Would like to hear from those who use centramatic balancers. Do you use these on the front and rear? Are you happy with their performance?
Thanks.
Love mine. Front & rear. Never have had to balance tires and always runs smooth.
Also very happy with them
John
Another plus from me, love em! Have them front and rear also.
They have a 30 day money back guarantee, exclusive of labor. Cost me $180.00 to R&R two of them.
Two up front only did nothing to balance the wheel/tires, plus I didn't like the looks of them being visible through the holes in the wheels. YRMV
Jerry,
I am still a fan, both from engineering and from practical experience viewpoints. It is only common sense to use on each rotating mass (4 Centramatics on a coach with 2 axles, 6 on a coach with 3 axles). Several good posts available on search. For example:
Tire Balancing Method (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=22093.msg167325#msg167325)
HTH,
Neal
Have them on all positions, coach is perfectly smooth. I'd say, amazingly smooth. Still had tires balanced. Never drove a coach without them, so cannot give you a comparison.
Chris
What Chris said (above) exactly word for word.
They came with my coach and when I replaced tires didn't bother balancing them, like posts above smooth as can be.
Like others we have them on all 4 corners, $ well spent.
You should need 600-630 for the front and 600-640 for the rear.
Mike
Thank you all for the helpful information.
Put mine on with the new tires this spring. Made the coach ride smoother than either of my Buick's. Wouldn't be without them.
Larry
Got our coach with them on front, back and tag axles. Love them.
I have them on my steer tires on my Peterbilt for about 12 years now. Not on my rears anymore.
I have used these for several years now with no issues. They are installed on all axles. I didn't like seeing them thru the holes in the wheels at first but after a couple of days I found that I didn't notice them at all . A small price to pay for a smooth riding coach.
Jerry, I had those on my 95 U280 and loved them. Never a problem and no tire problems. Just make sure you have the right ones, one type fits the BUDD wheels and one type fits the HUB CENTERED wheels. They are not interchangeable easily.
I, as others who posted here, skipped the wheel balancing during my tire install. Partially offsets the centramatics cost
Centramatic has been around a long time. I installed them years ago on my F250 (300,000 mi) & F450 (175,000mi). Never balanced a tire, no cupping or tire wear issues. Have now installed them on my coach. 100 percent satisfied. They make them for motorcycles also. I wish they made them for cars.
Which model would be correct for the front on my 2003 U295?
Tom,
You should need 600-630 for the front and 600-640 for the rear. (as always you need to double check) These have bolt holes for both stud centered (Budd wheels) and hub centered 22.5 wheels that have disc brakes. With your coach being an '03 it has hub centered wheels.
Mike
Centramatics look like this, after they've been on the coach for a while. My "rear" balancer is dirtier than normal cuz we had a axle seal leaking. Axle is standing on the floor behind the balancer.
They are manufactured here in Alvarado.
If you are in the area, stop by.
They will give you a factory tour, a small wheel demo, installation is free, if bought here ( at least mine were 9 years ago)
Mine were installed, Front and Back, before I purchased the Coach! So many times by Over-The-Road Truckers, who gravitated there first, Spotted them Immediately! They of course know what Quality is! They say that is the ONLY way to go, for Smoothness, and Tire wear issues! They swear by them, and so should we!
So these take one set in front and one set in the rear?
Any ideas what number for my 2002?
David,
1 Yes.
1a.Some people run just fronts
2. You should need 600-630 for the front and 600-640 for the rear. (as always you need to double check) These fit most Unicoaches and Unihomes with ADB-1560 disc brakes. They have bolt holes for both stud centered (Budd wheels) and hub centered 22.5 wheels. With your coach being an '02 it has hub centered wheels.
Mike
When I came out of the service in '66 we balanced tires on the cars back then! Almost a lost art now. When we purchased our coach we headed to NAC to get some minor work done and found Herman Tire. They did high speed balancing there; not sure if they do now. When we got ready to purchase new tires in '05, we had our tires high speed balanced there. Never had a problem. Unfortunately, mostly due to safety, shops moved away from this method and went with static balancing. There are still a few shops around the country that still offers high-speed balancing. I'm not against centermatics, just like the old way. When a tire is brand new and that much out of round, it needs to be replaced. Just my thoughts on this subject!
Out of round tire, and unbalanced tire, are two different things...requiring two different solutions.
Our coach came to us with Centramatics installed at all 4 corners. Rode smooth as silk from our first day with it.
When we got new tires last year, we had them spin balanced, and then had the Centramatics reinstalled. Extra insurance for small additional cost.
Our old coach still rides smooth as silk.
DWMYH
According to the Michelin guys you can calll yourself all the industries truck type tires are tested on a very expensive high speed able machine at up to double normsl pressures.
They mentioned that almost all "good" major brand tires are very close on dimensions and weighting anymore.
No one makes way off tires anymore. Tok many lawsuits would result..
I saved the new balance and future rebalance money when installed the centrimatics.
Now that it was posted about the dynamic high speed balance that is rarely done anymore it would seem the centrimatics ore in essence doing a complete high speed balancing of the whole wheel assembly.
Plus there is no time that the balancing is "off" and needs redoing.
The smooth as silk comment here is permanent. Would seem slightly safer as the tire is constantly under the same load gripping the road versus bouncing somewhat.
Ice cones to mind,,,,
I've seen used centramatics for sale online. Can they become defective or is it better to buy new ones?
John M.
On a previous set of tires that were balanced, the front tires went out of balance while I was on a trip, The weights did not fall off. The ride was bad enough that I took a look at the tires and found they were cupped.. I put on centramatics and that smoothed out the ride a little bit, but once a tire is cupped, it will never be smooth, After replacing those tires with new, I have not had a wear or cupping problem using centramatics.
John,
Yes they can have problems, but very few. Several years ago Centramatic got a bad material run for the center plates. This caused a crack to form from one or more of the stud holes to the outer edge. (one of ours being one) They replaced both as a set (at no charge) rather than just the one that was cracked.
So to answer the other part of your question, I would not be afraid of a used set. If you ever go by the factory and get a tour you will see how well built they are and can ask any questions as to your concerns.
Mike
I used them on one of my class 8 trucks, But just on the front. They worked fine so no complaints.
No one balances the drives on class 8 trucks.
None of the tire shops I used nor the Michelin tech at corp while an owner-operater even recommended balancing the drives. Was never an issue in 1.3 million miles. I averaged 250,000-300,000 miles per set on my drives. Mostly ran block tread Michelins on the drives. But used various brands of steer tire.