Tire Balancing

Mike G

Mike G
Top Contributor
Messages
269
Reaction score
1,041
Points
143
Location
Cleveland, OH
I've seen a number of different ways that members here balance their tires so I thought I would share mine. The type of balance "stand" was talked about on the BMWMOA forums years ago and seemed like a good idea so I made a set. The main advantage being that they are small, easily portable and flexible enough to be setup almost anywhere. That said,I have never taken them with me or had a need to take them anywhere and probably never will. It would be quicker to setup if I had made them to fit on top of a couple of jackstands. I threaten to modify them to do that every once in a while, and if I used them once a month I probably would but I don't so I just keep using them the way they are. The bearings are 1' O.D. and they are mounted to a piece of 1/8" thick aluminum, both from McMaster.



They are suspended from just about anything horizontal and reasonably strong, you could even use a tree branch on the side of the road to do an emergency tire balance.(could happen???)



I like the stick-on wheel weights from NAPA. Depending on the wheel they can either be cut off and pushed down firmly (if the surface is slightly curved) or formed around the OD of the appropriate socket (for more curved surfaces) like I did for the shouldered rims on the TX.



Just thought I'd throw it out there since I was balancing the tires on The Parts Bike today.
 
I'm a cheap S.O.B., lol, so I cast my own spoke wheel weights .....

Mold-Top.jpg



Mold-Inside.jpg


Mold-Ready.jpg


Mold-Filled.jpg


Cast1.jpg


Installed.jpg
 
And easy to make too. After bolting and clamping the plates together, I simply drilled through with a small bit that fit the spoke, then a larger bit to form the weight mold. The resulting weight shape is nothing more than what the drill bit and it's angled end provided.

I find these wheels usually need about an ounce of weight added, give or take a little, to be balanced. My weight size worked out perfectly, falling between about 18 to 22 grams, depending how much I filled the mold. One or two weights usually do the trick.
 
@Mike G sorry to bring back an old thread but the bearings you use to make your balancer brackets, are would 6id x22od x6 work?
 
The bearings I used were 1 inch od but nothing is critical so those should work fine you would just have slightly different spacing on the bolt holes.
 
Depending on the bearings you get you may need to pop the rubber seals off and clean the heavy grease out and lightly lube with light oil. Otherwise the bearing drag will make it less sensitive.
 
Back
Top