubb]

Jack, I raced Nascar Tour Cars and ASA tour cars for years and currently race GT-1/SPO cars in SCCA. Would never use anything but clip on+tape or tape on, but on the bus.....it's hard to beat Equal.

[garyde]

Hi Larry. Everything I have read recommends not to install 2 dissimilar tires together as a dual. Its not just tread, its different age of tires and the difference in ware.
You would be better off having the two 2012 together and the two 2011 together.

[dale farley]

There's a post about the tires moving on the rims of a Prevost during a hard stop.

[Joe Camper]

Jack a few short years ago they first started requiring loaded dump trucks to have tarps. It became general practice for the company drivers to "shake down" the peak of the pile by stabbing the brakes at a 5mph roll.

I did it in a pinch or a hurry before the tarp like everyone else and I noticed it would get the tires spinning on the rims.

Well Id hope everyone would probably never put themselves in a position to have to brake that hard. That would tend to mess up the balance with the wheel weights instantly.

I know that "standards" and I use that term loosely, vary from 1 geographic location to another. With that said it is normal in Chicago (if there is such a thing) to never balance any semi tractor trailer tires other than the steer and then only when necessary and quite frequently even those rolled true without.

Some companies did very few I never did and if I got a good set of skins that truck rolled perfect without any form of balance whatsoever.

I mention this for those of U with that exact scenario on your bus. No balance of any kind and a perfect roller. Wondering about all this fuss and expense.

Ive driven many that need absolutely nothing in this area and will roll as fast as u dare as true as can be. But there R often very unbalanced tires that need obvious help.

I can recall on more than a few steer tire purchases Id come in with a wore out set of steers that wore and rolled perfect all the way down and never had any balance. Only to pull away with a bran new set and the truck noticeably shacking. And then prove to be very difficult to get balanced. A couple new tires even delegated to the drive axle after repeated attempts at balancing the tire fall short.

Seems like there is much room for improvement in this area but far be it from me to complain.

Often MASSIVE amounts of grease end up oozing out after chassis service and end up building up on the backside of the rims that's where it falls see that all the time.

Cory if U have equal after u check pressure it is good practice to shoot a spurt of air back into the tire just to make sure the valve stem filter didn't miss anything that will help clean the valve.

[lbriant]

The beads are nothing like powder, they are round like bb, s but made out of ceramic very very hard and very smooth they can not be effected by moisture, you can actually use them in another tire because they can be reclaimed ,

[lbriant]

Gary,
Thanks for the input but I wanted to put the 2014 tires on the steer tires that leaves me with another set of 14s a set of 12s and a set of 11s?
Guess I could have put all 4 2014 s on the drive 2012 s on the steer and 11 s on the tag ?

[lbriant]

Nobody liked my video !!!
Gee I went to allot of work for that presentation :cool:

[Gil_J]

I'm one that agrees that on a per axle basis the tires should be the same size and tire model. I also agree that on a per axle basis all tire pressures should be the same. These are what all tire manufactures recommend as well.

Here's something to ponder. Why are drive axle wheel widths different? On most coaches the drive wheels are 9" wide AND 8.25" wide. For a long time Michelin had two different weight and load tables for 315s on these 2 rims. I'm guessing two 9" rims with 315s just won't fit in an XLs wheel well. Given the drive axle weight I never understood why drive and tag axle tires aren't 295s on 8.25" wheels. Of course, this would allow moving tags to steers when you're in a bind on the side of the road. Still, that doesn't explain why they didn't put 295s on the drives at least.

Something to ponder...

[Joe Camper]

I just got done working on an XL that originally had steel inside and aluminum outside duel rims originally.

It had been changed to all aluminum rims. How do I tell?

The flange on the rim where the holes R are much thicker on aluminum rims than the steel ones and require longer studs if correct.

When U switch the inner wheels from steel to aluminum and do not change the studs that is not correct and potentially dangerous.

This bus just had new tires and I noticed the inner nuts ( thimbles ) had all been replaced. The guys that sold him the tires must have decided the inner nuts were all stripping and marred and put new but neglected to cure the symptom the less than adequate stud length. Dangerous and negligent for a tire shop to make that mistake. I have seen it more than a few times.

Gill although on paper U R correct I have never seen differing tread wear on tires and rims mismatched on the drives like that and if U do ever go to aluminum inside rims PUT THE CORRECT LONGER STUDS on the drive hub.

The shorter studs for steel rims R just long enough to get by with when running inner aluminum rims on them. JUST BARLEY don't do it and if U have this now please make it right. Either go back to inner steel rims or get the correct longer studs.