[Archived]

Love my Centramatics. Have them on steer and drive, not on tags yet. Put them on with the new tires. Looking forward to see what they do for tire life. Already made a difference in ride quality.

Jon, how do Centramatics fail? Good information to know…

[joel]

The failure on my Centramatics was the balancing media was not flowing.

I would bet almost anything that type of failure would go unnoticed unless the tire in question was hopping all over the place. I thought I felt something but it was so slight I attributed it to my lack of experience with the coach, my current one.

Thank goodness I do my own work and I tend to be nosy. Not long after I had the coach I wanted to look very carefully at my Knorr-Bremse brakes which were different than any I had previously. I wanted to look things over pretty good more out of curiosity than anything so I had the coach on stands and I pulled all the wheels. That was when I discovered I had Centramatics. I never had them previously so I was surprised. I began putting things back together and as I did I was rotating my Centramatics listening to the balance media make a noise as it rolled around inside them. One of them did not make any noise. No matter what I did I could not get the media to move around so when I talked to Centramatic they understood there was a problem and shipped me replacements.

I guarantee no tire changer or mechanic would have caught that. I would not have caught that if I had known about them previously and I would have just put them back on the bus assuming they were OK. Now if I pull a wheel I take 5 seconds to listen to the media flow inside the outer ring.

What I think happened is the media is installed inside the outer ring on the Centramatic discs, Then the ring which is rolled is sealed so the inside of the ring and the media remains dry forever. If the seal fails or is compromised and any moisture can get inside the ring, the media clogs up and does not flow freely to balance the wheel.

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1999 XLV X-6872,  liberty #440

[Larry & Diane]

John Carroll … I presume these are the valve caps you reference. $3.35 each.

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/lgpages/valvecap.php

They look an awful lot like the ones we buy at the race track from the Goodyear racing tire truck. A box was 100 was $60 a few years ago. I’ve got a handful of them and will have to check to see if they are the same.

Jon mentioned these caps.

https://www.alltiresupply.com/product/double-seal-cap-inflate-thru-valve-cap-50box

We have a couple of them on our coach and when I checked the tires last week I took the opportunity to remove one and exam it. Simple, yet effective design. In a couple of cases the extra length facilitates getting the air chuck on firmly. I will probably get a box and put them on the coach wheels that don’t have them already. Are these caps as effective for a coach as the aircraft quality ones are? Have any of you racers out there used them on a race car with any luck (or not bad luck)?

Over the 10 years I’ve had the race I’ve bought race tires (both mounted and unmounted, both new and gently used) from a variety of sources … NASCAR Cup and K&N East teams, ARCA teams, ASA teams, and high end (little expense spared) vintage race teams. We’ve also crewed for an ARCA/Cup team. Early on I noticed that tires had lots of information marked on them before and after use. One of the marks is usually a “V” pointed at (or in the cases of a gently used tire) or near the valve stem. I was awfully surprised to figure out the reason behind the “V”: The tire will move on the wheel under heavy braking (and maybe heavy acceleration). With tire pressures of between 16# and 24# on the race car, the “grip” of the soft tire compound, and extreme braking abilities … I finally concluded the tire can move on the wheel. Then as my abilities with the race car increased I notice my tires moving on the wheels!

Fast foreward to the coach. I never thought about the tires on the coach moving on the wheels. Now I’m going to mark my valve stems on the tires I have access to and see if move. At around 100#/110# of pressure I’m surprised the bus tires might move on the wheel.

Lots of good information on this Forum. Keep up the good work. I wonder if anyone has gotten the coach tires to move on the wheel under acceleration!

[Archived]

I have balance masters. I read they have Mercury inside which allows proper
operation even if there is a slight dent on the ring. Do Centramics have ball
bearings for the balancing media?

Mine are glass smooth until about 72MPH, then I begin to feel a slight
imbalance. I don’t need to drive over 70 MPH so I don’t worry about it much but
I really think if they are working correctly it would be smooth at higher speeds
as well. I’m curious if Centramatics are smooth at high speeds?

Ken

[Archived]

I just purchased 8 new Michelins using using Prevost community and the Michelin Advantage program. It is a fantastic program and went off with out a hitch.

The tires were installed by Pete’s Road Service in Corona, CA. They recommended using “Counteract” a bead type balancer. So far so good, in that I liked the balance and the feel of the new tires.

I will keep you all informed if I have any problems.

[AL]

We have Balancemaster units on our bus with the 315/80’s all around instead of 12R’s on 8.25 inch wide wheels. Smooth doesn’t describe how we roll, it’s like driving on a cloud all the way up to 74 mph, our coach’s top speed. Silky, quiet and smooth

[glen]

Oh my, there is another Liberty guy, MU-2 lurking but finally on the site. I have seen this Liberty and it’s pristine.

Any idea how much moolah saved using the PC tire program ?

[Dick]

Larry’s an old timer. He just isn’t as verbose as some of us.

[Kim]

My Centramatics are smooth at any speed.

[Glenn]

Michelin says you do not even need to balance the tires if you mount them, check the runout and it is in spec. Going the extra mile with Counteract or Centramatics justs make for a smoother ride, better MPG and for sure the tire will last longer.

[Archived]

I’ve been using counteract for about 2 years now with no issues.

[Corey]

I am using beads in all the tires on the bus now, used beads on last bus I had, used beads on several big trucks, used beads in 33″ tires on 2 different Jeeps, have never had a problem and always a smooth ride.