Tire balance.

[Starbrightsteve]

I’m starting to think about new tires and was just carefully inspecting the ones that are now on our trailer. I was a bit surprised to find my existing tires unbalanced. They are the original Carlisles. Somewhere I also noticed that lug centric wheel balancing was required for the rims on the escape. What do folks think about the need to balance and is the lug centric method necessary. I ask because the trailer came out of the Escape facility with no balance and we have had no wheel/tire issues. We are planning to get Goodyear Endurance tires.

[Iowa Dave]

I believe in balancing trailer tires, closely inspecting them for things lodged in the tread and picking them out with a blunt ice pick, checking inflation pressure and lug nut torque before any trip, making sure the king nut securing the drum to the axle is nutted down snug. Not so tight as to impede spinning but with no play in the bearings. Additionally, rotation at reasonable 5,000 to 8,000 mile intervals with all five tires and wheels in the rotation. ST Goodyear Endurance tires. Check tread depth at each rotation or more often if something is “off”. YMMV. No debate from me. 60 years of trailer ownership coming up very shortly.
Iowa Dave

[Ops]

I put two new rims and tires on our 15B.
Tires because they were stale dated and the trailer was new to me.
Rims for aesthetics...plus I ordered chrome hub caps for the bling .
The rim/tire combination was on sale.
Had the pair balanced before installing on "R2E2" for $40.
My reasoning...balanced on the truck...why not the trailer, although I just checked our 21NE with alloy rims, and I can't tell if they are balanced.
Of course, if they are balanced, stick on weights would (should) be on the inside of the rim and hard to see.

I believe balancing is cheap insurance for maintaining bearings and tires to enhance longevity.
Need it? I don't know...perhaps like motorcycle tires, the tires are pre-marked to be inline with the air valve.

[Starbrightsteve]

Iowa Dave, I appreciate your two cents. Anyone with both a garden and a solar array in the back yard is worth listening to. And so are others who chime in!
Steve

[Centex]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

I believe in balancing trailer tires, closely inspecting them for things lodged in the tread and picking them out with a blunt ice pick, checking inflation pressure and lug nut torque before any trip, making sure the king nut securing the drum to the axle is nutted down snug. Not so tight as to impede spinning but with no play in the bearings. Additionally, rotation at reasonable 5,000 to 8,000 mile intervals with all five tires and wheels in the rotation. ST Goodyear Endurance tires. Check tread depth at each rotation or more often if something is “off”. ...

IMO there's no basis to even consider 'debate' of practices which in totality are most likely to provide greatest equipment longevity, safety, and relaxed confidence on the road. It all (including balancing) falls in the category of PM / preventive maintenance, IMO the best bang for your buck and time.

[cpaharley2008]

Every Escape I have owned had the factory tires balanced? Perhaps they they have stopped this pracice, I need to follow up on my new one........

[Radar1]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Every Escape I have owned had the factory tires balanced? Perhaps they they have stopped this pracice, I need to follow up on my new one........

Our 19' that we picked up in Oct 2020 came with balanced Carlisles. The other 19' on the delivery truck came with Rainiers.
I always get our trailer tires balanced. An unbalanced tire on the trailer might not be a big issue with a utility trailer, but I want to save wear and tear on our camper and all the items we keep inside of it.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Every Escape I have owned had the factory tires balanced? Perhaps they they have stopped this pracice, I need to follow up on my new one........

Although this is never 100% foolproof the Escape website still says "Balanced 15” Radial Tires & Steel Rims" under Base Features

[Starbrightsteve]

Well it’s water under the bridge but my 2017 5.0 had no balance weights on any of the wheels. Who knows but maybe the wheels and tires didn’t need weights.
Does everyone that gets new tires have lug centric balancing done? Is lug centric balancing necessary?

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Starbrightsteve

Well it’s water under the bridge but my 2017 5.0 had no balance weights on any of the wheels. Who knows but maybe the wheels and tires didn’t need weights.

They need weights to be balanced; it is possible that a specific wheel and tire combination may be balanced without additional weights by coincidence, but if you have four of those go buy a lottery ticket because you must be exceptionally lucky.

Many people apparently use trailer tires without balancing, because "it's just a trailer"... meaning that junk parts and substandard work are okay with them.

[alanmalk]

Originally Posted by Starbrightsteve

Well it’s water under the bridge but my 2017 5.0 had no balance weights on any of the wheels.

...

Again, water long gone...
My 2015 E'21 came without any balance weights also, and clearly needed them. Escape paid for a balancing when I arrived at home.

[Dcboyd]

My 2020 delivered in January of year are all balanced.

[mfschu]

My 21NE delivered in April 2021 has 4 balanced Carlise tires.

