Got Centramatic wheel balancers

[J94runner]

Went ahead and bought a set of those centramatic wheel balancers. I can't wait to try them. Everyone that used them raves about them. So i'm gonna see for myself. I'll let you guys know how they do on my 4runner. I think I'm getting a small vibe b/c I have cheap tires. those Dunlop Mud rovers.... are cheap. I think they're ment for a truck that doesn't see high speeds. like a trailered truck, or a farm truck.

[ben76]

I got a set of those tires on my truck now in 32's. I got them used for free. I run 80 mph up the suncoast parkway and it rides pretty good. 3 of the tires only took 2 oz to balance and the 4th took almost 4 oz. I was thinking about trying a new set when I finish wearing these out.

[Iggy]

how do u know how mutch u need a tire

[J94runner]

Iggy- If you balance the tire/wheel on a spin balancer it'll tell you "where" and how much weight to put on the rim. The Centramatics are sealed, and you cannot adjust how much media they have. They will balance up to 6oz of imperfection. EX- you have a 31x10.50R15 that calls for 4oz of weight on 1 spot of the rim. The Centramatic balancer will correct that. If that same tire/wheel came up asking for 12oz (as my junky 35" spare did!) the centramatic balancer will fix only 6oz of it. So as you go down the road you're tire will be 6oz out of balance (50% balanced). So that's why they say to have the tires balanced ALONG with the Centramatic balancers.


The Hunter 9700 Force balancer is a great machine. It puts Down force while spining the tire. So it'll pick up on differences in sidewall flex/support. and it'll check for radial run out of the tire/rim and match them up for the best result. Most shops don't know how to use the 9700 to it's full capacity. Heck, most shops don't even have one. Jaguar, MB, Caddilac etc have a Hunter 9700 in their shops. You can even look up force specs for each make/model to see if you're within the manufacture's spec of tire force.

[bosco]

The Centramatic balancer will correct that. If that same tire/wheel came up asking for 12oz (as my junky 35" spare did!) the centramatic balancer will fix only 6oz of it.


You tried to balance that tire I sold you?!? :eek:


I didnt care cause it was just a crappy spare and thats all I needed...

[J94runner]

Bosco- Yeah...lol, I took my stock spare steel wheel and had the local tire king dumb mount and balance (kinda? lol) the thing. It asked for something crazy like 15oz or somin. It's got weights half way around it. It's only about 4oz out of balance now. this way I can actually drive on it in an emeregency, and they were gonna charge me the same if they balanced it or not... so why not give them a challenge. It holds air pretty well too. Only lost a few pounds over a couple months.

[J94runner]

UPDATE: got the balancers on for about 3 days now. They DO make a difference in how the truck drives. Less vibes for sure. But I still have a slight vibe in the rear from a out-of-round tire I think. which balancers don't fix. but I am happy with them, and don't plan on getting rid of them:) They're a bit pricey,... not 100% sure they're worth the money. but they do work. I'd say they're only worth $100/set. not $185/set. But oh well.... I'm interested in seeing how they effect long term tire wear.

[91toyota4x4]

Remember when you were saying that Goodyear told you Dynabead type balancers won't work because the inside of the tire isn't smooth. Well they weren't lying. When I pulled mine off of the rim the other day it has alot of ribbing and stuff inside, not huge ribs but big enough to stop the tiny dynabeads from moving around like they are supposed to.

[86ToyotaKyle]

there suppose to be somethign called equil or something like that from erinies 4x4 in high springs that he uses but i'm not a huge fan of his work but supposibly it's someting that's on the inside of the wheel as well. anyone tried it yet?

[J94runner]

it's just a ballast media you pour in the tire. same principle. The inside of the tire has to be smooth for it to work. you usually put a few ounces in each wheel. BB's will work too. But I've heard the tires i'm getting (Goodyear MTR's) don't have a smooth inside; so it won't work on them.

[86ToyotaKyle]

gotcha didnt really understand the whole thing but it makes since now. is it worth it?

[91toyota4x4]

The problem with Equal is that it is a powder, which clumps up when introduced to moisture. I believe it was originally designed for big trucks where moisture isn't a problem, but with us moisture is more of an issue because we air up/down alot more which introduces more moisture into the tire. In comes dyna beads, which are tiny cermamic beads that do not clump in a moist environment.

Hope that helps but it probably confused you more!

[86ToyotaKyle]

I understand whats your saying, I just have to do something with these stupid STS's untill i have the money to get new tires i just dont know what i want next. but these are going to have to do since im in the middle of painting my truck atm.

[91toyota4x4]

I should be selling my 32 MT/Rs in a few months when I bump up to 35s.

