Centramatic wheel and tire balancer?

[Nonoy]

Anybody tried the Centramatic wheels and tire balancer? It's supposed to be a metal disc filled with metal shot that moves through the disc and settles in the low spot hence adding extra weight and balancing the wheel and tire. It fits around the hub.

 

[rpenner54]

I would love to get these. However right now I have a nice deal from Discount Tire to get the tires balanced and rotated whenever I need it. So I just go there. Maybe someday in the future I will get these. They seem well worth it thats for sure!

 

[kilroy]

Things like those have been around for years, and from what I heard, are a waste of money. When you think about it, how would something like that know where the weight needs to be?

 

[rpenner54]

Hey man read this article. It explains a lot.

http://www.rockcrawler.com/../techreports/centramatic/index.htm

 

[kilroy]

It's your vehicle.
Personally I wouldn't put something like these on, considering the Explorer has lousy brakes to begin with, and putting huge plates like these on the hub that will block cooling air flow over them. Basically all these things are is a damper to quiet vibrations, just like the harmonic balancer on your engine. They help aleviate the vibrations coming from an out of ballance tire. The tire is still vibrating, but since these dampers are there they block the vibrations so you don't feel them. This is OLD technology, and has been around for decades. If I knew where I saw the writeup on these things, I would post pro's (few) and con's (many) on them.

 

[rpenner54]

I don't know, I just am posting what I read. I think they sound like a good deal. To me it sounds better then having to go get my tires re-balanced EVERY 200 miles just so I don't get the constant shaking. Not that I do this right now but thats how often I would have to balance these tires. Thats just with my small 33's! I can't EVEN imagine how hard it is to keep a decently sized tire like a 36 or a 39.5 balanced. I will agree about the braking but that can easily be fixed with rear disc brakes. I guess I am just thinking that these would be a nicer solution then having to put weights on the wheels that often times get knocked off by rocks, branches ect... I know that big rigs run these same systems to keep their tires/wheels balanced so its been done for quite some time.

 

[kilroy]

If your that concerned over an unbalanced tire, there is a liquid that you can have put in your tire that does basically the same thing, and wont affect the brakes or wheel offset(which was the other thing I was trying to think of about those discs). I saw it on an episode of Motorweek. Check out pbs.org and look up motorweek and Pat Goss's garage. This stuff is much better to use since it puts the balance where it is needed the most and that is on the road, not 6 inches off the center of the axle. I am preety sure the cost would be around the same if not less.

 

[rpenner54]

Its not so much that I am that concerned its just that after a day of wheeling my newly freshened balanced tires they become unbalanced which can be somewhat dangeourse on road. To the point where the truck/stearing wheel shakes pretty good at speeds over 60mph. I will check out that other stuff though see what it takes to run it.

 

[kilroy]

I checked the pbs site, but that particular show wasn't on the list. I sent an email to them requesting that info. There is a pump that injects the fluid into the tire through the valve stem in the required amount, and then the tire is filled with air to the required pressure. I think it also acts like stop leak, but don't hold me to that.

 

[Eagle]

Go ask TANK

I know a lot of HUMMERS that use these. They all love them. I personally would not use these on my everyday driver. Most people that I know that use them are installed on the trail truck only. One nice thing about them is that you don’t need a ton of lead weight on your rim. I do not know about yous guys but I am always banging the sh*t out of my rims and those little lead weights come off. The nice thing about this device is that it sits inside the rim and is protected. I do not know about the liquid filled method but it does sound better. That is until you get a flat.

 

[ld50]

Figures it`s old news here!

Okay, so I`m a little slow, I just heard about these thing-a-majigs recently.

I`m bringing this thread back from YEARS ago to see if anyone actually tried these things out, or did ya all laugh it off and let it go.
I`ve read a few things about it in the past while and it SEEMS like it would work (in theory) Testimonials are hard to believe though, cuz someone will support anything at one time or another.

Eagle said he wouldn`t use them on his daily driver, but it seems like that is the idea, to balance out your tires on that long drive back from your wheeling adventure. I doubt that a "trail" truck would benefit from them since you don`t really go that fast on a trail, and who can tell that their tires are out of balance on a backroad? (maybe YOU can, and I would be in awe of you, cuz I can`t tell till I get back on pavement)

And Kilroy, I would argue your dampener theory - about the tire still vibrating, only you don`t feel it since the Centramatic is on there. Just an observation, but the rims are still solidly connected to the axles, If they vibrate, you MUST be able to feel them. - Also OLD technology isn`t neccessarily bad technology.

Just thought I would see if anyone went for it, I would rather spend my money on countless other things I want for my Ex first, but it`s an interesting idea.

 

[kilroy]

its a visual thing dude, If I could draw you a picture of what i was trying to esplain, you would better understand what i was describing. Yes its attached to the axle, but no you wont feel the vibrations. It's basically the same as putting a ton of lead weights on a bent rim, eventually you will offset the bent rim with enough weight that you will no longer feel the vibrations. Like I said before its really nothing more than a harmonic balancer for your wheels.