Balance tires?

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Vroom

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Hi all,

Brought my 21 Ram 1500 Big Horn with OEM wheels in for second service at ~10k.
Service person mentions that a balance is recommended as pm.
That not doing so risks introducing a vibration into the ride and possible wear and tear on suspension components.
I've had them rotated at 5k and so that I understand is a pm but what about balancing?
I've never been asked to have tires balanced on any vehicle this early.
Flailing around on the web reveals little about this.

They guy was smiling a little when he asked so he may have been telling me porkies. If it does turn out that this was unnecessary then I'll make that known in their survey and vote with my gas pedal and go to one of the other five dealerships nearby.

Best,
V
 

MADDOG

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Tires do wear and some don't always wear evenly so a balance is a good idea.

I don't have a dealer do it though. Probably because the stock wheels and tires come off pretty quickly when I purchase a new vehicle.

I take my vehicles in to the tire shop I got the wheels & tires from for a rotate & balance every 6K miles or so. Normally that is the usual procedure and I've always felt it was a good idea to check the balance.
 
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Vroom

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Thanks for the tips.

V.
 

mikeru

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I only worry about a rebalance if I notice a vibration. Sometimes a wheel weight will fall off, and create a vibration. I think it's rare that the balance will be off due to wear, at least in my experience.
^^This. It's not necessary to re-balance unless you have an issue. Any shop which recommends that as preventive maintenance is only trying to pinch every dollar they can out of you.
 

GTyankee

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normally rotate tires every 6,000 miles,
Remove a tire & wheel, do a quick check on the tire balance machine, move the tire to a new location on the vehicle.
I always request for them to Rotate using the Modified X pattern

NEVER let a Dodge Dealership do tire work
They have the same machine that the best tire shops use, the Hunter Road Force Balance Machine

Hunter puts on classes to run their electronic machines,
Dodge dealerships will not send their employees to the classes, because they have to give them a raise, due to getting a Certificate

Go to a good tire store like Discount or American Tire
 
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Tim7139

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One of the local dealers claims valve stems need to be changed at each tire rotation, battery terminals each year...
 

2012RAM1500RT

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I'll just say that the last set of tires I bought they were balanced when they were installed. It had a vibration so I took it back for them to balance again and it still had a vibration. The wheel weights were moved to a different spot so that means they wasn't balanced correctly either time. Took it to a different tire shop and had them rebalanced, once again weights moved to a different spot still had a vibration. Took it to yet another place. I asked to talk to the person that was going to do the balancing, I told him that I will pay extra if that's what it took to balance them perfectly, not just "within specs". Let him know I've been to 2 other places and they couldn't get them right. He balanced them and the weights were moved to yet another place, he told me to try it and if they vibrated to bring it back. Left and test drove and "0" vibration! I went back and offered him a tip, which he refused but I let him know my appreciation of him caring enough to do his job right the first time! I don't know if shops calibrate their machines or what it is or if "within specs" is the norm but I will not get any tire rebalanced if I don't have a vibration. I've been 25,000 miles with these same tires and they are still smooth as silk! That tire shop will have me for a customer from now on, at least while that guy is there.
 

Mister Luck

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I have all wheels balanced at rotation it is included with the $25.00 price , they actually removed all the old tape weights cleaned off the old tape and placed new tape weights on all four wheels.

I have seen and experienced tape weights installed incorrectly by not cleaning the wheel surface completely and or not removing all the old residue from the old tape, of course they don’t last as long and fall off prematurely under those conditions .

Some prefer clip-on wheel weights for that reason but I have Method Aluminum wheels that are not designed to accept clip-on weights so I guess you could say “I’m stuck with tape weights.”
//..”””badum..””dum”””/:
 

TestPilot57

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Back in the day (20-30 years ago) when I was on a budget, I bought our tires at Wal-Mart for two reasons.
1. They were cheap
2. They included free rotation and re-balancing every X-000 miles (don't remember the number).

So we would go shopping when it was time, drop the car off when we got there, did our shopping, and it would be ready by the time we checked out.

Nowadays I buy premium tires and just have them rotated every 6-8k miles.

Side note: my General Grabber ATx 35x12.50s were a bear to balance according to my brother-in-law's shop. He recommended that I get them "Road Force Balanced" (still don't know what that means). So I went to Tire Warehouse where they did such and they said they did the best they could, and while they were "in spec" there would probably still be some noticeable whomping, so they put the two worst on the back. They were right, I could still feel some vibration at certain speeds/conditions. I considered making a warranty claim but ended up deciding not to bother since A) they said it was "in spec" and B) the only documentation I had was a hand-scribbled note from the tech on my invoice...
 

GTyankee

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I have not walked into the Dodge Dealerships tire area lately.
The last time that i was back there, they had a
Hunter Road Force Balancing Machine
It is not a simple machine to operate & Hunter has Classes & upon completion they give the tech a Certificate

If you go to places like Discount Tire, they have the Hunter machine & some of the employees have been through the Hunter training

The Dodge dealerships have the Hunter machine & none of the employees have ever been trained
I don't allow the Dodge dealerships to touch my wheels & tires, i know they check the tire pressure, because they always lower the air pressure on my rear tires & i have to air it back up, usually i just drive to Discount Tire & they air it back up, there is always at least 500 pounds in my bed, behind the rear tires

1653166551663.png
 

06 Dodge

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When I had dodge rotate mine at oil change time l always told them what psi to set my tires to and would check before I left the lot, if it was not correct I would make them put the correct air pressure in the tires...
 

2012RAM1500RT

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When I had dodge rotate mine at oil change time l always told them what psi to set my tires to and would check before I left the lot, if it was not correct I would make them put the correct air pressure in the tires...
I'm a mechanic but I always do what the customer wants whether I agree or not. They will be back if they are wrong! Lol
 

06 Dodge

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IF one gets tired of paying every 6K to rebalance their tires you could invest in Centramatic wheel balancers or if you prefer balance beads...

 

TestPilot57

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Balancing beads suck
So do vacuum cleaners, but most people in "civilized" countries have one.

More on task - I have seen multiple reviews of balancing beads, and (not to bring actual politics into it), like politics in the USA today, it seems that most are strongly for or against something in roughly equal numbers, no middle ground.
 

CanuckRam1313

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Hi all,

Brought my 21 Ram 1500 Big Horn with OEM wheels in for second service at ~10k.
Service person mentions that a balance is recommended as pm.
That not doing so risks introducing a vibration into the ride and possible wear and tear on suspension components.
I've had them rotated at 5k and so that I understand is a pm but what about balancing?
I've never been asked to have tires balanced on any vehicle this early.
Flailing around on the web reveals little about this.

They guy was smiling a little when he asked so he may have been telling me porkies. If it does turn out that this was unnecessary then I'll make that known in their survey and vote with my gas pedal and go to one of the other five dealerships nearby.

Best,
V
His next upsell would be a can of plaid paint!
 

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