Wheel Balancing - Who Knew How Little It Matters

E-Type
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I recently built myself an electronic wheel balancer. In the process, I spent countless hours testing, balancing, driving, and re-testing a pile of wheels and tires. To say it was an educational process would be an understatement. But here is what I have concluded:

First, Rudge-Whitworth wheels do a pretty crappy job of centering the wheel on the hub. The “cones” on Rudge-Whitworth wheels are ANYTHING but conical, and the final wheel positioning is essentially random,

The biggest take-away was finally having the means to prove something I’ve suspected for a long time. Namely, that balancing, at least on these cars, is INCREDIBLY non-critical. I’m sure we’re all used to watching modern high-speed wheel balancers come up with weight recommendations down to 1/4 oz. HA! 1/4 oz. is NOISE. Virtually meaningless in terms of measurability, and completely meaningless in terms of “ride quality”.

To prove this point, I balanced all four wheels on my car using my balancer. I then went for a drive, and found it is as smooth as it has ever been (and a lot smoother than I have ever been able to get it before with the current tires). I then added a one ounce weight to the left front wheel, and again went for a drive. NOTHING! Absolutely no detectable vibration whatsoever, at any speed. So I added another one ounce weight, right next to the first one. This produced a BARELY detectable vibration - so slight, few people would ever notice it. I suspect a third ounce would have produced easily detectible vibration, but didn’t bother to take it that far, since my suspicion was proven.

Combine the poor repeatibility of wheel positioning, and the above noted near-total insensitivity to balance, and even talking about balancing down to 1/4 ounce is pure magical thinking. It really cannot be done, and wouldn’t make ANY perceptible difference whatever if it could.

To me, that is actually all good news, because this new balancer makes balancing my wheels very quick and easy, with little skill involved. On all of my wheels, I spent much more time removing the adhesive left-over from the old weights than I did balancing and applying the new weights. And I should be able to commit the balancing procedure to software running on the balancer that will guide the user, step-by-step, through the process, making it nearly idiot-proof.

Regards,
Ray L.

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This may not be popular but two years back I went with balance beads for the first time because my shop couldn’t mount my wheels for spin balancing. I was pretty concerned as they’re unproven and some people have had issues with the beads clogging the valve. I opted for the least granular beads and using valves with filters on them to prevent clogs. They are supposed to be permanently dynamic instead of spinning out and embedding on the inside of the tire so they maintain perfect balance even as the tires are wearing.

They’ve so far exceeded my expectations and have performed better than any spin balance that I’ve had done in the past. My car runs smoother than ever.

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I can confirm Erica’s finding on my motorcycle and on my wife’s old Mazda 6. The little buggers do work. I even heard some people using cheapo "beads from Walmart and have had success…but the “experts” on these things will tell you that a more dense bead works much better…makes sense.

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Ray,
What speed did you take your balanced wheels up to? I know one can get away with poor balancing at relatively low in-town speeds (30 - 45) but not really so at highway speeds (70 and above)

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So if someone has a vibration (feeling a slight shimmy at the steering wheel) that comes on around 50-60 mph – what is the culprit if not wheel balance?

Suspension is tight, bearings seem to be just fine, no discernible wheel wobble beyond what one expects in good ball joints (very slight at 6:00-12:00).

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Is it always or just on certain roads? Mine does this on a couple of our concrete highways but not on any asphalt ones. It’s because of ruts and grooves in the concrete.

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No, if you have a speed-dependent vibration, it likely is balance, but not because balance is off by 1/4, or 1/2, or likely even a full ounce, because you simply cannot feel that.

Regards,
Ray L.

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Les,

Ran up to 70 so far, which is above the speed at which I previously got vibration.

Regards,
Ray L.

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I would like to try them next tire change. What type of beads did you use and where did you source them. Also, are they re usable?

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I used these. They come in premeasured packets and include the filter valves. No idea if they’re reusable. I guess it’s dependent on whether the shop wants to try and fish it all out. But they’re cheap enough to throw away. Mine are tubeless but I’d guess they could be used inside tubes also since they don’t have sharp edges like some do. In fact they sell prepacked motorcycle tubes with the beads in them already.

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Thanks Erica. I will give them a try.

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Most roads but not all roads. On those beads… did you install them thru the valve stem or was it done when you mounted the tires?

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Is was done at tire mount time time, but I believe they said that they funneled them though the valve stem before inserting the valve, otherwise many might have been lost by all the prying by the mounting machine.

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A friend of mine tried to market ceramic “aspirin” tablet beads, back in the 70s: they do indeed work, but at low-speeds, sound like the spin cycle of a dryer fulla… ceramic beads.

I used them in my first Rover and they also kept the steel wheels rust free!!!

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Thanks - an Amazon reviewer had a problem getting them in via the valve stem but some people can’t organize their sock drawer so maybe not a concern. For installing at time of tire mounting it seems you just put the whole bag in the tire (inner bag, not the packaging) and it breaks up and releases the beads once you drive.

Easy enough, but am hoping to avoid removing the tire, breaking the bead and getting one side off the rim.

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Ray, I’m thinking the lack of expected vibration is likely due to the wheels being wires. Although they appear to be quite rigid, I expect there is some significant ability to flex when necessary.

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Ahhh, you’ve jogged my memory. That is exactly how they told me they did it, mount tire, then push down the tire bead and dump. Sorry my mind palace often has limited space. It’s not necessary to take one side off, just make a little gap and shovel them inside.

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I assume if you have inner tubes these are a no-go?

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As I said in another post they actually sell cycle tubes with them inside so the beads aren’t incompatible with tubes. You’d just have a bit of a project inserting them through the stem with the valve removed. You could probably do all four while watching a boring movie.

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It was the insertion I was questioning. I think I’ll wait until …