Tire/wheel balance frequency?

[CaveTroll]

Soon after purchasing, I put new wheels and tires on my 2014 Trail (somewhere around the 500 mile mark). American Outlaw wheels and Cooper ATPs from Discount Tire.

I rotated the tires at a little over 5k.
I'm at around 9k now and I've been noticing the need for a tire balance (steering wheel shake at highway speeds).

I'm a little surprised by how soon this is needed. I've only been off-road a couple of times and my tires show very little wear. Since I've never before owned a truck like this and I don't have any previous experience with AT tires, I'm wondering if frequent balancing is common.

Could the wheels be the culprit? I have not been punishing them to the point where I would expect them to deform, but maybe they are just poorly manufactured.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks

btw - yes, I'm having them road-force balanced.

 

[marshal]

did you have your front end aligned after you leveled it? you shouldn't need a balance at 9k. you should be able to go the whole life of the tire without 'needing' a balance if you street them their whole life.

if you're offroading frequently and airing down, its very probable that the tire is actually slipping on the rim and therefor getting out of balance.

more info is needed

 

[nevada]

it could have thrown a weight, or maybe you have a bad tire.

also, depending on how they wear, ive seen tires that need to be rebalanced every time they are rotated. they will wear differently(more) on the front, that may change the balance. its annoying, but happens.

 

[CaveTroll]

did you have your front end aligned after you leveled it? you shouldn't need a balance at 9k. you should be able to go the whole life of the tire without 'needing' a balance if you street them their whole life.

if you're offroading frequently and airing down, its very probable that the tire is actually slipping on the rim and therefor getting out of balance.

more info is needed

Yes, supposedly the shop did do an alignment after installing the Bilsteins. But that work was done at least 6000 miles ago, so I don't think that's the issue.

Nope. No air-downs on my camping trips.

it could have thrown a weight, or maybe you have a bad tire.

also, depending on how they wear, ive seen tires that need to be rebalanced every time they are rotated. they will wear differently(more) on the front, that may change the balance. its annoying, but happens.

Yeah, I was wondering about throwing a weight.
I'm interested to see what DT says, if anything.
Oh, and although balancing is free for the life of the tire, that does not include road-force balancing. $8 per wheel charge. I just hope they know what they are doing when it comes to that type of balance.

 

[3wbdriver]

Check the inside of your wheels for dirt buildup if you have been anywhere in even light mud while off road. It doesn't take much to throw the balance out. I ran into this about a month ago after an off road weekend. I concentrated so much on the build up on the outer rim I didn't even see what was on the inner part until a few days later. What little was there did set up a slight vibration for me.

 

[gm350reratliff]

I have also seen tires that need to be rebalanced after 5k miles. Usually, after the second balance they will stay balanced longer. If DT is using a Road Force balancer, and they know what they are doing, the balancing issue should be solved.

 

[JET4]

One of my wheels lost a weight and cause a vibration at 50-60 mph. That might be your problem.

 

[4RnR Grl]

One of my wheels lost a weight and cause a vibration at 50-60 mph. That might be your problem.

+1 Same thing here. Took it in and I was correct, it threw a weight. A rebalance and it was good to go.