Wheel Balancing & Weights

[DDLS3]

I see a lot of great looking wheels on corvettes in pictures here and at car shows. Tons of effort go into shining them up especially if you have aluminum wheels. One thing that I see a lot of is wheel weights mounted on the outside of the rims. To me these weights are just plain UGLY and detract from everything you have done to make your wheel look good. I have a friend that owns a tire shop, he mounts and balances thousands of tires every year. I spoke with him about putting all the weights on the inside vs some on each side as is commonly done, when I bought new tires last year. Todd told me that all of the newer tire balancing machines are capable of indicateing for one or both sides. The actual wheel balance is very acurate either way. I drove my 81 some 3000 miles across country at all speeds including some 120-130 runs here in Maine without a hint of a vibration. If you hate the looks of wheel weights like I do, this might be something to discuss with your tire shop the next time your having tires mounted up.

 

[fastglass95]

Wheel balancing.

I agree 100%
Many people just assume that the tire store will put the weights on the inside, and they don't :eek

We have a new spin balancing machine at my place of employment and as you said, the operator can select the inside, outside, or both, for positioning the weights. This is programmed in before spinning the tire on the balancer. The default mode is for both sides.

I've always had good luck with the backside of the rim only.
Of course I never exceed posted speed limits

 

[danl72]

I agree. I think it looks bad especially when you have a good looking wheel. They should put the weights on the back even without telling them. They know it looks bad as well.