Balancing 19.5 tires?

[Orcas Tow]

I have had my 245/70-195 tires balanced multiple times with multiple trucks & multiple tire brands over the last 20 or so years & every time I get them spin balanced they shake at different speeds. I have never had a set of 19.5's run smooth over 55 MPH other than when new. I am limited in tire dealers that can even fit them on their machine but Les Schwab has been my go to. What are you guys doing for balancing, what machine are they using? Thanks.

[TowZone]

It is not the balance of the tires on older fords, it is the alignment. We did the tires balancing. It only show improvement a couple of days, then it goes right back to shaking. So an alignment shop took a look at it, after the 3 trip to that shop I suggested they toe the front end out. More than 50% of the time I have a tow on. If not for the tow then the tires would wear on the inside doing it outside the manufacturers recommendation. But, it did resolve the problem of the teeth rattling shaking that occurred generally between 45-55 mph. Will this work for you, I do not know. But, if you've exhausted all other options what could it hurt. Well it could wear the tires out slightly sooner.

[Orcas Tow]

12 hours ago, TowZone said:

It is not the balance of the tires on older fords, it is the alignment. We did the tires balancing. It only show improvement a couple of days, then it goes right back to shaking. So an alignment shop took a look at it, after the 3 trip to that shop I suggested they toe the front end out. More than 50% of the time I have a tow on. If not for the tow then the tires would wear on the inside doing it outside the manufacturers recommendation. But, it did resolve the problem of the teeth rattling shaking that occurred generally between 45-55 mph. Will this work for you, I do not know. But, if you've exhausted all other options what could it hurt. Well it could wear the tires out slightly sooner.

I own a NapaAutoCare Center also & alignments have always been tight & right:), Thanks.

[TowZone]

That's good, we have had the same front end issues with different year Ford. They have nearly rebuild the entire front suspension only to have the tires start to pull and then bounce.

 

Oddly the Newer Trucks with the Continental Tires have not started to do it. Most units have 40,000 to 80,000 miles. I have a 2018 Ford 550 with less than 2000 miles and it is the best ride I have ever had in one of these units.

[goodmichael]

Hunter makes a machine, I believe the shark, that also performs a road force reading. It was explained to me that a figurative "square " tire could be balanced theoretically with weights. The road force reading determines trueness of the tire beyond balancing with weight.

[Louwo]

I don't like the continental hsr or hdr to I think they are called that came stock on the Fords. As far as balancing we drop I think its 8oz of the balancing beads in the tires and barely have any issues. Never put weights on them.

[Orcas Tow]

2 hours ago, Louwo said:

I don't like the continental hsr or hdr to I think they are called that came stock on the Fords. As far as balancing we drop I think its 8oz of the balancing beads in the tires and barely have any issues. Never put weights on them.

Thanks, I used balancing beads & had a terrible time with them on a wrecker with 22.5's, in hindsight I use a heavy tire lube, kind of the consistency of grease, probably had a bit inside the tire & the beads may have bunched up in the lube. I will try that again with dish soap as a lube rather than the heavy lube. 

[Louwo]

Thanks, I used balancing beads & had a terrible time with them on a wrecker with 22.5's, in hindsight I use a heavy tire lube, kind of the consistency of grease, probably had a bit inside the tire & the beads may have bunched up in the lube. I will try that again with dish soap as a lube rather than the heavy lube. 

Maybe toss in about 16 oz there is a chart for the size of the tire and how much to add. Sometimes a little shimmy at 30 till the beads move around but evens out to a smooth ride. Also there is the power called equal. I'm almost thinking why not just toss play sand in there but then there is the thought of it bunching up if any moisture.

[TowZone]

Louwo. what tire brand or brands are you running. One has to wonder if the tire brand at a specific wear doesn't contribute to the problem. Seems to always start with a slight pull to the right that get worse as the bouncing gets worse. Although, I have to add that I have not driven a truck that has done this in 2 or 3 years now.

[Orcas Tow]

Michelin, Cooper, Chinese, all the 19.5's I have had have been difficult. Thinking about going to Alcoa aluminum wheels with tire beads instead of steel for a truer base starting point as all the steel 19.5 wheels I have seen have been a bit out when new.

[TowZone]

If you do try the Alcoa keep us advised. We ran aluminum wheels long ago and do not recall any problems. I believe it was just a cost factor to using the steel rims.

[Orcas Tow]

Will do, I ordered a set of Alcoa's & 6oz of stainless balancing beads for each tire today.

[Louwo]

Louwo. what tire brand or brands are you running. One has to wonder if the tire brand at a specific wear doesn't contribute to the problem. Seems to always start with a slight pull to the right that get worse as the bouncing gets worse. Although, I have to add that I have not driven a truck that has done this in 2 or 3 years now.

No brand in particular. I'll look to see what's on now when I get to the truck. Mostly Chinese brand knobby drives and the steers change depends on what container the supplier has received.


