I just had new Mpchelin tires installed on my 2001. After they asked me I agreed to have the weights installed inside the wheels instead of on the edge of the wheels.
I have never had this done before. These weights are stuck to the wheel with some sort of adhesive. How do they remove these weights at a later date to rebalance the tires? Do they leave marks on the chrome wheels after they are removed? Did I make a mistake having this done?

 

Thats all I use, I would never put weights on the outside, That is old school, Never had an issue, They are stuck on with double sided tape, Simple to remove. The tape on one do less damage than the one on the outside lip.
Mr.Bill

 

That is how they should be, so you do not see the weight. More important is that they used a high speed balance machine as it really makes a big difference when done correctly. Sounds like they knew what they were doing.

 

The important thing is how good they cleaned the surface of the wheel before sticking them on. Stick ons are great, but they often fall off due to poor installations.

 

yep.. this happens more often then i think they would like...

 

If you ever have to have them removed, you can usually just clamp on a pair of pliers and pull them off - then if there is some adhesive left, WD-40 will help take it off. I've never had it leave any marks on the chrome. And no, you didn't make a mistake.

 

Leave em the outside.

 

Bad advice. Use the stick on on the inside, you'll be glad you did for lots of reasons.

 

Why would you want to leave them on the outside? Talk about old school, I have been having my weights put on the inside for years without any issues at all, All shops that are up to date will have the stick on weights, I have never lost one, If you are still using a shop that uses weights on the outside you need to find a new tire shop. The old school way of doing it was barbaric, To hammer a weight on the outside of the rim will scratch it, That is why they don't do it that way any longer.
Mr.Bill

 

They did it the way you would want them to do it.

 

The hammer on type ruins the finish of the wheel, (dirt gets between the weight and rim and rubs the finish of like sand paper.) not to mention they look bad. As far as the stick ons coming off, very unlikely even on my off-road Jeep rims that are subjected to worse conditions than a Corvette will ever see I've never had one come off. (I recorded where they were and how many ounces, just to be sure) I did have the hammer on type come off and move to new locations on my old steel Jeep rims though.

 

While I can concur with most consences, there are times the weight may have to go on the outside rim. If you want super smooth ride with no vibration (tire), use the Road force Hunter balance machine. It will tell you if the weight should go on the outside. Most good shops will then place the stick on on the inside part of the wheel as close to the spoke as possible. I learned after repeated attempts to stop a rythmic harmonic vibration, the weight will sometimes HAVE to go on the outside rim. If you experience the rythmic form of wheel vibration, that is your answer to a silk smooth ride. The choice is yours. I've never had the weight fly off, even up to 150 mph (on the road track of course). Happy smooth riding.

 

When I have my wheels balanced with the stick on weights I draw an outline around them with a permenant marker in case they do come off I will know were they go and how many. A local tire shop gave me a dozen or so but I have seen them for sale at some auto parts stores.

 

And if you end up with more than, lets say, a 3 oz strip of weight you should probably have the installer rotate the tire on the rim. I've had installers thinK 8 oz of weight in one place was fine. At that point the heavy side of the rim and the tire are near or at the same side.

Ever notice the dot's (red / yellow) on new car tires? Went digging and came up with the following:

To facilitate proper balancing, Most tire manufacturers place red and yellow marks on the sidewalls of its tires to enable the best possible match-mounting of the tire/wheel assembly. There are two methods of match-mounting tires to wheel assemblies using these red or yellow marks:

Uniformity (red mark)

Sorry, probably more than you wanted to know, but it's always bugged me having a big gob of weights on one side.

Weight (yellow mark)
Warning:
Improper mounting, underinflation, overloading or tire damage may result in tire failure, which may lead to serious injury. Tire and rim sizes must correspond for proper fit and application. Never exceed 40 psi to seat beads.

Uniformity Method
When performing uniformity match-mounting, the red mark on the tire, indicating the point of maximum radial force variation, should be aligned with the wheel assembly's point of minimum radial run-out, which is generally indicated by a colored dot or a notch somewhere on the wheel assembly (consult manufacturer for details). Radial force variation is the fluctuation in the force that appears in the rotating axis of a tire when a specific load is applied and the tire rotated at a specific speed. It is necessary to minimize radial force variation to ensure trouble-free installation and operation. Not all wheel assemblies indicate the point of minimum radial run-out, rendering uniformity match-mounting sometimes impossible. If the point of minimum radial run-out is not indicated on a wheel assembly, the weight method of match-mounting should be used instead.

Weight Method
When performing weight match-mounting, the yellow mark on the tire, indicating the point of lightest weight, should be aligned with the valve stem on the wheel assembly, which represents the heaviest weight point of the wheel assembly. After match-mounting by either of the above methods, the tire/wheel assembly can be balanced.

another reference: http://www.tireteam.com/blog/what-ar...s-on-my-tires/

 

Good to know

 

I did not know that. Good info. Thx.

 

I will have the weights moved to the outside of my HRE.'s in the morning!

 

ETD did that on my 02 vert and they put them right under brake caliper.....looked like you couldn't fit a pube in between them and I was afraid if something wedged there it would gouge the wheel.....like what happened to me with a beach pebble ! So I had them remove and put the old schools on.It cost me enough to have the wheel fixed and polished with that pebble.

 

Thank you guys for all the good info. I never gave tire balancing that much thought. There is a lot to think about here. There sure is a lot of good info on this site.