• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

Tyre Balancing

Share this page

Geo Hahn

Geo Hahn

Yoda
Country flag
Offline
I have a set of tires (disc wheels) that seem to balance okay on the shop's equipment but not so well at 60 mph. I do not think it is the car because a different set of tires (wire wheels) on the same car do not exhibit any vibration.

I saw in the recently posted collection of Serivce Bulletins that this was a common problem 40 years ago -- i.e. tires wherein the balance changed under load & speed.

Here then the questions:

1. Anyone ever used one of those compounds that go in the tire and magically balance it as you drive? This stuff almost pegs my internal BS meter but thought I'd ask:

https://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200338053_200338053

2. Anyone used one of these (or similar) balacning gadgets?

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PORTABLE-...0218471139&

Yes, I know it not a dynamic balance but when the shop balanced my wire wheels the weights are all stick-ons on the center line, no side-to-side weight differences.

Thanks for any advice.
 
Geo Hahn said:
2. Anyone used one of these (or similar) balacning gadgets?

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PORTABLE-...0218471139&
Click to expand...
I have, and use, one very similar to that. Only mine has had the base replaced with a larger board, with bolts & a level attached so the base can be leveled first. Works pretty good, with one major caveat : the hole in the center of the wheel must be in good condition (and concentric to the lug holes for most cars). Don't know how important levelling the base is, it came to me already modified.

Friend of mine who ran a tire shop for many years once proved to me that he could do a better job with a bubble balancer, than another shop could do with dynamic balancing. He totally cured the serious balance problem on my motorhome, by bubble balancing both front tires. But, his bubble balancer actually mounted the wheel by the lug holes !
 
I've come to believe that some of those machines may need calibrating or whatever they do to keep them accurate.
I put new tires from TireRack and had them balanced at a small shop, 6-8 months ago. I felt that they could have been balanced a little better, but only felt the vibes at a certain speed so I just lived with it until this morning.
I brought the wheels to Walmart, paid $5.00 each to get them balanced, brought them home and put them on the Triumph right where they came from, took a test drive down a familar road, and came back with a grin.
Might be worth trying a different place.
 
i've had someone tell me to find a shop that would turn your rotors and balance your wheels while they were on the car. as a matter of fact, i believe this was an article that i found through this web site about it. but i can't remember. but it said that the hub assy. needs balancing too, so that some shops could balance them both together, so it would be flawless. i havn't found a shop like this though
 
All modern cars have wheels that can be balanced on any of the new balancing machines. But the steel wheels for, at least the sidescreen TRs, have to be balanced with an adapter that secures the wheel to the adapter by the four bolt holes. Then the adapter is put into the balance machine and the wheel with the tire gets balanced.

The reason is that all new wheels have a pure circle which is truly central and all the tire technician has to do is use a cone to centralise the wheel. But if you look closely at a steel wheel from our early TRs, the hole is not a pure circle and may not be concentric with the bolt hole circle.

If you are getting your wheels balanced using a cone with our non-circular center hole - they are not getting balanced.
 
I think what Don is saying that the TR wheels are lug centric while other vehicles are hub centric. Try to find a tire place that uses a Haweka adapter or a Hunter Roadforce balancing machine for the TR tires and rims.

https://www.gsp9700.com/
https://www.haweka-usa.com/
 
I have the same problem with my TR6. I had the tires balanced twice(on different machines)and still have the same problem. The guy who did them the 2nd time told me that the wheels were not true (warped). The car is not back together yet, but when it is I will be looking for some new or good used wheels.

Pete
 
Go to this web site and ask Allen or Jerry your question. Their in Greensboro, NC. They not only true and balance wheels, they shave the tires to true them also. A lot of racers take their wheels and tires to them. I took my new "B" wheels to them and it made a big difference in the ride and handling.

https://www.hendrixwirewheel.com/
Hendrix Wire Wheel
 
There are cars still being made with lug centric wheels. There should not be any problem balancing them. Some cars are more prone to balance problems then others. The early Miatas are very sensitive to balance problems in the rear...the infamous 65 mph shimmy. People bring the wheel/tires all over the place, and they still can't get them right. It's because either their equipment is not sensitive enough or the tech won't take the time to balance down to grams.

Find a shop that has a Hunter 9700 and they should be able to balance the tires.
 
Geo: Find a shop with the GSP9700 unit as suggested by humanoid. These machines apply a load to the tire during the balancing process which better simulates the actual conditions on the road.
 
I've never run the balancing powders or equivalent myself. Though I've a number of friends that do use it on motorcycles and 4x4 trucks. All swear by it. I've just never gotten around to trying it myself.
 
I took my steel rims from the 4A to an shop that had a large lathe and had the rims "spun + trued" NOT inexpensive but they are now perfect and can be easily balanced.

That said, when I was a kid I worked at a local esso gas station that had a balancing system that spun the tires while the vehicle was on a (low) hoist with a sensor that trammed to the A frame. Now that baby could balance accurately
 
I remember those. It's been at least 30 years since I've seen one. Seems like it took into account everything that spinned.
 
Back
Top