Michelin Tire balance

[Jim Edwards]

Hi I put on to steer axel tires on and Centramatic balancers. Still not a smooth ride so I had someone mechanically balance them. One tire required 5 oz. but the other requires 12 oz. I called Michelin technical support and they have no spec/ no idea and their response was take it to a dealer. The local dealer basically said that they are not interested in Michelin warrantee support in that their branch had to write off $11k last year in Michelin warrantee support.

So the long and the short of the question is:
Is 12 oz of balancing weight an unreasonable amount? I still get some small vibration at mid range speed. Another dealer is willing to look at it but they don't stock the tire. Seems to be looking for a couple hours of labor billing! Hoping to leave home soon. (July 6) Tire size is 295 80 22.5

Or do we have a Direct Michelin contact?!? Purchased through FMCA. national pricing.

Thoughts?

[Hal Grimshaw]

Thanks for the info.

I think that FMCA might be willing under their grip problem section of the news letter and their sponsoring mich. to get involved.  Good luck Jim.


Let us know the resolution.

Hal

[Gerald Farris]

Jim,
I do not think that 12 oz is an excessive amount of weight to balance a tire an wheel assemble that is as heavy as the ones on your coach, but if you want to reduce the amount of weight needed to balance a tire and wheel assembly, you just break the tire bead loose from the wheel and rotate it 180 degrees on the wheel and reinflate it. If the tire is balanced, it should not be the cause of any vibration that you are getting. There are many things that can cause a wheel vibration, and balance is just one of them. The other causes can be excess radial run-out (out of round), excess lateral run-out (wobbles), or an uneven rolling resistance (hard spot). A through analysis by a highly skilled technician is sometimes needed to determine the problem. That was what I did on cars for a portion of my former life, and believe me, it is not always easy.

Gerald

[Doug Allman]

I am making some assumptions here, because there is not enough info, but maybe one is the source of the problem.  One would be you have a caliper hanging up, another would be a disc rotor assembly that is warped and another could be a bearing(s) problem.
I have run the Centramatics for 6 years now on different coach's and never a vibration unless you are on a very smooth roadway and the centramatics take a little while to get the light vibration settled out of them as they hunt for the sweet spot. IF you have a drum, which I believe is not the case, then same as all above with warped, out of round and bearing(s).
Moving the tire around the wheel as Gerald pointed out is best way to aid the centramatic in being able to manage the balancing. IMHO I have never had anything better than the centramatics in over 30 years with a coach. In my use of them you can do almost anything to the tire wheel assembly and they keep that unit balanced. I have them on all 3 axles of our new Entegra.

[Jim Edwards]

Hi
Drums front and rear. I have no additional vibration when under braking or not. I will be calling other local tire guys in that I do not have the ability to start moving the rubber around the rim. As far as the Centramatic balancer, vibration is less with the mechanical balancing. Front wheel bearings are grease and were repacked about 23,000 miles ago. Recently has front bushings changed (another issue) and have had the linkage evaluated a couple of times in the last 3k miles. All reported to be OK. I don't know if they specifically looked at wheel bearing condition but?

[Doug Allman]

Jim, When we had our 1991 Contessa it was drums all around. I was not happy with the braking so I took the drums to a shop that could turn the drums as new drums were very costly. After they turned the drums and trued them up, removed the hard spots and got a smooth surface all around the drum that was still within spec, the coach was excellent in all manners. We actually could stop and feel we had control. I also did install all new pads as you could see that old pads had been glazed. 

 We never did feel an unbalance with the old drums before turning but the balance never lasted very long after rebalancing and the best balance we ever had was at shops that balanced the tire when on the coach.  Once drums trued the balance lasted much longer.       Hope this helps you.

[Jim Edwards]

Hi Doug I have spent 30 years driving about new England in higher end cars on at many times road in wet and slippery conditions and have found that stopping is usually more important than accelerating! One things I have been impressed with on the coach is the braking with the drums. I was a bit concerned at first but is on of the things I would not change. It stops quickly and true without vibration, pull or hesitation. Somewhat why I think I have a bit of a funky tire.

[Jim Edwards]

Hi Just to finish the story it turned out a to be a bad tire that was replaced under warrantee.