Centramatic wheel balancing rings

[rich.dev]

There are no Threads I could find on the Oliver forum dedicated to “Centramatics” from my search. Out of balance wheels will, or can, beat your trailer to death. Balancing your tires and wheels helps, but your trailer brake drums are not balanced, therefore your running gear is still out of balance. Centramatics takes care of this.

Centramatics use centrifugal force and free moving weights (durametal and synthetic fluid) sealed in the balancer to automatically distribute weight to exactly where needed, placing the assembly in equilibrium or perfect balance. 

Here are a couple videos 

 

I've only seen these referenced in the Airsteam forum so I'm very curious if anyone has used them on an Oliver. I have used them on my previous trailer and I believe they made a huge difference, the tires showed virtually no tread wear when I sold the trailer.

Thoughts?

[SeaDawg]

So, those rings are attached to the

wheel? Not beads inside the tires?

On your previous trailer, were you running lt or st tires?

[rich.dev]

34 minutes ago, SeaDawg said:

So, those rings are attached to the

wheel? Not beads inside the tires?

 

Yes, almost like a spacer between the wheel and the hub. 

 

35 minutes ago, SeaDawg said:

On your previous trailer, were you running lt or st tires?

I was running Michelin LT tires

[SeaDawg]

Idk. Looks interesting.  But, I think I'll stick with my balance weights, for now. (St tires.) I've not seen these before, so thanks for the education. Wait and see when I need to get new tires. 

https://www.mortonsonthemove.com/tire-balancing-beads/

[Patriot]

Interesting..
I have never been a fan of wheel spacers sandwiched in between any wheel and the hub for many different reasons. I have all things tires done on our vehicles including our Ollie by  Discount Tire. DCT will not install wheel spacers due to the liability concerns. 
I would think these as with any spacers would require regular lug torque checks which many people would likely not do.
 

I agree with @SeaDawg and will stick with weights preferably installed on the inside of my aluminum wheels.

Patriot🇺🇸
 

[topgun2]

These things have been around in the motorcycle community for years with "mixed" results/comments.

I've not conducted any research into them - however - if they were as great, efficient, effective, etc. as they are claimed to be then just why is it that people that drive much more than I don't seem to be using these things?

I too will continue to wait until there is something more of a consensus of opinion.

Bill 

 

[rich.dev]

2 hours ago, topgun2 said:

These things have been around in the motorcycle community for years with "mixed" results/comments.

They have also been around in the transport truck community for years with very good results. They are also very popular in the Airstream community, many/most people reported fewer popped rivets after installing the centramatics due to the smoother ride. But hey, I guess that's why there's dark and milk chocolate, I prefer dark and maybe you milk! 🙂

[topgun2]

5 minutes ago, rich.dev said:

I guess that's why there's dark and milk chocolate, I prefer dark and maybe you milk! 🙂

Actually I also prefer dark and I don't think that this issue you are talking about has much to do with "preference".

Indeed, one could argue that almost anything would help prevent "popped rivets" versus having nothing to help balance the wheels.  But, that is not what I'm saying.  Also, one could argue that "They have also been around in the transport truck community for years with very good results."

Perhaps this is also true - but - if the transport truck community had such great results, I would suspect that virtually every major transport truck company would be using these things and I simply don't see that.  But, then again, I don't hang around truck stops anymore than necessary.  I'll add here that there must be a reason that the major vehicle manufacturers in the world don't seem to be using this tech.  Too expensive?  Doesn't work well?  Doesn't work any better than "old school" methods?  How about racing vehicles?  Simply put - I don't know but I'm still going to wait to see and I've already been waiting for at least twenty years.

Bill

5 minutes ago, rich.dev said:

They have also been around in the transport truck community for years with very good results.

 

[Frank C]

A lot more rotating mass and more unsprung weight (both of which are undesirable) added to each wheel with those Centramatic balancers compared to just balancing using traditional wheel weight methods.  

[rich.dev]

 

1 hour ago, topgun2 said:

Perhaps this is also true - but - if the transport truck community had such great results, I would suspect that virtually every major transport truck company would be using these things and I simply don't see that.  But, then again, I don't hang around truck stops anymore than necessary.  I'll add here that there must be a reason that the major vehicle manufacturers in the world don't seem to be using this tech.  Too expensive?  Doesn't work well?  Doesn't work any better than "old school" methods? 

Bill, true, but I guess we can make the same argument about Oliver, many of us on this forum have upgraded/made mods to our Olivers (i.e. John E Davies), why hasn't Oliver incorporated some of those awesome/super fantastic upgrades/mods into the Oliver, I don't know! Yes I know they have caught up with some things like lithium, MPPT solar charge controller, compressor fridge/freezer (maybe not to the liking of everybody), composting toilet (also debatable pending application) etc.     

1 hour ago, topgun2 said:

How about racing vehicles?

