Balancing 40s- Mickey Thompson vs Nitto

[tjeeper]

I just got a set of MT Baja Boss 40x13.5x17s. Discount Tire says they can't balance 2 of them on their Road Force balancer. They say they put the weights where the machine says, roll it again, and it tells them to add more on the opposite side. Their solution was to give me 4 bags of bead balancers and to pull the weights.

Has anyone had similar experiences? I like to drive my Jeep, not trailer it. To me it defeats to point if I hate driving it on the highway. The Jeep literally bounces up and down- at all speeds.

Has anyone had issues balancing Nitto TGs? I haven't heard any complaints. I am trying to figure out it is a MT thing, or a 40 inch tire thing. Discount is telling me it is the 40 inch tires and to live with it.

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[BDinTX]

Are you sure the bags have broken open to let the beads out? On my 37" MT BB M/Ts I started with balance beads and it took about 15 miles on the highway for them to break open. I still ended up ditching them to go back to weights but it may have been the broken frame weld causing the periodic vibration.

I think you have a strong argument for them to take back the tires and replace them if they can balance two but not the other two.

 

[azwjowner]

Call MT - they should take care of you. I believe they guarantee all tires will balance with 1% or less of the total weight, which is actually an excellent guarantee. Frankly, Discount Tire should know that.

 

[BDinTX]

Call MT - they should take care of you. I believe they guarantee all tires will balance with 1% or less of the total weight, which is actually an excellent guarantee. Frankly, Discount Tire should know that.

Good info!
Mickey Thompson | Warranty Info

 

[tjeeper]

I haven't put the beads in. I've used them in the past, didn't work for me. But the issue was probably not the tires on that Jeep.

I emailed MT to see their response. Trying to decide to keep them and try to warranty them, or switch to Nittos.

 

[azwjowner]

I should add that you should try another Discount Tire for balancing. My brother had a balancing issue (with a normal SUV tire) and it turned out something was wrong with the balancing machine at the location. Went to another one and they had no problem balancing.

 

[lashlee]

Granted it wasn't at a DT, but the 40" MT BB's on my wife's JLUR balanced. I think one needed a bunch of weight but the rest were reasonable.

 

[jellis4148]

This is not bragging, but I'm on my second set of Nitto's, and I never balanced them. Mounted them myself on the beadlock rims. Run them at 26 PSI cold. They bounce a little at 45 mph, but other than that they drive great at all speeds with no weights or beads.

 

[DLW]

I have 40" Nitto's, I mounted them myself on KMC beadlocks as well.
I did not have them balanced, most tire places around me won't even try to balance a 40" tire.
To be honest, these things are smooth with zero balancing issues at any speed.

I would not live with your situation. I would have them swap out the 2 tires or go with a different brand. Not a fan of BB's either. Nitto's and Toyo's have a good rep for the 40" tires being pretty round and balanced. Toyo also makes the Nitto's in the 40" size, and for what it's worth they not that loud.

 

[Eleven71Design]

Most tire shops do not do much but If you can, Ask them to place the heavy spot of the tire at the valve stem. Usually a Yellow Dot on the tire. Most tire manufacturers have their tires marked with the heavy spot. Wheels are lightest where the valve stem is. Usually aligning these points helps balance.

 

[Zeddy]

I have Nitto's on method bead grip. wheels. They were just balanced on a road force machine without issue.

 

[failsafe306]

The balancing and sidewall issues are what swayed me away from the Baja MTs and to the tried and true Nitto Trail Grappler.

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