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Centramatic Dynamic Wheel Balancers installed on a '19 315RLTS

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  • Centramatic Dynamic Wheel Balancers installed on a '19 315RLTS

    INTRODUCTION
    Balancing trailer tires is an often-discussed and controversial topic on an RV forum. Having experience with dynamic balancing beads (“DynaBeads”) in my Goldwing motorcycle tires, I decided to give Centramatic Dynamic Balancers (same concept as DynaBeads) a try on my trailer.

    The idea to try the balancers was sparked by a comment in a thread about balancing trailer tires. A member commented something to the effect, “We have no idea what’s going on back in the trailer while we’re towing.” A Black Friday sale was too much of a temptation…so I bought Centramatics.

    Did the Centramatics make a quantifiable difference? (Spoiler Alert: no.)

    CAVEAT
    The data you’ll see in this post shows there’s no difference on my trailer with or without the Centramatic Dynamic Balancers. My 2019 315RLTS is likely unique as it has MORryde’s Independent Suspension and Sailun 14-ply tires.

    The issue with not having objective proof may be with how the experiment was conducted. I’m not an expert on this topic. The purpose for the measurements was to stay away from posting an anecdotal “feels better” result. (I wanted proof of an improvement.)

    There are many knowledgeable forum members, so please feel free to point out any flaws you may find in the process documented below.

    HOW DATA WAS OBTAINED
    The data was obtained using a WIT WT901BLE58 sensor. This sensor was mentioned by TucsonJim in a post a few months back so of course I had to get one and experiment with it.

    The WIT sensor was attached to the hutch counter in the trailer. The hutch is just in front of the front axle (a 315RLTS has four tires, thus two axles). A Command Strip attached to the sensor ensured it didn’t move on the counter. Power was supplied by a trailer USB port to ensure the sensor stayed active during the entire data collection process. My phone collected the data (via Bluetooth). The phone was tucked in a hutch drawer during the test runs.


    Click image for larger version  Name:	WIT Pictures.JPG Views:	0 Size:	103.0 KB ID:	38699

    THE ROUTE
    Tire pressures were set at exactly 80 psi prior to my departure from home. The weather was chilly and the sky overcast so sunshine was not an issue affecting tire pressure.

    The route shown in the map below is about 30 minutes from my home so the tires were warm and had naturally increased to “operating” pressure (~90 psi) prior to starting data collection.

    The route was exactly the same for the four data collection trips. I stayed in the right hand lane on I-10 and kept to a consistent 65 mph as much as possible.

    Trip 1 and 2 were done without the Centramatics or any wheel weights installed on the wheels. (I made two trips so I could validate the data was consistent.)
    Trip 3 and 4 were with the Centramatics installed.
    • I installed the balancers at a rest area just off I-10 (the start and end point of the route). Installation only took about 30 minutes. The lug nuts were torqued per the owner’s manual prior to trip 3 and re-torqued prior to trip 4.
    Click image for larger version  Name:	Slide2.JPG Views:	0 Size:	260.1 KB ID:	38700

    Note on the map below the line I drew at the start of the bridge—you’ll see a spike in the data that was caused by the transition from the road to the bridge at this location.

    Click image for larger version  Name:	route.JPG Views:	0 Size:	84.0 KB ID:	38702

    THE DATA
    There are three measurements in the data shown in the four charts. Each measurement is the g force measured in an axis.

    The X (pitch) and Y (roll) axis’ are the two bottom measurements (stacked on top of each other). The Z (yaw) axis is the gray line. (Note the nominal value in the X and Y axis is 0, Z is 1.)

    The actual values aren’t important—what I wanted to see is if there was a difference between the measurements taken before and after installation of the Centramatics.

    Trip 1 and 2 are on the left, trip 3 and 4 on the right. I drew a line across the top of where the spikes appeared to normalize. As you can readily see, there was little to no measurable g force difference in any axis with or without the Centramatics.

    Click image for larger version  Name:	Slide3.JPG Views:	0 Size:	160.3 KB ID:	38701

    CONCLUSION
    The data does not mean the Centramatics aren’t effective or work as advertised. My conclusion is the data shows the Centramatics made no difference on my trailer as it is currently configured, at least in measurable g forces in the X, Y and Z axis detectable by the WIT sensor.

    As always, fire away with comments or questions.

    Howard
    Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.

    2017 Ford F-350 DRW, '19 315RLTSPlus

  • #2
    Originally posted by howson View Post
    As always, fire away with comments or questions.
    Looks reasonable Howard.

    Tire balance is interesting since I just had tires installed on the DW's car which the installer did not do a very good job since the shake was felt at 75mph+ so unless A-B is far apart, it will not be picked up at the lower speeds we tow at unless the condition is excessive. Also development grade accelerometers and data acquisition equipment may be needed to separate the signal from the noise in this experiment. We also use FFT to do this at times. However, the centramatics should keep things in check for static balancing no matter what.

    Oh had that installer re-balance and the same result. Payed for another balance while out of state which solved the issue.

    Not sure you want to experiment further but you could deliberately add a few ounces to create an out of balance condition to see if the measurement is captured and then install the centramatic to see how it brings it back in line.

    Jim

    Jim
    Last edited by howson; 12-26-2020, 08:19 PM. Reason: Shortened quote...

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    • #3
      Originally posted by MidwestCamper View Post
      Not sure you want to experiment further but you could deliberately add a few ounces to create an out of balance condition to see if the measurement is captured and then install the centramatic to see how it brings it back in line.

      Jim
      That's something I didn't consider. Darn--no, not going to repeat the experiment but wish I'd thought of that.

      Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.

      2017 Ford F-350 DRW, '19 315RLTSPlus

      Comment


      • #4
        A great engineering approach Howard. Let me see what other great gadgets I can drum up to spend your money on! LOL.

        Jim
        Jim and Ginnie
        2024 Solitude 310GK
        GDRV Technical Forum Moderator
        GDRV Rally Support Coordinator

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