balancing large truck tires

kellyf · January 7, 2008

just wondering what type of adapters you guys use on the hunter dsp 7900 machine.Need to convince someone that you can't properly balance tires with the cone on the outside of the wheel.

G. Bedford · January 7, 2008

Show'em TSB 5-24-08. The last NOTE: is of most importance.

Brad Clayton · January 7, 2008

If it's a 19.5 then it gets a bag of balancing powder put inside and that's it.

OHNO60 · January 7, 2008

YUP HES RIGHT. BELIEVE ITS CALLED EQUAL. HAS CHART BY TIRE SIZE AND WHAT THEY SUGGEST PLACING IN TIRE.OUR TIRE TECHS SAY ITS WORKS

Mekanik · January 9, 2008

What is ballancing powder and how does it work? I have heard that tire shops aren't balancing big tires with machines anymore and just putting something inside the tire that will balance it.

OHNO60 · January 9, 2008

HAS A CHART FOR HOW MANY BAGS OR BAG SIZE TO USE.YOU SEAT BEAD AND ADD ABOUT 25-50 PSI THEN PUT PUWDER IN AN INJECTOR TUBE THAT HAS AIR CHUCK ON ONE END AND AIR LINE HOOK UP ON THE OTHER. THEN JUST INFLATE TIRE TO FULL PSI.DONE. THE POWDER SPINS ON THE INNER CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE TIRE WHEN SPINNING DOWN THE ROAD.BALANCED.CHECK THE LINK BELOW. WE HAVE GREAT RESULTS FROM IT!

http://www.imiproducts.com/equal/index.aspx

Mekanik · January 10, 2008

That sounds really cool. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbup.gif

Bruce Amacker · January 11, 2008

There are HUGE debates on whether this stuff works. I've had to remove the Equal and have tires balanced on trucks several times to get rid of bad shakes. ($$$) And then there's the sticky valve stems and flats from the stuff. I know there's guys who swear by it, but there's guys who swear at it, too.

/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/whattodo.gif

Brad Clayton · June 1, 2008

For Super Dutys with 18's and 20's we use this wheel chuck

Posted Image

Very nice and user friendly allowing cone from inside on any wheel with large hub diameter.

Jim Warman · June 1, 2008

Powder balancing is used quite extensively in our area... 19.5s get two bags. There are special valve cores that are supposed to be used with this product.... few seem to opt for the extra charge or stocking an extra part number ( /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/shrug.gif ).

When we are dealing with this kind of rotating mass (19.5 and bigger), it becomes less likely we will feel or see the effects of a few ounces of imbalance.... For those cases where a wheel/tire assembly is grossly out of balance - one can either add an additional bag of powder or insist on a replacement tire (under the tire manufacturers warranty). For my part, I believe that tires that are more than a very few ounces out of balance are faulty... (Most Ford WSMs have an allowable out of balance spec) and should be replaced as such.

Occasionally, we are called upon to repair a tire... this would be where we discover a leak during a PM or a repair - we do not usually take on tire repair jobs alone. My preference is to "boot" the tire using the plug/patch combination repairs. The powder can make this a chore.. Other than that, I am neutral on the use of powder.

FWIW.. we are not set up for rim sizes ending in ".5" and prefer to send these to the tire shop (four of them in a town of 7000ish souls). Tire sizes ending in ".5" have a different bead angle and require special safety considerations when working with them.