Balancing Dually Wheels

bsmith0404 · 05-09-2014, 02:02 PM

I recently bought a 2011 Silverado 3500 DRW. Decided to put different tires on it today and ran into an issue. A few places said they can't balance dually wheels, a couple others said they don't deal with duallys at all. A few places I talked will balance them, but want an arm and a leg and do not offer lifetime balance and rotation for DRW trucks. I will be retiring from the military next year so I was trying to stick with a company that is also located in my retirement location. Will have to drive 100 miles to get a "local" shop that that also has shops in my retirement location who will balance the wheels.

Have any of you DRW owners had problems getting your wheels balanced?

justlkn · 05-09-2014, 02:46 PM

My local GMC dealership had a road force machine that was able to a accommodate My Chevy dually tires. It cost me $150.00 to balance all 6. But my recommendation would be once you have them balanced to not rotate them. It cost more to rotate than to just let the fronts wear out and replace the fronts as needed. They will be the first to go. I have 25k miles on her now and the rears look like new. The fronts could probably go another 20k. I have found that if you rotate as suggested, the tires are worn to their particular location and tend to ride rough it'd put in another position. Remember all tires have to be taken off the rim, relocated to the new rim position and rebalanced. A lot of work for little gain in my humble opinion.

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bsmith0404 · 05-09-2014, 06:01 PM

I have the steel wheels with the chrome covers so each wheel is the same. I would be able to rotate them without having to remount onto a different wheel. Haven't ever heard of the tires running rough if moved to a new position. Thanks for the info. A lot to learn with a dually!

Bigg-limo · 06-03-2014, 10:17 PM

You'll be fine rotating them. I got two duallys that I've had for 8 n 9 years now. I rotate them every 6k. They all wear very evenly. Your best bet to get them rotated is Discount Tire or Walmart. That's where I get mine done. I'm like you, I have the steels too. Just rotate them the same way every time.

justlkn · 06-04-2014, 05:11 AM

You guys are lucky. My rims only work in the current position I have a mixture of rims. If I rotate my tires they all have to be taken off the rim then remounted on the rim for their new position. 150.00 bucks every time.

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bsmith0404 · 06-05-2014, 05:05 AM

Yep drove the 100 miles to discount tire and had them balanced without problem. No idea what the other tire shops were talking about. One place even tried telling me that GM made a mistake when they stamped the wheels and they can not be balanced. REALLY? I like raised white letters so my plan is to rotate the inside rears with the front and let the outside rear stay where they are, no need to remount anything. Thanks for the input.

Rick G · 08-01-2014, 05:15 PM

Brent, where was the 100 mile destination, Springfield? Sooner or later I'll have to have mine rotated and balanced, although, there's only about 6K miles on them. Also, how many miles can a person expect to get on the tires?

bsmith0404 · 08-01-2014, 06:41 PM

It was Springfield (short trip for you) the Discount Tire there didn't have any problems getting them balanced. I also had them balanced and rotated at Discount Tire on a trip to NM. The Michelin MS2 is a 70k mile tire, the OE tires were the same and model and only had 50k on them. I have seem some places say that the 70k is not covered on duallies, but DT told me they honored it regardless of vehicle.

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