[86ToyotaKyle]

I wanna stay with a 33 but i ono what to get got so many im looking at i just dont know what i want to get.

[J94runner]

I would be looking at the Goodyear MT/R's, Swamper TrXus M/T's, or yokohama Geolander MT's. My dumlops aren't bad onroad, just I have a egg one. their a "cheap" tire. I did find a place in tampa that "shaves" tires round. a guy on 38's reccomended them to me. he said he can do 90mph in his Yota with 38's and no vibes. I've heard multiple people rave about this tire shaving shop for big tires. They said put the tires on, drive around for about 500 miles and then get them shaved round and re balanced ( and on a force balancer if possible I'd think).

[86ToyotaKyle]

yeah i'm either going to get the trxus MT's or SSR alot of my friends runs the Trxus and like them but i kinda like the more aggersive look of the ssr's. so well see.

[J94runner]

SSR's aren't bad, they have Siping. But I'm more worried about the ride my tires give at 80mph now. I really don't like the viby ride my cheap eggy dumlops are giving. I've come to the realization that if you can't spin your tires fast enough to sling mud, Won't really matter if you got SSR's or the trXus. Both will pack full of mud and become a slick.

I might try some Trxus if I don't like the GY MTr's. But I think for the wheeling and driving I do... the GY MTR's are the way to go.

[usmcracing]

SSR's aren't bad, they have Siping. But I'm more worried about the ride my tires give at 80mph now. I really don't like the viby ride my cheap eggy dumlops are giving. I've come to the realization that if you can't spin your tires fast enough to sling mud, Won't really matter if you got SSR's or the trXus. Both will pack full of mud and become a slick.

I might try some Trxus if I don't like the GY MTr's. But I think for the wheeling and driving I do... the GY MTR's are the way to go.

My bubby with the Jeep Rubi has 35" SSRs and they ride really good and wear good too. I know first hand that the MTRs suck in the mud, they are a rock tire. I had the MTRs to go on my Runner only cause I got a really good deal on them. If I had the money to buy a new good all around tire it'd be the BFG MT. I've seen my 32" BFG MT pull my heavier Runner up a slick hill in a nameless pit that a lighter Toyota pickup on 35" MTRs had trouble getting up cause the tires wouldn't clean the mud out.

[Toxic]

I love my BFG MT's and will be going to 35's when I get to do my SAS...Even though they r only 32 they have got me out of some nasty stuff and they wear really nice on the road...Just rotate with oil change...Not very loud on the road either

[usmcracing]

Yeah I've had BFG MT on a some of my past 4wds and that are great tires.

POST # 1195 FIVE MORE TO GO !!!!!!!

[J94runner]

well like I said, i'm gonna give the MTR's a shot. depending on how I like them I'll probly end up trying a set of 35"/37" Trxus mt's.

[Neil426]

The SSR's are notorious for chunking. They aren't bad on the road and they seem to be ok offroad. I do however think that they are not the best all around tire on the market.

[J94runner]

a lot of people seem to be raving about the "all aroundness" of the TrXus MT.

[91toyota4x4]

I have been thinking about the Truxxus MT, everyone who has them seems to really like them.

[86ToyotaKyle]

yeah my friend has them on his f-150 and they are really quite on the road, smooth riding, and do fairly decent off road granted he doesnt rock crawl it and sutch but for cleaning themself through mud and sutch they do fairly well, and i hear there alot better on lighter vehicles. He has them in 35's and they balanced easy to even on aluminum wheels.

[J94runner]

brian got a set of trxus 33's. I wonder how he's liking them, or if he even wheels it still.

[86ToyotaKyle]

Well when he lived on the road over from me he said he loved them, and yes he still wheels it he went on the clean up yesterday. take a look at the pics.

[bosco]

brian got a set of trxus 33's. I wonder how he's liking them, or if he even wheels it still.


He loves them! He wheeled them yesterday with us and did VERY well. Even in the slick climbs.

[faithoffroad]

Went ahead and bought a set of those centramatic wheel balancers. I can't wait to try them. Everyone that used them raves about them. So i'm gonna see for myself. I'll let you guys know how they do on my 4runner. I think I'm getting a small vibe b/c I have cheap tires. those Dunlop Mud rovers.... are cheap. I think they're ment for a truck that doesn't see high speeds. like a trailered truck, or a farm truck.

Which ones did you oreder? When I got mine they wouldnt fit over the index on the drum brake. and there are weights on the drum itself that interfered with the balancers mounting.

[J94runner]

I have some 1.5" rear wheel spacers. so no mounting issues. and they mounted on the Dana 44 axle great. just threw them on. on the rear I used some heat shrink around 3 lugs in a triangle shape to help center it. no big though.