[CharlesinGA]

Lug centric balancing....... I have never seen it done, it would take an adapter much like that of an axle hub, that the wheel is installed on and torqued to and then the whole assembly is installed on the balance. The assumption is that the wheels are so poorly machined that the center holes are not centered correctly. I cannot see this. Possibly years ago this might be the case, but in these days and times of automated machinery, I cannot see how the center hole on a trailer wheel would be off center. Yes, virtually all trailer wheels are lug centric and the trailer hubs are not machined for hub centric wheels at all. Only when you get to 8K or 10K axles do you get into hub centric wheels.

I really, honestly don't worry about it. I did install a set of Centramatics when I installed my new Sendel T03 "bullet" wheels on my SOB trailer.

Charles

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by CharlesinGA

Yes, virtually all trailer wheels are lug centric and the trailer hubs are not machined for hub centric wheels at all. Only when you get to 8K or 10K axles do you get into hub centric wheels.

I have also seen lower-capacity hubs with threaded holes for wheel bolts (instead of the usual pressed-in studs for wheel nuts) which are also machined for hub-centric mounting. Typical trailer wheels presumably have sufficiently accurate centre bores for this.

[IBOACRES]

Iowa dave,
RULE for tighten Ball-bearings, which aren't used on cars any longer, is to tighten the axle nut until snug then tighten a little bit more as to ( pre-load ) pressure on the bearing.
RULE for tighten Roller bearings, tighten axle nut until snug then back-off sightly. Yes their will be some [slight] loosen, and that is a good thing...
.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by IBOACRES

Iowa dave,
RULE for tighten Ball-bearings, which aren't used on cars any longer, is to tighten the axle nut until snug then tighten a little bit more as to ( pre-load ) pressure on the bearing.
RULE for tighten Roller bearings, tighten axle nut until snug then back-off sightly. Yes their will be some [slight] loosen, and that is a good thing...
.

I strongly suggest that anyone considering installing bearings read the installation instructions provided the the axle manufacturer... and no, it's not "tighten axle nut until snug then back-off sightly".

[Iowa Dave]

Well you do use ball bearings if you have a 1956 Oldsmobile show car. So that comment is painting a lot of rolling stock with the same brush.
As far as wheel bearings on the trailer, I service my own, have since 1961 when I bought my first boat, motor and trailer. Didn’t have a way to tow it but my dad would take me down to the Cedar River, dump me in and tell me “I’ll be back in the morning and we need fish in the freezer.”
Built character. And in 60 years I’ve never had a trailer bearing failure. Supervised a park fleet with 25 trailers hauling everything up to TD24 International Dozer that weighed 46,000 lbs. behind a Freightliner Tandem Dump Truck, to a 1958 bandshell that was serial # 003 and still rolling for us 50 years later, and a 1953 Good Roads leaf Vacuum. Thanks for the suggestions but I think I’ll keep doing it my way.
Iowa Dave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w019MzRosmk

[rotorbudd]

I'll have to agree with Iowa Dave.
Done thousands of wheel changes on aircraft (tapered roller bearings) and the process is after inspection and regreassing tighten axle nut until you feel real drag, then loosen nut until minimal drag.
Roller bearings don't like to be banging around with no preload.

[Iowa Dave]

Hello Richard,
A few years ago a fellow camper and I invented the Torque Your Nuts contest that we presented at three fiberglass rallies. The basis was to use a beaker bar and socket on a standard Escape sized wheel stud and estimate when 65 and 95 ft. lbs had been reached. Then to check the work with two high end torque wrenches. Some folks were close, others not in the ball park or even the major league city. Rules were written by a certified educator, Torque was checked by a man who uses a torque wrench professionally every day. And makes a mean Old Fashioned at the end of the day.
Extrapolating this result and knowing that the proper nut down on wheel bearings must have a spec I kept that in mind. One day someone posted that the torque to seat the assembly was 50 ft lbs. I took that as accurate. And used the calibrated Proto wrench to seat the assembly and then finished the job with the back off etc. Yesterday after being questioned I looked up the Dexter method. On the tighten down they advise 50ft lbs. But as a nod to those without a torque wrench, they suggest a 12 inch wrench or large pliers firmly hand tightened. I’m not saying those tools are not valid but I will say that the hand strength on a 300 pound man who hasn’t let a week go by without a wrench in his hand for years is most likely stronger than that of a nice lady biologist. Both competed. The feel of the lady on the breaker bar was the most accurate number achieved. The torque wrench did not lie. So if Dexter is happy with anyone who can read English and follows their direction for using a set or pliers ( probably means Channelocks or similar tool) then I’m good with crank it down, take the load off and run the nut on. I personally think the 5 to 8 ft lbs that my fingers are capable of is a little light so I use a socket and a light touch on the bar. My torque wrench is a 30 to 150 so the first click is too much. Thanks for your support and your verification. I’ve never worked on an airplane but have serviced the bearings on a tree spade,
Stump grinder and brush chipper many times.
All the best
Iowa Dave