Klever R/T balancing issues or just weights falling off?

[CptFloridaMan]

First couple rotations took me 6k miles(longer than i wanted but i always forgot to them before my last couple of road-trips), and at the tail end of each i always had a tire or two go out of balance.

This last time in February i did a rotation at 5k miles and had them roadforce balanced. Started getting another shimmy, so I’ve got two working theories. One is overnight it develops a flat spot when cold overnight and as the tires warm up it seems to get better but still a shimmy. Was running 31psi cold and then when driving around and warmed up it was around 33psi, now i’m up to 33psi cold and 35psi warm to test it out if it’s tire pressure dependent.

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[CptFloridaMan]

Thought I would update, Im getting a shimmy again after balancing it this past Tuesday. And one of the ones up front has an ungodly amount of weight. Would another road force balance help with rotating the tire on the wheel and balancing again? Or is this tire basically toast?

@Discount Tire ?

 

[David11]

Have some 35" Kenda Klevers on a Ford truck, and I have noticed they do seem to flat spot a bit if parked on cold concrete for 2 to 3 days between trips. They do smooth out quickly, so it could be a characteristic of the tire. They didn't use a ton of weights to balance them though.

Having to use that much weight could be a couple of things. A bad tire is definitely one possibility, but a few other things that you could check too...

Note: Make sure you dig out any large rocks that are stuck in the treads before you drop it off. Some tire guys are good and will do that before balancing, but some won't, and then when the rocks fly out later, you get unbalanced tires. On "problem child tires", I've actually gone so far as to just yank off all the weights when I get there as well since some tire guys won't even pull the old ones off before spinning them (which could also lead to your mega-weight syndrome)

Does the road force balance include them dismounting the tire and trying to turn it 180 degrees and remount and then balance? Could be that your wheel and the tire both have a heavy spot that just happen to be the same when they were originally mounted. If it doesn't include that, may be worth having them try it just in case.

Also could possibly be a bent / damaged wheel as well.

But yes, could also be a bad tire.

 

[CptFloridaMan]

Have some 35" Kenda Klevers on a Ford truck, and I have noticed they do seem to flat spot a bit if parked on cold concrete for 2 to 3 days between trips. They do smooth out quickly, so it could be a characteristic of the tire. They didn't use a ton of weights to balance them though.

Having to use that much weight could be a couple of things. A bad tire is definitely one possibility, but a few other things that you could check too...

Note: Make sure you dig out any large rocks that are stuck in the treads before you drop it off. Some tire guys are good and will do that before balancing, but some won't, and then when the rocks fly out later, you get unbalanced tires. On "problem child tires", I've actually gone so far as to just yank off all the weights when I get there as well since some tire guys won't even pull the old ones off before spinning them (which could also lead to your mega-weight syndrome)

Does the road force balance include them dismounting the tire and trying to turn it 180 degrees and remount and then balance? Could be that your wheel and the tire both have a heavy spot that just happen to be the same when they were originally mounted. If it doesn't include that, may be worth having them try it just in case.

Also could possibly be a bent / damaged wheel as well.

But yes, could also be a bad tire.

I’m going to try to swing to discount tire today or even next week. I find it hard to imagine that it’s developing a flat spot in the low 70s and sitting for 8 hours overnight. I’m going to be watching it now though. To be honest but my old goodyear stockies would develop a flat spot after a week or two sitting.


I think you’re right in saying that I may have a case of old weights plus new weights.

 

[KevinC11]

With that much weight, I would guess a tire out of round or a bad/damaged wheel. Regardless of tire manufacturer, it can happen.

KevinC

 

[CptFloridaMan]

With that much weight, I would guess a tire out of round or a bad/damaged wheel. Regardless of tire manufacturer, it can happen.

KevinC

So question now that I think about. If I replace the bad tire with a new one, what should I do rotation wise, leave the new one on the rear for a few thousand miles? Current set is

 

[KevinC11]

So question now that I think about. If I replace the bad tire with a new one, what should I do rotation wise, leave the new one on the rear for a few thousand miles? Current set is

Depends on how many miles you have on current tires and tread depth. If it was me, throw the new one on the passenger rear. Next rotation it moves to the passenger front. Next rotation it moves to the driver rear. Next rotation, driver front. Next rotation it moves to spare, thus getting the most pavement time of all.

KevinC

 

[CptFloridaMan]

Depends on how many miles you have on current tires and tread depth. If it was me, throw the new one on the passenger rear. Next rotation it moves to the passenger front. Next rotation it moves to the driver rear. Next rotation, driver front. Next rotation it moves to spare, thus getting the most pavement time of all.

KevinC

So yeah I’ve got 20k miles on my set, they’re around 16/32nds now. If I do have to get a new tire I’ll do that plan for a little bit and see how it runs after.

 

[Discount Tire]

Thought I would update, Im getting a shimmy again after balancing it this past Tuesday. And one of the ones up front has an ungodly amount of weight. Would another road force balance help with rotating the tire on the wheel and balancing again? Or is this tire basically toast?

@Discount Tire ?

You are right...That is quite a bit of weight, even for a tire of that size.

There are a few unknowns, but I will do my best to answer.

As a tire wears, the balance needs of the tire do change. It would not hurt to re visit the balancing side of the equation. I would have the tire rebalanced via a road force balance and see if that does the trick. That procedure will help identify things such as bent wheel, out of round, etc...

