Do you have your caravan wheels balanced when you have new tyres fitted?
I ask because, having just had new tyres fitted (after I rejected the first pair they wanted to fit as they were nearly two years old), they went to refit the wheels, I asked them to balance the wheels, which they said they had never been asked to do before, I said I wanted it done. One tyre had to come off again and be turned round 180 degrees because it was so out of balance, still need a fair bit of balancing wight. The other also needed quite a long strip of weights. No problem getting them to do it, just surprised it isnt the norm - charged me an extra fiver though!
Any of the well known tyre companies will fit, balance & replace valve as a matter of course. Was it a caravan service place that was replacing your tyres? Its best to use a tyre depot or a mobile service like e-tyres imho.
There is a school of thought that the addition of weights can induce more air pressure loss. But shouldn't be a problem if tyre pressures are checked every trip. I don't think new caravans have balancing weights fitted so I doubt there is any doom scenario either way.
Whenever you have new tyres fitted they should always be balanced and theoretically should be included in the price too. The tyres should be balanced more so on a caravan anyway because the constant bounce can cause all sorts of problems like shaking loose the seals around the caravan and causing screws to come loose etc. plus you don't get an even wear on your tyre either so you shorten the life of the tyre by excessive wear on one area of the tread. Caravan manufacturers don't have the wheels balanced and this has been an issue in the past years because reading in the Camping & Caravanning Club magazine a couple of years back there was a guy who had many years experience bought a brand new Bailey and it was so unstable that it was returned to the dealer several times and eventually back to Bailey who found nothing wrong with the caravan. He was attending a rally and explained his dilemma and was advised by one fellow caravanner to get the wheels balanced. He did so and believe it or not it cured the problem to which he wrote in the forum advising people with new and used caravans to get their wheels balanced. I always have my caravan wheels and tyres balanced even if the fitter says it doesn't need it but at the end of the day, you are the customer, it's your van and your money. If I'm not happy with the fitter's reply then I just go elsewhere.
An interesting reply Tango, pity I did not read that, hardly surprising though as Bailey wheels have often been quoted at circa 180 grams out of balance?!
Regards fitters not automatically balancing 'trailer' wheels, this is a common mis-believe and sadly still quite widespread, again though, hardly surprising if the caravan makers don't deem it required.
I've heard one caravan manufacturer does, but even Motorhomes wheels are not balanced!, Swift have even done tests to prove, to themselves at least, it's not required!
I know it's completely barmy not to balance anything that revolves at speed, it's a fundamental engineering principle that cannot be escaped from, anything said against that principle is misinformed or misguided at best, or, a penny pinching exercise at worst!
every time i have tyre fitted it is balanced,worked in a garage many moons ago,i have seen first hand what can happen to an unbalanced wheel on a balance machine.do not like the thought of 2 wheels trying to shake the caravan to bits or loosen the wheel nuts at worst cracking panels.
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
Interesting thread - I have seen big machines move around when a part is being machined (work rotated) and it can be so destructive. Its something I have never thought of on the caravans I have owned mind you other than my first van they have never needed the tyres to be changed.
------------- A barman is just a pharmacist
with a limited inventory
The difference between opinions on a forum and the manufacturers statements is that the manufacturers have done extensive testing. Swift have tested balanced wheels and unbalanced wheels at millbrook and have found no detrimental effect of the wheels not being balanced.
It costs them very little to balance the wheels and there is plenty to lose from warranty claims if faults occur.
Unbalanced wheels will mainly cause the bearings to wear more quickly than balanced but if you only tow the usual 2k miles pa it with still take a few yrs to to knock them out so it won't make much difference.
Unbalanced wheels with new tyres will not affect handling, as Swift have sought to prove mainly I guess, in order to save themselves many £1000pa by not balancing the wheels fitted to their caravans in the factory. After a few yrs tho, unbalanced wheels could well have worn tyres out of round which would make things even worse.
If you want your wheels balanced when new tyres are fitted, either jack up your caravan in your drive, remove wheels & take to a tyre depot or call in e-tyres then your wheels will be balanced as part of the fitting procedure. If you take 'van to dealers for it's annual service & just ask for tyres to be fitted they probably won't be balanced. Fact is balanced wheels will always be better than unbalanced wheels.
If swift were just trying to save 50p on a £20000 caravan then why wouldn't they fit cheaper tyres and save a lot of money.
Have you actually researched the fact that the bearings and tyres will be damaged by wheels and tyres being out of balance or is it just theoretical? It makes sense to think that the bearings are going to wear quicker with stresses from out of balance wheels but there are many other factors involved. Hitting bumps at speed may also damage components.
Swift were not researching long term effect on bearings or tyres of unbalanced wheels. They were simply checking that unbalanced wheels did not affect handling. Manufacturers are happy to save pence per unit on costs to save £1000s over the course of a period of time.
Caravan wheels don't rotate any faster than washing machine drums on fast spin which are never going to be balanced. Washing machines rely on damping. Caravans have the weight of the van to help dampen vibrations, which maybe why swift found negligible extra vibration with unbalanced wheels.
The effect of unbalanced wheels on cars seems to become apparent at a certain speed. Maybe caravans never reach the speed where maximum effect occurs.
I am not arguing against balancing but if the manufacturers are not insisting on it then it might not be as important as it might appear. After all if there was any safety issue then there would be a legal requirement for it to be done on all vehicles.
I would agree that its not that important an issue. If car wheels are not balanced it can cause steering to shake & indeed the whole car to shake at certain speeds. It follows that the same would occur with a caravan but as it would not be noticeable while towing, then there is indeed no need to balance wheels inasmuch that is not a safety issue.
Logic & plenty of evidence to be found on the internet would dictate that a balanced wheel will be better than an unbalanced one. Anything that causes vibrations to set in is going to be ultimately detrimental to the vehicle.
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Topic: Wheel Balancing