Orcas tow also alcoa's keep the heat down and no simulators to mess with. Looks good to when it's all shiny.

[Louwo]

As for tire brands Westlake is what is on now on the f550. Front and rear. That's one of the more common ones our supplier has now that I see the name. Knobby rears and steer tread fronts. Had no issues in the snow as well.

The continental hsr and hdr's that came on these imo are junk. Never had a front slide on me in the rain till I first hopped in here when they were on here.

[ESC]

I have had great luck with the Continental HSR on the front and the HDR on the rear of our Dodge wreckers.  I have a 2011 and a 2015 5500 with 84" CA MPL40.  The HSR wears really well on the front.  No vibration or noise.  We use 8 oz of Equal balancing powder.

 

We recently put a set of 22.5 tires on our international 4700 12ton wrecker and used Equal... it vibrates like crazy.  I think I am going to try to have a truck shop balance them with weights like they were on the old tires that came off.  Equal doesnt seem to be doing it for our 22.5 truck.

[EKYtow55]

Boy a lot of different opions here, I have run Ford F550's for years and those 19.5 tires and balance are a problem my old truck (03) had steel wheels and when the Jerr Dan Dealer brought the truck to me new he said need to take it to the Ford Dealer to get tires re-balanced, they sent it to a local tire dealer with roadforce balance told me that the Continental tires were defective we would have to buy new tires and send those back for adjustment never happened fought with it for fourteen years traded it off, now I have 2016 F550 with aluminum wheels and Continental tires already replaced the fronts 15,000 miles wore out and they get bumper as they get miles on them I use balancing beads so so balance I think spin balance would be better, the problem is you can't get good round tires?

[Orcas Tow]

Installed the new Alcoa's on the flatbed today, heading to Seattle tomorrow to test them out, you know better fuel economy due to lighter wheels, less wind resistance due to shiny polished surface equating to better performance making for better fuel economy, the aluminum is probably recycled too so also saving the planet;). I installed 8 oz of the stainless balancing beads in the fronts & 10 oz in each rear. Actually just hoping for a smoother ride.

[Louwo]

Installed the new Alcoa's on the flatbed today, heading to Seattle tomorrow to test them out, you know better fuel economy due to lighter wheels, less wind resistance due to shiny polished surface equating to better performance making for better fuel economy, the aluminum is probably recycled too so also saving the planet;). I installed 8 oz of the stainless balancing beads in the fronts & 10 oz in each rear. Actually just hoping for a smoother ride.

Good luck with it. Our 2015 550 with 19.5 has alum steer rims and outer alum and inner steel rims on the rear. That's what I drive daily.

Even when we had the 07 650 with the Cummins steel all around we used the beads but that may of had 22.5 I got to look at the shakker tires since they were the same the 650 had on Monday. May of still been 19.5 245/70?/..... Instead of 225/70?/19.5. to many numbers on a weekend to think of after agero just being agero on a typical weekend. I even put 90k plus on the 650 when we had it before hopping in the shakker.

Be warned you may hit 30-40 feel a slight vibration then it will smooth out. Plus a first for me but when we installed fresh knobby tires on the rear she felt like jelly back there took a min to get used to till you put some miles on her. On both our 5500 and 550. I dunno how the 650 will feel but when we put knobbys on our 650 and m2 shakker I did not feel the same shimmy on the 26k gvwr chassis vs the 19.500 gvwr chassis. Both were Westlake brand tires to.

[Orcas Tow]

Update: I installed the Alcoa's on the outside rear & front along with 8oz of stainless balancing beads in the front & 10oz in each rear & a handful of talcum powder in each also, the trip to Seattle went smooth as silk. I was very impressed with the smooth ride quality, it did not shake at any speed, from stop up to 70mph. 245-70-19.5 tires. Thanks for all the replies:)

[Louwo]

That's great! Glad it worked out.

[Orcas Tow]

Interesting update, I was happy with the difference in the F650 with 245/70-19.5 after adding the balancing beads I put some in my F550 with Alcoa's & 225/70-19.5. The outcome was different, prior to balancing the 550 had a slight tire imbalance at speed but hardly noticeable, after 6 oz of beads in each tire on the front now the steering wheel has a visible shake. Not sure what the deal is.

[Louwo]

What year f550? I run a 2015. Our strange vibration is from the passenger side double tir rod into the knuckle is loose. Get a strange wheel shimmy on certain turns. It got a little play in her. Will hope to be repaired this week when I'm out for vacation and searching for a new job.

[Orcas Tow]

2001, everything is tight & minor imbalance before balance beads installed in unbalanced tires, then considerable 

wobble after beads. 

[Louwo]

Odd. How much weight in beads? I think usually 8 to 12 oz for the 19.5.

Slight wobble I've experienced was whenwe put on a fresh set of knobby tires on the rear. Rear feels a little like jelly the first 1 or 2k. Experienced that in both of our trucks the F550 and our Dodge 5500 the jelly rear with a fresh set.