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DIY Tire Balancing

UNIMOG-GUY

UNIMOG-GUY

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rhinob said:
Good point! And I can't hear anything anyway. In a HMMWV all I hear is roaring engine, cooling fan, and tire noise!
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Please report back with your results on the Centramatics after you have driven with them initially and maybe after 6 months. I'm considering getting some for my HMMWV wheels and tires that are on my CUCV. Thank you in advance.
 
rhinob

rhinob

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UNIMOG-GUY said:
Please report back with your results on the Centramatics after you have driven with them initially and maybe after 6 months. I'm considering getting some for my HMMWV wheels and tires that are on my CUCV. Thank you in advance.
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I will do so. Considering the commercial trucking industry is on board, I suspect they'll be successful. Interesting concept. Over 100 year old technology.
 
NormB

NormB

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rhinob said:
Looks like they mount between the hub and the wheel (Balance Masters image)l. The holes are probably plentiful and spaced for multiple applications.
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Thank you. I kind of figured this was the way they'd work, just couldn't find a picture on the website.

Norm.
 
Socommfg

Socommfg

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I was advised by the local Motorpool that they insert 20 oz of antifreeze into the tires and don't worry about balance with them. I tried it and the tire drives better than it ever has...

Ernie
 
rhinob

rhinob

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I have to wonder why commercial trucking companies don't use bee BB's or antifreeze in their tires. While it might be a cost-cutting measure with similar results, the industry appears to have chosen a different option.
 
S

Sintorion

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rhinob said:
I have to wonder why commercial trucking companies don't use bee BB's or antifreeze in their tires. While it might be a cost-cutting measure with similar results, the industry appears to have chosen a different option.
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Some do. It is kind of a shade tree technique. A local FedEx depot switched to using that balancing sand for a while. Like anything there are benefits and risks. You tires were not designed to have media rolling around inside. You run into challenges of things like getting the media inside and dealing with it once it is in. Pouring anti freeze through a valve stem is no easy task and getting a valve stem clogged with a bb can be a joy. Then you have issue with things like what happens if you get a flat. You will create nasty impossible mess if you ever put fix a flat inside a tire with sand or bb's and antifreeze makes it impossible to work.

It is undoubtedly a cheap effective solution that works great when the conditions are good which you could never have an issue, but if you do, it will undoubtedly add to the complications. Centramatics apply the same concept, but do so outside of the tire and do so at a higher cost. It really comes down to how you want to budget your money. Some might be willing to put up with the hassle of BB's or antifreeze and use the $1000 for something else. There really isn't a right answer.
 
Special T

Special T

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Equil powder only works when you use an air dryer on your compressor. Humidity causes the powder to clump. There is a liquid used in the tire industry call Tire Life. http://www.fullerbros.com/tire-life/ it's active ingredient is also in antifreeze. Both liquids make it difficult to put nail hole patches on the tire. The area has to be cleaned and dried extreamly well which can be difficult to do on the side of the road.

The "grease" on the inside of a hummer Tire is a water soluable soap that seems to resemble the stuff Tire ships use for mounting demount ingredients like the Murphys brand. It is easily removed with hot water and a scrub, or just let it soak for a while.
 
A

Action

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Special T said:
The "grease" on the inside of a hummer Tire is a water soluable soap that seems to resemble the stuff Tire ships use for mounting demount ingredients like the Murphys brand. It is easily removed with hot water and a scrub, or just let it soak for a while.
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Why would you want to remove the runflat grease from the tire? It is supposed to be there.
It isn't there for assembly. It is there for when you get a flat. It isn't the tire soap used to seat a bead. It comes from AMG in a tube that gets squeezed into a tire before assembly.
 
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Special T

Special T

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I said it resembles the tire soap and it's properties. If I could get my hands on the MSDS sheets I could compare them but have never got my hands on the stuff for inside the military tires.

Why would you take the grease out? #1reason is to help balance the tire. All the hummer tires I've run are on conventional drop center wheels. The soap is of no use on those. My buddies that use re centered hummer tires on H1 wheels normally do away with the run flat rib or replace it with a pvc Steve to retain the dual bead lock capabilities.

As I understand it, the reason for the soap is to provide some slippage between the run flats and Tire so that it can be driven several miles at 30mph and not catch fire. IMO this is more of a military necessity than a civil and one. You are going to make some kind of trade off to improve ride quality. Since I always carry a full sized spare I don't worry about it. My vehicle doesn't need to get out of a kill zone in an ambush.
 
S

Sintorion

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There are several different approaches to run flats. There is a goo that coats the inside of the tire that works similar to fix-a-flat that will fill the hole. Using this makes it almost impossible to balance a tire and you cannot use any of the shade tree balancing tricks (balancing sand, bbs, ball bearings, etc) because they will stick to the goo and make matters worse.

Then there is the rubber insert like this:

This device keeps the shape of the tire when it loses air and allows you to limp home. For this to work and not melt instantly or catch fire has to have a lubricant between the inner liner and the device. In terms of balancing using a run flat device like this in your tires creates more problems than it will likely solve. First is that it makes it impossible to air down your tires. As soon as you let a few psi out the tire then contacts the device and you lose any possible gains from running low psi. It will make it impossible to balance. This chunk of rubber is by no means a precision balanced accessory. Because of the lubricant, you can't use shade tree methods either. Products like centramatics might work, but not really a great solution. You typically just accept the fact that you will have a vibration if you are using them.
 
rhinob

rhinob

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Videris said:
They worked well then huh? No issues? Im glad you have success with them. I'm going to try them out. Thanks bro.
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Yessir, they work great. It's like a completely foreign feel in a machine with 37 inch mud terrains....I do recommend them, but be aware that they are not able to compensate for a tire that's out of round. Mine are all new and round (check the runout).

I had an Unimog with 39's that I wish I had these for.....oh well....live and learn!
 
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