At home wheel balancing

"dsi1" > wrote in message
...
>
> I had some new tires put on my car and was surprised at how many weights
> they added. My thinking is that if it needed so many weights, they should
> have dismounted the tire and put it back on 180 degrees rotated. Does this
> make any sense?

It can become complicated. Spending some time with a wheel and tire on the
balance machine may solve some problems. It is not just the static balance
that influences ride. There are other factors.

"dsi1" > wrote in message
...
> On 7/30/2012 9:47 AM, Steve W. wrote:
>> wrote:
>>> On Monday, July 30, 2012 9:52:15 AM UTC-5, Steve W. wrote:
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Is there a way to balance wheels at home without a computer
>>>>> baalancer? I have seen at harbor freight kits designed for
>>>>> motorcycle tires, bubble balancers and the like. I have heard
>>>>> bubble balancers are not acurate.
>>>>
>>>> They are as accurate as the operator makes them. The computer units
>>>>
>>>> simply take less skill and time.
>>>>
>>>> I read that the bubble balancer only gives "static" balance, not
>>>> "dynamic" balance"???? I got on you tube last night, someone said
>>>> they balanced with a bubble balancer then a computer balancer and
>>>> the computer said it was off. I have no idea if these things are
>>>> true or not. I wanted to ask you guys here.
>>>
>>> DOes anyone balance their daily driver strictly with a bubble
>>> balancer?
>>
>> I know a lot of folks who do. I do if I don't feel like messing with the
>> machine. Never had a problem.
>> I have even balanced them with the bubble then tossed them on the
>> machine to see how close they were. Only had one that was off and was
>> corrected by simply sliding the weight by 1/4" .
>
> I had some new tires put on my car and was surprised at how many weights
> they added. My thinking is that if it needed so many weights, they should
> have dismounted the tire and put it back on 180 degrees rotated. Does this
> make any sense?

See these pages:

Why are there all these strange dots on my tires?
http://www.bridgestonetrucktires.com...ue2/Doctor.asp

Why do the dots go where they go?
http://www.bridgestonetrucktires.com...0ask%20doc.pdf

> wrote:
> Is there a way to balance wheels at home without a computer baalancer? I
> have seen at harbor freight kits designed for motorcycle tires, bubble
> balancers and the like. I have heard bubble balancers are not acurate.
>
> Does anyone have any idea on "good" redneck ways to do this? I dont live
> near a shop. (Amish country).
>
> I have also heard of people putting some sort of rubber toy pellets
> inside a tire. Supposedly as the tire spins these pellets locate
> themselves at the appropriate places centrifically to balance the tire. I
> assume this is similar to the liquid tire balancer you can purchase for large trucks.
>
> I appreciate any advice.

I did it once. Had my tires balanced at station. Drove it, didn't like it.
Took car back had it redone. Still didn't like it. Did it crudely with some
kind of ball. I was satisfied then. Must have been some kind of machine
problem.

Greg

On 07/30/2012 05:35 AM, wrote:
> Is there a way to balance wheels at home without a computer
> baalancer? I have seen at harbor freight kits designed for motorcycle
> tires, bubble balancers and the like. I have heard bubble balancers
> are not acurate.
>
> Does anyone have any idea on "good" redneck ways to do this? I dont
> live near a shop. (Amish country).
>
> I have also heard of people putting some sort of rubber toy pellets
> inside a tire. Supposedly as the tire spins these pellets locate
> themselves at the appropriate places centrifically to balance the
> tire. I assume this is similar to the liquid tire balancer you can
> purchase for large trucks.
>
> I appreciate any advice.

sometimes if you have a wheel that will rotate under its own weight, you
can balance on the car, much like you can balance a bike wheel.

but the bottom line is that it's not a dynamic balance. you need a
machine that spins the wheel for that, and your best option /is/ to go
to a shop with the right equipment.


--
fact check required

I remember some shops had a machine which had an electric motor which spun a roller. The shop guy would jack up a wheel and push the machine against the tire and flip a switch to get the wheel spinning fast. Then he would turn off the machine, when the wheel stopped spinning he would put the weight(s) on the wheel.There are some people who collect old service station equipment. Some of those people might have one of those machines.

www.glenngoodspeed.com/volvo Click on where it says steering, suspension, tires and then click on where it says tire truing and balancing.

Take them to a shop and have them balanced the right way!

"no way" > wrote in message
...
> Take them to a shop and have them balanced the right way!

If the OP doesn't race or regularly well exceed the speed limit
on American roads for prolonged periods, then neither he, nor
his tires, will ever require, nor display evidence of not, having
had a dynamic balance performed on a tire/wheel assembly
that is otherwise within specifications (neither bent nor having
excessive lateral or radial runout). The static method earlier
suggested and described, and precisely accordant with his
originally outlined intent, will prove to be more than adequate.

"Heron" > wrote in message
...
> "no way" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Take them to a shop and have them balanced the right way!
>
> If the OP doesn't race or regularly well exceed the speed limit
> on American roads for prolonged periods, then neither he, nor
> his tires, will ever require, nor display evidence of not, having
> had a dynamic balance performed on a tire/wheel assembly
> that is otherwise within specifications (neither bent nor having
> excessive lateral or radial runout). The static method earlier
> suggested and described, and precisely accordant with his
> originally outlined intent, will prove to be more than adequate.
I agree, with stipulations. A bubble balance is strictly static
balance, and will give good results in lots of cases, but if you
still have vibration or shimmy, you will have to go further....
damaged belts, tread, bubbles on the tires, ad nauseum.

"hls" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Heron" > wrote in message
> ...
>> "no way" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> Take them to a shop and have them balanced the right way!
>>
>> If the OP doesn't race or regularly well exceed the speed limit
>> on American roads for prolonged periods, then neither he, nor
>> his tires, will ever require, nor display evidence of not, having
>> had a dynamic balance performed on a tire/wheel assembly
>> that is otherwise within specifications (neither bent nor having
>> excessive lateral or radial runout). The static method earlier
>> suggested and described, and precisely accordant with his
>> originally outlined intent, will prove to be more than adequate.
> I agree, with stipulations. A bubble balance is strictly static
> balance, and will give good results in lots of cases, but if you
> still have vibration or shimmy, you will have to go further....
> damaged belts, tread, bubbles on the tires, ad nauseum.

Should it not have been clear, I wasn't referring to a bubble
balance but, instead, my earlier post in this thread, namely:
https://groups.google.com/forum/?fro...ch/WWfIgRHXbZM

While this approach might appear to be a crude method to
the uninitiated, I can assure that it is in fact a valid technique,
my first exposure coming from my watchmaker father while
demonstrating the poising of a balance wheel, depicted here,
http://watchmakingblog.com/2008/06/0...s-posing-tool/
which he would then later verify the balance wheel setup
results from with the graph produced by this timing machine
http://myplace.frontier.com/~dritland/watchmaster/
during my early youth. As earlier stated, I would however
concur with the recommendation to perform a dynamic
precision balance for racing and more high speed applicatiions.