Wheel Balancing Problems?
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 253
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Wheel Balancing Problems?
There were a few good posts about wheel balancing a while back. I thought I might add something here that my previous owner shared about the subject...
He had the wheelsbalanced and they still weren't 'right'. He took it back and they re-did them. But before they took the wheel off the balancing machine he asked them to rotate it 180 degrees. They did and guess what? It was out of balance.
Turns out that the center hole of the rim isn't always the 'center of the rim'. There's an adapter plate they can use that has the '5 lug nuts layout' on it. That'll truely balance the wheel.
Believe it or not, I took my '99 Grand Prix to Discount Tire (Naperville, IL) to have all 4 wheels balanced: $25 - not bad at all. I asked about the Vette and he said it's a little harder: $35. Go for it....
You should have seen what they had to do for $35!!! 4 floor jacks (too low to the ground to try to drive onto the lift. They popped open the hood and the hatch to prevent cracking. The supervisor re-checked the torque after the guy was done. Very professional.
What a difference in the handling of the vehicle. The steering wheel doesn't shake out of my hand at 65+ mph anymore.
Now I'll do the shocks and I won't know this car anymore, it'll feel so good!!
Hope this helps out anyone that has had problems with wheel balancing...
He had the wheelsbalanced and they still weren't 'right'. He took it back and they re-did them. But before they took the wheel off the balancing machine he asked them to rotate it 180 degrees. They did and guess what? It was out of balance.
Turns out that the center hole of the rim isn't always the 'center of the rim'. There's an adapter plate they can use that has the '5 lug nuts layout' on it. That'll truely balance the wheel.
Believe it or not, I took my '99 Grand Prix to Discount Tire (Naperville, IL) to have all 4 wheels balanced: $25 - not bad at all. I asked about the Vette and he said it's a little harder: $35. Go for it....
You should have seen what they had to do for $35!!! 4 floor jacks (too low to the ground to try to drive onto the lift. They popped open the hood and the hatch to prevent cracking. The supervisor re-checked the torque after the guy was done. Very professional.
What a difference in the handling of the vehicle. The steering wheel doesn't shake out of my hand at 65+ mph anymore.
Now I'll do the shocks and I won't know this car anymore, it'll feel so good!!
Hope this helps out anyone that has had problems with wheel balancing...
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 14,130
Likes: 7
Cruise-In II Veteran
Re: Wheel Balancing Problems? (86VetteBill)
Thats a great heads up there you posted.Have to say very FEW people will KNOW what to do and the attempts to correct wheel balancing problems.
I had a vibe at 55 and more...a Corvette shop I took the car to did the same things you described.They found the right front wheel didnt want tobalance all the way very well.They decided to rotate the tire 180 on the rim and BINGO! It was fixed.They also did center balance where they stick the weights on inside the middle of the rim instead of outside like most places do.
Was very happy with that set up.
Its also really important that they clean the rims good inside.Mine had a bit of grease and gunk dried up on there and they scraped it all out and washed it off before doing balancing.With almost 10inch wide wheels,they gotta be spotless to ensure proper balancing.Lotsa grime can sit on the rims in there.
:)
I had a vibe at 55 and more...a Corvette shop I took the car to did the same things you described.They found the right front wheel didnt want tobalance all the way very well.They decided to rotate the tire 180 on the rim and BINGO! It was fixed.They also did center balance where they stick the weights on inside the middle of the rim instead of outside like most places do.
Was very happy with that set up.
Its also really important that they clean the rims good inside.Mine had a bit of grease and gunk dried up on there and they scraped it all out and washed it off before doing balancing.With almost 10inch wide wheels,they gotta be spotless to ensure proper balancing.Lotsa grime can sit on the rims in there.
:)
