permafrost
08-06-2004, 03:34 AM
I was thinking about trying these for my truck I have read some good things about them.
Here is the link and a post from a TDR member
CLICK ME (http://www.centramatic.com/New_Catalog/300series.php)
Well gang, I unexpectedly had the chance to get the Centramatics installed yesterday after work so here's the report I promised.
Let me start by saying that I went into this *highly* skeptical. The balancers are nothing impressive to look at, just a thin almost cheap-looking stamped disc with a tube around the outside that is filled with some kind of "mystery" substance. These things are supposed to perform all sorts of miracles up to but not including parting the red sea and I just didn't think that they'd work. I got them to try out mostly out of desperation and morbid curiosity than anything else since I've been trying to get a vibration on my truck under control for several months now. Besides, they said that I could return them if they didn't work so I figured that I couldn't loose.
The install is a no-brainer, they just slip over the wheel studs and are held on by the wheel. The rear set fits between the duals and while it does have a hole cut in it for access to the inner valve stem, there is no doubt in my mind that getting to the inside tire is going to be more obnoxious with these mounted.
They do make a very noticeable noise at slow speeds. It's kind of a scraping noise and to me, it sounds like I've run over a tree branch and it's dragging along the road under the truck. The noise stops abruptly at 25mph, so it's only an issue going slow with the windows down. It's not loud enough to hear over the A/C with the windows up, but you will get some odd looks from folks when you are driving through parking lots.
Once I got up to speed around town I didn't really notice any difference, but I had never had any vibration problems at slow speeds. On the freeway the difference was immediately noticeable and very dramatic, these things flat-out work. Since the first day that I've owned this truck it has had a vibration at freeway speeds that I have been trying to get rid of. I've had the tires balanced several times, I've tried rotating the tires, I even had several of the tires that took the most weight to balance rotated on the rims to see if that would help. None of it made any difference. I had also noticed that the shifter would vibrate quite a bit going down the road, to the point that I checked the motor and tranny mounts to see if any of them were damaged, but now all that has stopped. Don't get me wrong, it still rides like a 1-ton dually but now it's not like a 1-ton vibrator. As a side benefit, I never have to worry about getting my tires balanced again. I took all the weights off of them and am just letting the centramatics do their job.
To anyone with a vibration problem that is considering something like this I'd say give it a shot. They have a 30-day "No questions asked" satisfaction guarantee, so there's really nothing to loose. Sure, they are expensive but they make the truck ride so much better that I won't be sending mine back.
Hope this helps,
Mike
P.S. No affiliation with Centramatic, just a surprised and happy customer...blah...blah...blah...
Here is the link and a post from a TDR member
CLICK ME (http://www.centramatic.com/New_Catalog/300series.php)
Well gang, I unexpectedly had the chance to get the Centramatics installed yesterday after work so here's the report I promised.
Let me start by saying that I went into this *highly* skeptical. The balancers are nothing impressive to look at, just a thin almost cheap-looking stamped disc with a tube around the outside that is filled with some kind of "mystery" substance. These things are supposed to perform all sorts of miracles up to but not including parting the red sea and I just didn't think that they'd work. I got them to try out mostly out of desperation and morbid curiosity than anything else since I've been trying to get a vibration on my truck under control for several months now. Besides, they said that I could return them if they didn't work so I figured that I couldn't loose.
The install is a no-brainer, they just slip over the wheel studs and are held on by the wheel. The rear set fits between the duals and while it does have a hole cut in it for access to the inner valve stem, there is no doubt in my mind that getting to the inside tire is going to be more obnoxious with these mounted.
They do make a very noticeable noise at slow speeds. It's kind of a scraping noise and to me, it sounds like I've run over a tree branch and it's dragging along the road under the truck. The noise stops abruptly at 25mph, so it's only an issue going slow with the windows down. It's not loud enough to hear over the A/C with the windows up, but you will get some odd looks from folks when you are driving through parking lots.
Once I got up to speed around town I didn't really notice any difference, but I had never had any vibration problems at slow speeds. On the freeway the difference was immediately noticeable and very dramatic, these things flat-out work. Since the first day that I've owned this truck it has had a vibration at freeway speeds that I have been trying to get rid of. I've had the tires balanced several times, I've tried rotating the tires, I even had several of the tires that took the most weight to balance rotated on the rims to see if that would help. None of it made any difference. I had also noticed that the shifter would vibrate quite a bit going down the road, to the point that I checked the motor and tranny mounts to see if any of them were damaged, but now all that has stopped. Don't get me wrong, it still rides like a 1-ton dually but now it's not like a 1-ton vibrator. As a side benefit, I never have to worry about getting my tires balanced again. I took all the weights off of them and am just letting the centramatics do their job.
To anyone with a vibration problem that is considering something like this I'd say give it a shot. They have a 30-day "No questions asked" satisfaction guarantee, so there's really nothing to loose. Sure, they are expensive but they make the truck ride so much better that I won't be sending mine back.
Hope this helps,
Mike
P.S. No affiliation with Centramatic, just a surprised and happy customer...blah...blah...blah...