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Techs: How to Get a Better Wheel Balance?
- Thread starter BQuicksilver
- Start date
Zeke
Well-known member
I think I'd replace that tire.Interesting thread for a consumer type like me to read.
I recently hit a pothole at speed, denting a steel wheel enough to chip out a piece of the plastic wheel cover, and leave a permanent depression in the wheel.
Will this throw the balance off and cause tire or handling problems (Including pounding at about 65MPH)? Techs at the tire store just said to rotate tires on the other side and leave this on the left rear.
Bill
devoncoolman
Well-known member
Road force balancing is the way to go. You wouldn't believe how many tires we send back that fail or shake on the machine. Tires that wouldn't have been caught by a regular balancer.
devoncoolman
Well-known member
Interesting thread for a consumer type like me to read.
I recently hit a pothole at speed, denting a steel wheel enough to chip out a piece of the plastic wheel cover, and leave a permanent depression in the wheel.
Will this throw the balance off and cause tire or handling problems (Including pounding at about 65MPH)? Techs at the tire store just said to rotate tires on the other side and leave this on the left rear.
Bill
If you want it right. You need to replace the wheel. Putting the bent wheel on the back is a temporary solution to a permanent issue.
IndyGarage
Well-known member
I bought a balancer a few years ago and have balanced hundreds of my own and my family's tires since then. I do have a lug-centered setup that I use on some tires and it makes a slight difference on some, but most of the time not much difference.
I agree with the response that says it's totally up to the skill of the operator and has almost nothing to do with the machine. If it's a computer balancer that's been made in the last 25 years, it can balance your tires well enough that you won't feel them at all.
There are three inputs that the machine needs to be able to calculate the required weight correctly - the diameter of the rim (the diameter the weights will be mounted); the width of the rim (distance between inside and outside weights); and the distance from a reference point to the inside weight.
Whether the machine has digital inputs or dials, measures automatically or manually and whether the wheel spins automatically or manually are all irrelevant, and just make the machine more or less convenient to use.
Those three numbers must get into the machine correctly or the weight calculation will be incorrect - plus the machine must be calibrated properly, but it's not necessary to calibrate every day.
It still takes me a few minutes to get a tire right - more than I've ever seen anybody in a shop spend on a tire, but mine come out perfect. I get them down to less than .25 ounce and you cannot feel any vibration.
A road force balancer might find an out of round problem easier, but you can see those when you spin the wheel - Personally I think that's technology (and a whole lot of expense) that is unnecessary.
One thing I've caught more than one tire shop doing is leaving their machine on static balance only. That makes the balance job very quick, but will leave slight dynamic vibrations that you can feel - worse is that they will come and go as the dynamic imbalances "line up" across multiple wheels on the car while you are driving. They also will wear your bearings and joints faster.
I agree with the response that says it's totally up to the skill of the operator and has almost nothing to do with the machine. If it's a computer balancer that's been made in the last 25 years, it can balance your tires well enough that you won't feel them at all.
There are three inputs that the machine needs to be able to calculate the required weight correctly - the diameter of the rim (the diameter the weights will be mounted); the width of the rim (distance between inside and outside weights); and the distance from a reference point to the inside weight.
Whether the machine has digital inputs or dials, measures automatically or manually and whether the wheel spins automatically or manually are all irrelevant, and just make the machine more or less convenient to use.
Those three numbers must get into the machine correctly or the weight calculation will be incorrect - plus the machine must be calibrated properly, but it's not necessary to calibrate every day.
It still takes me a few minutes to get a tire right - more than I've ever seen anybody in a shop spend on a tire, but mine come out perfect. I get them down to less than .25 ounce and you cannot feel any vibration.
A road force balancer might find an out of round problem easier, but you can see those when you spin the wheel - Personally I think that's technology (and a whole lot of expense) that is unnecessary.
One thing I've caught more than one tire shop doing is leaving their machine on static balance only. That makes the balance job very quick, but will leave slight dynamic vibrations that you can feel - worse is that they will come and go as the dynamic imbalances "line up" across multiple wheels on the car while you are driving. They also will wear your bearings and joints faster.