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Problem Getting 33" MTs Balanced

Orange Crush

Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 7, 2004
Messages
1,237
Loc.
Maryland
Took a set of BFG MTs and slot wheels for mount and balance today and the tire shop said they could not balance them (this was on the spin balancer). The guy told me they run into this often with larger mud tires. Anyone else run into this? I guess I'll have to either call around and see who might be able to balance them or maybe look into using one of the internal balancing methods.
 

Apogee

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 26, 2005
Messages
6,030
Wow...problems with 33's? That's really not a big tire by most standards. My 35" BFG M/T tires balanced with less than 2 oz on each tire, and that could've just as easily been accounting for the balance of the wheels as the tires.

Typically, if it doesn't say Interco on the side, you're pretty safe. Internal balancing would be a good alternative to try and maximize the tires life if they can't get them spin balanced.

Are they all bad or is it just one in particular? Have you considered having them replace the tires with different ones? These are new tires, right? They should balance IMO, no ifs, ands or buts.
 

scsm76

Bronco Guru
Joined
Oct 6, 2005
Messages
1,433
Loc.
Shaver Lake, CA
You may have the wheel checked as well I have came across a few wheels that are so bad that no tire could be balnced on them.
 

bhoffmeister

Jr. Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2006
Messages
138
I was reading somewhere last night about BFG MT being tought to balance because of something on the rim or lip. Sorry I cant help out more it was late when I read it. Try offroaders.com review BFGMT tires.
 

byson1

Sr. Member
Joined
May 27, 2004
Messages
649
Loc.
Nashville
Did he say why? Was it because of their equippment or the tire(s) requiring too much weight. I worked at Goodyear for over 5 years and can safely say you should not have a problem balancing 33" tires. We were able to go up to 35 but beyond that it was hit/miss because of the cover interference on balancer. If it's a tire or wheel that's bent/out of round than that's a different deal but I can't imagine all 4 being out. I just had some old slot wheels and 31" tires balanced withotu any problems at a local shop. Check around-33's are not that big.
 

76Broncofromhell

Bronco Totalitarian
Joined
Jul 30, 2001
Messages
4,226
Loc.
Reno, NV
Sometimes this happens when they forget to check the wheel for weights. A 33 shouldn't be a problem to balance though.

If it was a Swamper I would say don't bother, but BFG MTs should be fairly straight forward to balance. I would go to another shop for a 2nd opinion.
 
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Orange Crush

Orange Crush

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Joined
Nov 7, 2004
Messages
1,237
Loc.
Maryland
Thanks for the replies guys. They are not brand new, about 85-90% tread on them though. He put the first one up, and then told me he would need 1 lb of weights to balance it. The second one was the same. I didn't bother to have him try the other two. Brand new local shop, brand new equipment, etc.
 

NicksTrix

Bronco Guru
Joined
Aug 1, 2001
Messages
6,386
i'd try another shop. as mentioned a 33 shouldn't be an issue. if the tires are as fresh as you say, you'd think you'd see funny wear if it was a tire issue.
are you sure the wheels are good?
 

Gummi Bear

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jul 8, 2003
Messages
3,647
Are the tires cupped (tread blocks worn unevenly, front to back or side to side?)

Also - like someone mentioned earlier, your wheels may be wonky if you don't already know them to be true.

Your next ideas are to have the tires shaved back to round (look at a tractor trailer tire shop to provide this service) or to go to a balancing media (available online, or at a tractor trailer shop)

Good luck.
 
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Orange Crush

Orange Crush

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Nov 7, 2004
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Loc.
Maryland
Two of the tires are slightly cupped. These are the two I didn't even have him try to balance. The other two are almost like new condition, and these are the ones I am referring to that he couldn't balance. I'm thinking maybe the slots, but looking at them, rolling them across the floor etc, they look to be in great shape. He also mentioned an 18-wheeler shop. He said they had more balancing options. He looked at the tires and wheels and said nothing looked out of whack. He said it was quite common with mud tires this size and larger.
 

rian102

New Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2008
Messages
5
Loc.
midland park, nj
I had a buddy of mine balance 35s bfgs and 2 of them wouldnt balance so we air them back down, broke the bead, spun the tire and they balanced nicely after that.
 
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Orange Crush

Orange Crush

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Nov 7, 2004
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1,237
Loc.
Maryland
I had a buddy of mine balance 35s bfgs and 2 of them wouldnt balance so we air them back down, broke the bead, spun the tire and they balanced nicely after that.

Thanks. I was just reading another thread where someone suggested spinning the tire 180* and trying again. Might have to give that a try.
 

Jangel

Jr. Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2003
Messages
80
Spinning 180* usually does the trick, but I've had to do it where we spun it several different ways to get it to take less weight.
 

broncosam

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Feb 8, 2005
Messages
1,178
I would have to agree with the others. 33 inch tires are not that much trouble to balance. Like some said you might have a wheel problem or the tires could be out of round.
 

Ohio Bronco 21

Bronco Guru
Joined
Dec 5, 2006
Messages
4,194
Loc.
Cleveland
I had Goodyear mount some 31 inch BFG a/t tires for me on new rims last year. They told me they couldnt balance them either, said the tires were to big. I wanted to argue with the guy as I used to work at a tire shop but wtf.
As it turns out I dont have any vibration on the tires at speed anyway.
 

needabronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jul 2, 2004
Messages
6,411
Loc.
Prescott/Farmington
An experience tire guy would have moved the tire around in relation with the rim, that usually fixes the problem although a whole pound seems a little much to me. I used to work in a shop 15 years ago that had an old machine that did have a hard time balancing 33's, but I can only assume it was partly because it was a worn out POS. Try a different shop and see what they say.
 
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Orange Crush

Orange Crush

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Joined
Nov 7, 2004
Messages
1,237
Loc.
Maryland
Just ran up to the truck stop and sure enough, their on-site tire shop had no problems balancing them. One of them did take like 12 oz though :p
 
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