[1funride]

The old timer doing a static optimization of the tire to the rim was fantastic years ago when all balance was done statically. Nowadays the spin balancer has a feature called optimization, it is used to minimize the amount of weight added for balance, same as the old timer did. The difference is the spin balance is taking into account two planes, the static (radial) and dynamic (lateral) planes. If the dynamic imbalance exceeds the static imbalance then, the best position of the tire isn't necessarily based on the heaviest tire "radial" position placed on the lightest rim "radial" position. This is why the technician installing tires said he doesn't pay attention to the yellow weight marking and he found it didn't matter all the time where he placed it. This is because the tire likely has a larger side to side imbalance or radial run out. I just bought a set of tires that had both the yellow (least weight) and red (maximum radial force and runout) marked on the tire.

[78w72]

Originally Posted by 1funride

The old timer doing a static optimization of the tire to the rim was fantastic years ago when all balance was done statically. Nowadays the spin balancer has a feature called optimization, it is used to minimize the amount of weight added for balance, same as the old timer did. The difference is the spin balance is taking into account two planes, the static (radial) and dynamic (lateral) planes. If the dynamic imbalance exceeds the static imbalance then, the best position of the tire isn't necessarily based on the heaviest tire "radial" position placed on the lightest rim "radial" position. This is why the technician installing tires said he doesn't pay attention to the yellow weight marking and he found it didn't matter all the time where he placed it. This is because the tire likely has a larger side to side imbalance or radial run out. I just bought a set of tires that had both the yellow (least weight) and red (maximum radial force and runout) marked on the tire.

good info. i didnt know what the colored marks meant.

[1968GTO421]

^ X2

[Formulajones]

Yep they still mark the tires on most brands.

I've always lined up the dots but I find it doesn't always work. When I have a tire that takes what I feel is too much weight, I just simply break the bead and rotate the tire 180, reseat the bead and balance again. This usually works. Another reason to have your own setup if you're picky like that, because the local tire shops won't take the time.

[Schurkey]

A kid's tricycle wheel is static-balanced. The pedal on one side is counter-balanced by the pedal on the other side.

Ever pushed a tricycle fast? The steering shakes like a dog sh!tting razor blades. That's the effect of static balance vs. rocking-couple (dynamic) balance. You go 100+ mph? Fine. The tire is spinning too fast for maximum vehicle vibration. It might be worse at 60--80 mph. I've got a Trailblazer that shakes at 68--75 mph--one time it was a bad U-joint. Next time it was tires. Same symptom, same speed, different cause. If the vibration of the wheel doesn't excite a sympathetic vibration (resonance) in the body of the vehicle, you may never know the tires are out-of-balance unless you examine the tire carefully.

You can wear tires from imbalance and not shake the car noticeably. The rubber suspension bushings, and rubber frame-to-body mounts soak up a lot of harshness, as do the fairly-flexible frames.

But you guys know what you know, and don't let me change your minds. Just don't expect me to believe that static balance is as good as dynamic balance.

I would no more pay for static balance, or buy a bubble balance machine than jump over the moon. I worked with a piece-of-crap 1940's on-the-car static-balance machine, trolley with a motor to spin the wheel, then put my lips to the fender to feel for vibration, and spin the little wheels on the rotating part of the machine to reduce the vibration. When the wheel stops spinning, the rotating part of the machine gave you the location and amount of weight needed. It balanced everything that spun--brake drum and all.

I gladly dropped that thing like a broken rubber when the shop owner bought a "real" spin balancer. I've dynamically balanced hundreds (thousands, maybe) of tires. I adjusted the machine to measure more finely than standard. Whether that made any difference on a grocery-getter, I don't know. Made me feel better, though. Half the time, a hundred times safer, and BETTER BALANCE of the tire/wheel. That doesn't help if the brake drum is out-of-balance, though. Sometimes you have to buy a replacement drum or rotor.

I've got an eBay search for a tire-mounting machine and a spin balancer, but all I see advertised so far has been a thousand miles away, or it looks like broken-down junk with missing parts.

Of course, I'm limited by not having 3-phase electricity. Lots of shop equipment is 3-phase. The power company quoted me $20K to upgrade my property with 3-phase. I declined.

[Chief of the 60's]

Dear god

[dataway]

While I believe that dynamic balance is certainly better ... it did not exist for decades when people were going 100+ mph without problems.

At some point better becomes a questions of degrees .. yes it's better, but is it necessary?

I have the equipment to balance the three blades on my mower deck to within 1 gram ... first bit of rock it hits and it's all moot. Balance your tires perfectly and drive 100 miles ..and all that perfection is gone. Probably worth it on exotic sports cars that see 100+ mph on a daily basis, on a street driven 50 year old car .... not so much. Yes, if you drive a few hundred miles a week at 80 mph on the highway, and your drums and drive train are perfectly balanced, you might reap the rewards of 10% less vibration at the steering wheel.
If you drive your 50 year old car like most of us do .... center the bubble.

Yes it's better .... but is it necessary ... no.

[1funride]

For those that followed this to actually try and gain some insight on wheel balancer purchase information, I purchased the Weaver 937-40. This unit is $999.00 total shipped to your house with tailgate service. You will need the tailgate service unless you have a means for unloading 360+ pounds, it is built very solid. I went with this unit for the reliability, couldn't find anything negative on it, parts are available and in stock , they have been selling this unit for many years. It has all the important features static, dynamic, ALU 1-3, and comes with the bigger truck cone as well. It will balance 95% of the tires typically encountered as purchased. Plugged it in and ran some tests, it worked really well. I have a bubble balancer for sale, works great especially for old muscle cars that the owners dont go over 30mph or like a little vib with there rock and roll cam.