Centramatic

danoid · **Posted:** Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:27 am

Anyone ever try these in a KJ?

http://www.centramatic.com/balancer.html

I've been trying to keep my Michelin XPS Ribs from shaking my steering wheel and balance appears to be the variable but no one can appear to get it perfect.

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:33 am

I've read about similiar balancers for years but have never tried them. My problem is I keep "loosing" weights

ribbon · **Posted:** Wed Aug 05, 2009 1:28 pm

use some dynabeads

linewarbr · **Posted:** Wed Aug 05, 2009 1:32 pm

Looks like those things are $199 apiece. $800 for a set of 4 seems expensive to me unless you do some serious highway miling on expensive tires.

danoid · **Posted:** Wed Aug 05, 2009 3:12 pm

Yeah. For some reason I thought it was $200 for the set. That's within scope. $800 is not.

**edit** I just called Centramatic and $199 is for a set of 4. The web site is unclear.

onthehunt · **Posted:** Wed Aug 05, 2009 6:08 pm

Golf balls work in semi's. Don't know about cars. We use a product called equal. It is a fine powder like substance that you add in the tire when you mount it. It balances as you drive. Lasts the entire life of the tire. It works quite well. Check your tires/wheels for damage/bends. I also had a brand new tire that was out of round once. You could see it as you spun it to balance.

danoid · **Posted:** Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:49 pm

I never gave much consideration to the various objects placed inside the tire. The tire is not round when driving (or you would have an infinitely small contact patch), therefore any mass that was spinning near the contact patch suddenly changes radius with respect to the center of rotation. That, to me at least, should increase imbalance. Someone who is wiser than I in dynamics can feel free to educate me however.

Cowpie1 · **Posted:** Wed Aug 05, 2009 10:23 pm

I got Centramatics all the way around on my Semi.... $160 an axle for them. I got ahold of Centramatic about getting some for my KJ, but they said due to the design of the disc brake pads and rotors, they would not work on a KJ. Better to use one of the other products. Golf balls, BB's, etc are an old truckers idea of doing it that keeps hanging around and the Technology and Maintenance Council has volumes of data on problems with that technique. And most tire manufacturers will tell you that they will break down the inside of the tire. You could risk a blowout. Equal, the powder product, works pretty good and is approved by most manufacturers. Have used it in the past and know of quite a few others that are using it. I would recommend it as the only thing I would put on the inside of a tire. A tried and proven product. Just don't ever let it get exposed to too much moisture... it can gum up. Let others play with golf balls and such.

Oh... forgot... Balance Masters is another player in the wheel balancing game. Their unit uses a mercury filled ring as opposed to the ball bearing method by Centramatic. They have gotten excellent reviews in the trucking industry. Haven't checked to see if they could make something for the KJ. I will be putting on one of their balancers for my Cummins crankshaft this weekend.

widowmaker · **Posted:** Thu Aug 06, 2009 5:15 am

I couldn't help but think of the movie Grease.

Well this car is automatic, it's systematic, it's hydromatic .... it's centramatic
It's greased lightning. :lol:

Turbo Tim · **Posted:** Thu Aug 06, 2009 9:55 am

We have been using about 10 - 16 oz of fine sand per tire in our off road cars for years. Just got tired of paying a kings ransom for sand. Works great.

danoid · **Posted:** Thu Aug 06, 2009 1:06 pm

Bad news about the brake rotors and Centramatic. When I called I didn't mention it was for a Liberty.

I thought of another issue with in-the-tire media. The tire pressure sensors. They are on the inside of the rim to they're not likely to be hit by the stuff, but several of the products require special valves and stems.

danoid · **Posted:** Sat Aug 08, 2009 11:36 pm

Guess I don't need to investigate further.

I remounted the wheel - cleaned the wheel surface / cleaned the hub surface / ran a tap down the lug nuts / ran a die down the lugs / dripped a little 3-1 oil on the threads.

Shimmy gone. No one to blame but myself - I mounted it last time.

05infernoCRDL · **Posted:** Sun Aug 09, 2009 12:42 am

it does stink about the lack of space... the H1 guys swear by these things

Centramatic

Who is online