Chrome Wheel Balancing Question

[03 Red Cobra]

The other day I had the chrome wheels installed and they put the balance weights on the inside like I asked. I noticed that they used a combination of clamp on weights along with the stick on weights on each wheel. The stick on weights were close to the spoke area and the clamp on weights were on the edge of the rim. The balance was done on a Hunter 9700 machine. Did anyone else notice that their wheels also have both types of weights used on the same wheel or is this balance job questionable? The dealer already has to order me a new chrome wheel and an original stock wheel since they damaged each in the changeover.

 

[kpinco]

Sonic Blue: I have aftermarker wheels on my Cobra and have had them balanced about 7 times. Long story, ended up have bad tires and had to replace all 4. Discount Tires balanced them and used both the Hunter 9700 machine and the regular balance machine. The only weight they used were the stick on. I have them on the inside very close to the spoke and the outside edge. In my opinion, have them use only the stick on weights.

 

[acatalon]

The stick on weighs are good for appearance of wheel, also saves on plating being chipped by clamp on weights. Mine were improperly balanced by a tech and when the sticky weights were removed there was some residual glue left on wheel. I tried to remove but found out quickly that I was also removing the paint that has been applied to the inside of wheel. On my next set of tires I will consider removing the paint completely, but for now the paint camoflages the brake pad dust. BTW in an effort to avoid having some one who doesn't do alot of work with wheeels balance my wheels I opted to take the job to a trusted tire retailer. I also ordered my wheels through a Lincoln Dealer which was close to my home, they had no problem accomodating me.

 

[sambandit]

The stick on weights are great for looks, but you will never, ever get those tires balanced perfectly. I've had several nice sets of wheels on various cars with the stick on weights and it's always a little bumpy. It's worth it for asthetic reasons though.

 

[Dana]

A little tip I learned about stick on weights:
Put a VERY THIN layer of silicone around the perimeter of the weight. This will seal the adhesive area and hopefully prevent the weight from loosening up prematurely. Keep the wheels dry until the silicone hardens.

Dana

 

[hwystr]

Shouldn't matter if the weights or stick on or hammered on from a balance standpoint. You'll need weights on both the inside rim and outside rim to "dynamically" ballance the tires in 2 planes. If they are only putting weights on one side - they are only ballancing the tire in one plane. They should be able to reduce imballance down to <5g with weights in 10g increments - more than good enough.

I believe the Hunter 9700 can also measure 1st radial harmonic (R1H) of the tire/wheel assembly. If the car still shakes with ballanced tires, check the 1st radial harmonic, should be <20lbs, if its not you may be able to rotate the tire relative to the wheel to find the sweet spot (lowest R1H). That is assuming the factory wheels are offset bored (typially ~0.1mm towards the valve stem). You'll want line up the valve stem to the highest R1H spot on the tire. If they aren't offset bored you have very limited ability to "match mount" and need to get new tires with low R1H (hit & miss).

Typical tire shops don't check R1H or do "match mounting", you'll need to ask and have them convince you they know how to.

 

[03 Red Cobra]

I spoke with the service manager yesterday and he said when the replacement chrome wheel comes in, he will have a tech. who knows how to use the Hunter 9700 do the balance and will also check the other 3 wheels to make sure they were done properly.