Wheel Balance

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Aug 23, 2002 | 08:00 PM

Argetni

Thread Starter

Instructor

Joined: May 2002

Posts: 227

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From: NJ

Wheel Balance

I have had a vibration in the steering wheel at 67mph+ since I got the z06 three months ago.

I have tried 3 dealers and a tire shop try to correct it.

They claim that the balance is perfect, and this has been confirmed on the Hunter GSP9700 at all three locations.

I am starting to think it must be a problem with one of the front tires...

I noticed at each different shop, they never removed all of weights on the wheel (outside hammer on, inside stickies, inner lip hammer on) they just added more weight too it.

I would think the correct way is too remove all the weight s and start over fresh.

opinions?

[Modified by Argetni, 7:00 PM 8/23/2002]

Aug 23, 2002 | 08:21 PM

carpe dm

Le Mans Master

Joined: Oct 1999

Posts: 8,205

Likes: 40

From: Tucson AZ

Re: Wheel Balance (Argetni)

I agree with the weight removal. They took the "easy" way out. You could have a bad wheel bearing, or alignment problem causing your shimmy..... Good luck. :)

Aug 24, 2002 | 12:36 AM

redriverjohn

Pro

Joined: Sep 2000

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Re: Wheel Balance (Argetni)

All of the weight should be removed before the wheels are re-balanced. It would probably be a good idea to have them do some tire rim matching before the wheels are balanced. The high spot on each tire shold be aligned to the lowest spot on the rim to eliminate "runout and radial force eccentricity." Unmatched tires and wheels can, and DO, cause disturbance in ride characteristics, (vibration) even when the wheels show a perfect dynamic balance.

[Modified by redriverjohn, 10:36 PM 8/23/2002]

Aug 24, 2002 | 12:51 AM

RGAZ

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Joined: Feb 2002

Posts: 64

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From: sedona az

Re: Wheel Balance (Argetni)

To properly balance the wheel all weights need to be removed. The wheel needs to be cleaned and all rocks pulled from the tire. The balancer needs to be cal'd, usually with a 14" steel wheel with no tire on it. as specified by the manufacturer. In the balancer calibration set up procedeure, the accuracy needs to be set at 1 gram. Typically in a high volume shop the accuracy is set much higher, say 10 g or so to increase the throughput rate at which they balance wheels. So when they balance the wheel and it reads 0 it actually could be off significantly. Also when the wheel is spinning, examine the wheel in the x & y planes, are both wheels true or is one bent ? Is the tire out of round ? If the tire is out of round, they can perform a procedure called match mount. This process will identify the spot on the wheel and the corresponding spot on the tire to line up and provide the best or minimum out of round. If all of this fails, find someone that has a on the car strobe balancer, like a hoffman. I use the bendpak ranger 1500 as i got sick of dealing with issues like you are experiencing
Good luck, RG Sedona AZ :)

Aug 24, 2002 | 02:36 AM

KonaVette

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Joined: May 2002

Posts: 6,170

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From: Kona Hawaii

St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05

Re: Wheel Balance (Argetni)

Had the same problem...above 125 then worse above 140. Had the tires balanced........6 oz of weights on one tire 5 1/2 oz on the other front tire. Took all the weights off......I needed 1/2 oz on one and 1/4 on the other. The moron did this before I bought the car also stripped the wheel locks. New wheel locks and balance the back for the fun of it on Monday.
Good luck to you. :cheers: :cheers: :seeya

Aug 24, 2002 | 03:00 AM

JTE

Melting Slicks

Joined: Feb 2002

Posts: 3,179

Likes: 13

From: Coal Valley IL

CI 4-7, 9 & 10 Veteran

Re: Wheel Balance (Argetni)

Absolutely all weights must be removed. Then, the static weight balance must be added to the inside rim edge. Then, spin and add the dynamic outer edge weight(s).

Were the wheels dynamically balanced? The static wheel balance alone will not cut it.

Aug 24, 2002 | 03:04 AM

JTE

Melting Slicks

Joined: Feb 2002

Posts: 3,179

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From: Coal Valley IL

CI 4-7, 9 & 10 Veteran

Re: Wheel Balance (JTE)

Also, make sure the operator is putting in the correct wheel width and diameter. When the operator was balancing my y2k chromies this week, I caught him putting in 18x10 on a rear wheel. I immediately corrected him that they are 9.5" wide not 10".

Aug 24, 2002 | 11:02 AM

RGAZ

Advanced

Joined: Feb 2002

Posts: 64

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From: sedona az

Re: Wheel Balance (JTE)

As many of you have indicated there are numerous other variables. During the machine set up the following data will need to be inputted, wheel diameter, wheel width, also the distance from the machine to the wheel edge, usually measured with a sliding bar tied to a pot inside the machine in a semi automatic way. Additionally, measure the actual wheel width with a set of wheel calipers to assure accuracy. Many techs do not set up the machine properly! Also as has been pointed out the machine needs to be set up for dynamic balance. There are numerous dynamic balance modes, you want dynamic, split weight, with both weights inside the wheel so no weight on the outside. If wheel to caliper clearance is an issue, you will want to use low profile racing tape on weights, They are 1/2 the height of standard tape ons. You can buy a box of the low profile racing tape on weights fm JC whitney for about $20 as most tire shops do not have these.Hope this all helps. B. Rgds RG Sedona AZ :)

[Modified by ralphgranchelli, 3:05 PM 8/24/2002]

[Modified by ralphgranchelli, 3:06 PM 8/24/2002]

[Modified by ralphgranchelli, 3:07 PM 8/24/2002]