DS balancing ring?..thoughts?

[BERZERKER888]

Florida Shores Truck Center

Our full service facility offers new tires, used tires, alignment, DOT inspections, lights, alternators/starters, brakes, clutches, drive trains, accessories and parts, including hydraulic hose. We also rent storage units and storage trailers, and provide roadside assistance for heavy duty...

floridashorestruckcenter.com

 

[coachgeo]

they use to call the wheel bead rings and; in tire, balance beads...... a scam..... now ton's of folk swear by them. IMHO that is the way it will go with these too. Not many using them yet but it appears to be growing..... esp if they are now starting to show up in big rig truck shops

 

[Third From Texas]

I might be tempted to try them over dumping a foreign substance into the tire (and CTIS system). I've heard horror stories of antifreeze gumming up the works or airsoft pellet's melting due to oils getting into the air system, etc. I can only imagine the fun involved in tearing apart the entire air system to resolve an issue with a bunch of goo that got past a failed check valve or something. But I'm fortunate to not have any vibration issues on this truck (unlike my A0) so balance isn't on my current radar.

Most all of these balancing solutions have; *not intended for highway use written somewhere (I've always wondered what a DOT/DPS trooper might say about them being in place).

 

[BERZERKER888]

I might be tempted to try them over dumping a foreign substance into the tire (and CTIS system). I've heard horror stories of antifreeze gumming up the works or airsoft pellet's melting due to oils getting into the air system, etc. I can only imagine the fun involved in tearing apart the entire air system to resolve an issue with a bunch of goo that got past a failed check valve or something. But I'm fortunate to not have any vibration issues on this truck (unlike my A0) so balance isn't on my current radar.

Most all of these balancing solutions have; *not intended for highway use written somewhere (I've always wondered what a DOT/DPS trooper might say about them being in place).

no no..for driveshaft balancing...

 

[simp5782]

When your driveshaft is built it is balanced. New slip yoke its balanced, new weld on yoke its balanced.

If your driveshaft is slinging off weights that are welded on causing you to have to balance it at home you have serious issues and need to park the truck.

 

[BERZERKER888]

When your driveshaft is built it is balanced. New slip yoke its balanced, new weld on yoke its balanced.

If your driveshaft is slinging off weights that are welded on causing you to have to balance it at home you have serious issues and need to park the truck.

fortunately I have none of those issues...but as a precautionary measure and for $200.. it just may be worth a lookie loo..

 

[m-35tom]

snake oil and def not needed.

 

[Mullaney]

no no..for driveshaft balancing...

.
Find a local "joint and clutch" company in your area. There are folks in places like that who balance driveshafts for a living. If you have a M107X or 108X Stewart and Stevenson truck, that will be one of the cheapest investments you will ever make in yourself and your new-to-you truck. No balancing ring. Just "the real mccoy" actually balancing the spinning metal...

Making sure that the slip yoke is "indexed" so that the short part of the drive shaft and the long part are "aligned" correctly is part of the job too. You can do that yourself. LOTS of trucks come out of the auction yards with driveshafts laying in the floorboard on bed of the truck. If you don't know what I mean, don't hesitate to PM me or anybody else to 'splain it. Or ask here and somebody will explain...

.

 

[coachgeo]

.... Most all of these balancing solutions have; *not intended for highway use written somewhere ....

"not intended for highway use " sounds like a myth... think of it logically..... balance beads, be they rings or in the tire type or useless offroad for the vehicle is not traveling fast enough to even begin to work. (unless your in the Baja or something lol)

 

[coachgeo]

snake oil and def not needed.

I'd disagree..... on the "not needed" part. snake oil? well that is still to be seen.

1. get shaft balanced properly..... absolutely

2. when off road to new camping spot , family adventures, etc. you occasional drag a drive shaft over a stump or rock scrubbing away some at the balance piece welded to the shaft. The there is the more common of when you roll one tire over a log and the opposite end launches up like a tetter/totter and hammers against your drive shaft.
> none of those will "take out" a drive shaft
> all of those cumulatively will alter the balance yet your hinge test may still show it is just fine.
> after that last family adventure that really puts it out of balance from say a ding of the tube.....

you have a long ass drive home.. this is where IMHO the balancer can be extra insurance

3. we know our trucks love out of balance drive shafts on long drives

now if your truck spends at worst gravel roads etc.....agree with you. Not needed

 

[Awesomeness]

snake oil and def not needed.

I disagree. We know that the LMTV shafts slowly gain slop and become unbalanced (not because the mass of any part of the shaft has changed, but because it has physically changed shape and/or bent). So a dynamic balancing tool that is able to compensate for those changes, and keep you from breaking your truck [for a while], may be money well spent.

So what are the downsides of the dynamic balancers? They usually hang off the driveshaft significantly, and can get beat up or ripped off while driving off road. They are usually installed at one end of the shaft, which probably isn't the best place to have the balancing weight. Expensive.