[Jim/Chris]

if you are a member of FMCA, check out the tire prices you can get through their tire program. May be much better. I would tell that shop they are full of crap. ALL tires should be balanced, not just the steering ones.

There are many people who use Equal or balance rings or just balance with weights. You have to decide what you want. I have only weights so far, but may go the balance rings at some point.

[Archived]

Ditto with Mark, ALL tires need to be balanced.

This is the thinking of someone who doesn’t have a clue to our million dollar ride. Why would you skip on some tires as everything else has been balanced on Prevost, brake rotors, drums driveshaft, pulleys, all engine parts, anything that spins?

So for example on all heavy duty tires the rim has to be centered on a circular line that is within 1/4 inch of outside edge of rim. This way the tire mount is reasonably aligned in a circle . Then with spin balance the proper weights are added and you have balance.

Another example is the tire is mounted on the rim, loaded on the balancer and the amount of weight required is a half a pound. A trick used by tire shops is to remove the air and spin the tire on the rim 180 degrees. This rotation usually solves a problem to reduce the amount of weight a lot.

What the tire installer is trying to find is the “sweet spot” in the rim and tire. Thus requiring less weights.

Watching GOOD tire shops that do the above install are working for you to correctly mount new tires, give you a balance for the smooth ride you except with a Prevost.

The latest and greatest balancing is known as Force Balance and this balancer cost about $20K.

It takes all factors of tire size, rim width and diameter.

[Alvie]

I just put new tires on mine and balanced them and use balance master rings that way u r good to go make sure if they balance them and they use the stick on ones on the inside that they do not hit the calipers on the inside. I just had mine aligned at prevost I would never put new tires with out alignment done on it had it done at prevost Cal there is a great shop near marathon that does that ask them the shops name mine drove ok but was way out of alignment my peterbilt drives nicer than the bus one finger to go down road maybe not as smooth but less work pulling 300000 pound trailer plus 19000 pound truck now the bus drives nice. There are no weights on the outside of wheels only on inside on mine

[Ed]

Kevin

I just installed new tires on our 04 XL2 had all wheel balanced. I watched as the tire guy was doing the job. That is the only way to have it done wright. FMCE deal is great $62000 for a complete job at Olin Mott in Tampa FL.

[Roger]

Find snother tire shop! There simply too many reasons to have the tires balanced and the incremental cost is near nothing. As for balancing, i have used beads and weights and both seem very effective. I have had a tire job say weights aren’t effective on tires of our size. It seems there are a lot of opinions on balancing methods.

I see road force mentioned. Do they really do road force on wheels and tires of our size? Road force is one method of balancing using weights where the tire is spin balanced against a resistive roller to simlate the effect of weight on the tire. For cars, especially for low profile tires, road force is the way to go.

Peter, do you have the part number for the front balance ring handy? I’m thinking about going that route instead of equal. My only reservation is how these may restrict brake cooling.

[Jim/Chris]

Gil,

I put Balance Masters on Peter’s bus, they are great. Balance

[Archived]

All you guys that want to use Balance Masters or Centrimatics send me the money for the set. I will balance your tires at my expense for as long as you own the bus using Equal or equivalent.

I stand to make a lot of money providing this service.

Until I bought my current coach which came with Centrimatics, I used Equal and it was an excellent way to balance tires. At $10 to $12 per tire you would have to change tires many times over before you broke even considering the purchase price of Centrimatics or Balance Masters.

I have already had one Centrimatic fail which the folks at Centrimatic replaced at their expense even though it was out of warranty. Equal cannot fail unless you get water into the tire. I pulled my tires off after they aged out and the insides were as dry as a popcorn fart so if there was no moisture after 6 years I see no reason for concern.

The argument about Equal affecting the sealing of the Schrader valve is a red herring. With the proper valve cores that come with filters that is a non issue.

[Gerald]

Maybe this is what your trying to say, Jon

.

[Archived]

Thank you all for your feedback – I appreciate it.

For those in the tire market, using FMCA I’m getting the 315 Energy at $568 + 52 FE per each. Plus parts and labor at the shop, the whole bill for 8 tires is right around $5400. And Oregon has no sales tax, so we’re saving a few bucks there too.

I’m excited to drive it with the new tires. A few days after instal we’ll be taking a week long 2,000 mile trip. I was already thrilled with how the coach drove and tracked, and I hear by replacing my tired Toyos, the ride should be significantly better.

Thanks again,

[Paula]

Don’t get me wrong. Centrimatics and Balance Masters get the job done. But at 8 times the cost of enough Equal to do the job they are not without problems. The first is then next owner gets to thank you for your largesse. But a more serious problem in my opinion is they block the view of the brake disks. You have to get under the coach to look for scoring,

They can fail. The one I had that failed for whatever reason had the balancing media clump up. Had I not changed my own wheels I would have never noticed. I seriously doubt the kid in the tire shop would give a damn so that could be a problem. They can corrode so unless they are maintained the thin metal can rust.

Admittedly unlike Equal they are reuseable. But if I have to break down a wheel, I just blow or vacuum the old Equal out and throw in a new bag. At $10 or $12 depending on the wheel and location that’s cheap compared to the cost of the alternative.

But whether I spend my money on booze, women, Equal or Centrimatics I think it is far better than having balance weights glued or hammered onto your polished aluminum wheels.

[Jim/Chris]

Jon

do you run equal in all your tires? I thought I read somewhere that only on the steer?

Is there any way to confirm you have equal?

Bill

[Corey]

Remember folks, he still uses a flip phone!:)

[Archived]

Is this the phone your talking about ?

[Archived]

Bill, ignore the Cretins who are always picking on me. Since my current coach has Centrimatics that is what I use in lieu of Equal. But when I used Equal I had it in all of my tires. I used it for almost 20 years and never had any problems.

The advantage of using it all around is every tire is balanced and that not only benefits the ride, it helps avoid any irregular tire wear problems especially on the tag axle which seems to be hard on tires.

[Jim/Chris]

Note to Big Al,

I think you are poking fun at my flip phone, but I never get pop up ads on my phone. That might in part be attributed to the fact the phone is rarely turned on. By not turning it on I never get those pesky sales calls.