Well, heck I'm not following the racing scene but I would think multi million dollar race cars will have all rotating components just perfectly balanced, not the case with wheels, hubs, brake drums etc, on trailers, trucks, most cars.   

Anyway, all good points and I appreciate all the feedback! 🙂

[SeaDawg]

11 hours ago, rich.dev said:

, but I guess we can make the same argument about Oliver, many of us on this forum have upgraded/made mods to our Olivers (i.e. John E Davies), why hasn't Oliver incorporated some of those awesome/super fantastic upgrades/mods into the Oliver, I don't know! Yes I know they have caught up with some things like lithium, MPPT solar charge controller, compressor fridge/freezer (maybe not to the liking of everybody), composting toilet (also debatable pending application) etc.     

We had the first tankless water heater installed.  Pete (wonderegg/bugeyedriver) had the first solar/pv system. (Both by Oliver, originally)  .  Many of us installed dc  fridge, before Ollie adopted it. Composting toilet,ditto, user driven. 

I personally think Oliver has been very progressive in installing modern upgraded systems.  Imo, sometimes too progressive,  and "got ahead of their boots."

Manufacturers have to weigh cost vs benefit, and warranty costs. And, to maintain rvia certification,  must use materials and components that meet and have those certification credits.

We, as 16 season owners,  can do whatever the heck we please, and, we do....with careful study. You can, too, when you're out of warranty. 

I will say this. We, like many others here, weigh every major mod we do very carefully,  and often consult with Oliver and/or oem supplier, like BlueSky, as in  when we doubled up on solar panel wattage,, requiring upgrades. Like so many others here, we take everything very seriously,  especially safety. It's our home, sometimes 5 months out of the year.

We'll look forward to your reports, years from now, if you incorporate the centramatic rings. Certainly an interesting idea. I'm not just ready xmfor it.

[MAX Burner]

For what its worth... We used Centramatic balancers on our AS for 12 years with no issues other than experiencing fewer interior popped rivets.  We ran Michelin RIBS on 16" Sendel aluminum wheels.

[rich.dev]

1 hour ago, MAX Burner said:

We used Centramatic balancers on our AS for 12 years with no issues other than experiencing fewer interior popped rivets

Same setup we used on our AS without issues. The Centramatics were installed by an AS dealership here in Ontario (CanAm).  

[topgun2]

I think that I just found the answer to my questions about the Centramatics -  and HERE it is - cost!

This plus FrankC's comments above certainly explain a bunch of things to me.

Bill

[MAX Burner]

4 hours ago, topgun2 said:

I think that I just found the answer to my questions about the Centramatics -  and HERE it is - cost!

This plus FrankC's comments above certainly explain a bunch of things to me.

Bill

About the same price when we bought ours in 2008...  $50/wheel

[topgun2]

53 minutes ago, MAX Burner said:

About the same price when we bought ours in 2008...  $50/wheel

Glad you caught that - I thought that the price shown on Amazon was $200 PER WHEEL!

But as Max B points out the price is about $200 per set of four.  Still a bit more than a "regular" tire balance but certainly not as bad as I had thought.

Bill

[BBL]

9 hours ago, MAX Burner said:

We used Centramatic balancers on our AS

We used them on the AS and still have them on our tow vehicle (F-250).  Also, Discount Tire just mounted a new set of Falkens on my truck and we had an extensive conversation about the wheel balancers. No one EVER even hinted that they would not mount the tires with Centramatics in place. 

I had 55,000 miles on the stock tires and they couldn't believe how good they looked even though they were due to be changed.

BL

[Patriot]

9 minutes ago, Brian and Brandelyne said:

We used them on the AS and still have them on our tow vehicle (F-250).  Also, Discount Tire just mounted a new set of Falkens on my truck and we had an extensive conversation about the wheel balancers. No one EVER even hinted that they would not mount the tires with Centramatics in place. 

I had 55,000 miles on the stock tires and they couldn't believe how good they looked even though they were due to be changed.

BL

Hey Brian, 
Interesting to hear that about DCT. Do you find you need to check the torque on your lugs?  I am guessing no issues? 
I have my tires rotated and balanced every 5k by DCT, so far all good.

Patriot🇺🇸

[BBL]

2 minutes ago, Patriot said:

Do you find you need to check the torque on your lugs?

Never had issues with torque on truck or trailer.  DCT is a good company, never had any issues there either.

cheers,

Brian

[MAX Burner]

23 hours ago, Brian and Brandelyne said:

55,000 miles on the stock tires and they couldn't believe how good they looked even though they were due to be changed.

@Brian and Brandelyne:  FYI:  We've experienced exactly the same with Centramatics and DTC with both our previous TT and our TV...  just say'n, piece of mind is a good thing.

[SeaDawg]

Might be the next "great thing," but we are ok as we are.

I'll look forward to your future posts.