If the tire is cupped, a road force balance might not help at all. @KevinC11 is on the right track in rotating the tires often to mitigate the cupping if that is indeed the case. If you would like, I can reach out to a Discount Tire location close to you, advise them of the issues you are experiencing, and diagnose it for you. We are here to help.

 

[CptFloridaMan]

You are right...That is quite a bit of weight, even for a tire of that size.

There are a few unknowns, but I will do my best to answer.

As a tire wears, the balance needs of the tire do change. It would not hurt to re visit the balancing side of the equation. I would have the tire rebalanced via a road force balance and see if that does the trick. That procedure will help identify things such as bent wheel, out of round, etc...

If the tire is cupped, a road force balance might not help at all. @KevinC11 is on the right track in rotating the tires often to mitigate the cupping if that is indeed the case. If you would like, I can reach out to a Discount Tire location close to you, advise them of the issues you are experiencing, and diagnose it for you. We are here to help.

Actually just got back, tire doesn’t look cupped to me. But i’m told it spun around 19lbs on the road force and the machine said it was OK for the balance. So i’m now thinking it’s just as simple as a flat spot developing overnight.

 

[Gorilla57]

Just another FYI, I just got my Mickey Baja AT's and had Discount balance them. The road force balance was used and the 5 tires took 6,8,8,8,11oz of weight. The guy balancing them said the road force was low and it all balanced out. I have the 11oz tire on my rear right now and it's perfect. All 4 tires running right now are smooth. I gotta give it to DT here in Chandler, they did an awesome job with my beadlocks.

 

[CptFloridaMan]

Just another FYI, I just got my Mickey Baja AT's and had Discount balance them. The road force balance was used and the 5 tires took 6,8,8,8,11oz of weight. The guy balancing them said the road force was low and it all balanced out. I have the 11oz tire on my rear right now and it's perfect. All 4 tires running right now are smooth. I gotta give it to DT here in Chandler, they did an awesome job with my beadlocks.

My two discount tire locations I went to have been amazing to me also. This morning I tested it out again, Im definitely under the impression if it goes from 85° down to 70° overnight like it did this week here, the tires develop a flat spot. Didn’t make any funny vibrations this morning so I guess Ill see how they continue to wear and what not with 20k miles now.

 

[Discount Tire]

My two discount tire locations I went to have been amazing to me also. This morning I tested it out again, Im definitely under the impression if it goes from 85° down to 70° overnight like it did this week here, the tires develop a flat spot. Didn’t make any funny vibrations this morning so I guess Ill see how they continue to wear and what not with 20k miles now.

Thank you for the kind words said about the stores you visited. I'm exited to hear that they are working hard to address the vibration issue.

Another thing to consider, that may be affecting your vibration issue...

I have not yet taken a deep dive into the internal construction of the Kenda tires, but many manufacturers add a ply of nylon over the steel belt package, ( or nylon belt edge caps).
The nylon belt gives more stability to the belt packaging and as a result, you have a better constructed, safer tire. That's a good thing. The down side is, if the tire sits for an extended period of time, it will develop a "flat spot", causing a vibration. When the tire is driven, and gets to a normal operating temperature, the flat spot will go away. It's a vicious cycle.

There are better materials now in the industry that eliminate that issue, but you will come across the nylon construction tires. That might very well be a simple answer to your vibration issue.

Hope that helps.

 

[CptFloridaMan]

Thank you for the kind words said about the stores you visited. I'm exited to hear that they are working hard to address the vibration issue.

Another thing to consider, that may be affecting your vibration issue...

I have not yet taken a deep dive into the internal construction of the Kenda tires, but many manufacturers add a ply of nylon over the steel belt package, ( or nylon belt edge caps).
The nylon belt gives more stability to the belt packaging and as a result, you have a better constructed, safer tire. That's a good thing. The down side is, if the tire sits for an extended period of time, it will develop a "flat spot", causing a vibration. When the tire is driven, and gets to a normal operating temperature, the flat spot will go away. It's a vicious cycle.

There are better materials now in the industry that eliminate that issue, but you will come across the nylon construction tires. That might very well be a simple answer to your vibration issue.

Hope that helps.

That’s interesting and my working theory is that overnight if it cools down it also helps harden it or facilitate a flat spot. I’m going to try to find information on the construction. Otherwise it’s been a great tire. 20k miles and I still have 16/32nds on all of them which they started with 18 or 19/32nds.

Either way, I’m looking at a set of Mickeys next, the baja boss A/T, they seem as aggressive as the klever rt and I’ve heard great things so i’ll be ordering through one of my local discount tires.

 

[Discount Tire]

That’s interesting and my working theory is that overnight if it cools down it also helps harden it or facilitate a flat spot. I’m going to try to find information on the construction. Otherwise it’s been a great tire. 20k miles and I still have 16/32nds on all of them which they started with 18 or 19/32nds.

Either way, I’m looking at a set of Mickeys next, the baja boss A/T, they seem as aggressive as the klever rt and I’ve heard great things so i’ll be ordering through one of my local discount tires.

If I can assist in any way, Please feel free to reach out. I can even work it so all you have to do is show up. Store personnel will handle the rest! Love to help!

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