Wheel balancing

[S500 Pete]

Just had new tyres put on my wife's GLA at Formula 1 and was offered precision wheel balance as an upgrade to normal balancing. I declined because if I find a vibration I will be going back anyway and there was no real detail on what the difference was. Anybody heard of this?
While I was there I did wonder whatever happened to balancing the wheel while it was on the car so that all of the rotating parts like discs were included. Used to be everywhere a while back.

 

[Blobcat]

Sounds like a marketing plan to gain more ££ from the worried - same as Nitrogen filled

 

[Wighty]

Just had new tyres put on my wife's GLA at Formula 1 and was offered precision wheel balance as an upgrade to normal balancing. I declined because if I find a vibration I will be going back anyway and there was no real detail on what the difference was. Anybody heard of this?
While I was there I did wonder whatever happened to balancing the wheel while it was on the car so that all of the rotating parts like discs were included. Used to be everywhere a while back.

I think you mean tracking whilst the wheels are on the car . Balancing is wheel off

 

[S500 Pete]

I think you mean tracking whilst the wheels are on the car . Balancing is wheel off

No "Balancing" it used to spin the wheel on 2 rollers with the weight of the car on them and pick up the imbalance. Always seemed to work well and seemed more logical because who is to say that the disc or drum is perfectly balanced.

 

[Wighty]

No "Balancing" it used to spin the wheel on 2 rollers with the weight of the car on them and pick up the imbalance. Always seemed to work well and seemed more logical because who is to say that the disc or drum is perfectly balanced.

I didn’t know that

 

[mioba]

No "Balancing" it used to spin the wheel on 2 rollers with the weight of the car on them and pick up the imbalance. Always seemed to work well and seemed more logical because who is to say that the disc or drum is perfectly balanced.

Never seen that ever. i have only ever seen the machines they put the wheel in, it spins them up and says what weights need going where.

Rolling roads is for brake inbalance not wheel balance.

 

[Blobcat]

No "Balancing" it used to spin the wheel on 2 rollers with the weight of the car on them and pick up the imbalance. Always seemed to work well and seemed more logical because who is to say that the disc or drum is perfectly balanced.

Never seen that ever. i have only ever seen the machines they put the wheel in, it spins them up and says what weights need going where.

Rolling roads is for brake inbalance not wheel balance.

It is a thing and I remember it being done that way - I remember the sit on balance machines like the below

On Car Balancing - Balance the wheels on the car! - Vibration Free

Car wheel and tyre balancing in-situ on the vehicle, perfect for wire wheels and vintage vehicles where large unbalanced brake drums & harsh suspensions means that all road wheel vibration is transmitted to the car, in the form of cabin noise and steering wheel shudder.Remember; “vintage cars...

vibrationfree.co.uk

 

[daveenty]

Many years ago we used to have machines that spun the front wheels up whilst on the car for balancing. You just jacked the front of the car, held the machine against it and a roller span it up. A strobe light showed you where to place the weights. It was relatively accurate but of it's time. (1970s?)

The only other option then was the "spirit level" bubble type machine. The current dynamic ones are far superior

 

[DSK]

They will put the last 5g on rather than leave it lol.

Probably trying to sell static / dynamic balancing but seriously it’s all bs, one should balance the wheels in the most appropriate and accurate way to begin with. Also most won’t be able to tell any difference so it’s just a way of extracting more coins from your pocket.


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[mioba]

It is a thing and I remember it being done that way - I remember the sit on balance machines like the below

View attachment 81473

On Car Balancing - Balance the wheels on the car! - Vibration Free

Car wheel and tyre balancing in-situ on the vehicle, perfect for wire wheels and vintage vehicles where large unbalanced brake drums & harsh suspensions means that all road wheel vibration is transmitted to the car, in the form of cabin noise and steering wheel shudder.Remember; “vintage cars...

vibrationfree.co.uk

thats from the 80s surely

 

[davidsl500]

If it's a shed then the "Premium" service means they won't let the YTS to do it....

On car balancing was something suggested when they couldn't get a good result using the normal wheel balancer. The fun starts if you take a wheel off without marking its orientation with the hub...

 

[davidwilson]

On-car balancing went out of favour in the 1980s for two reasons:
- Balancing machines got cleverer and more expensive, but garages needed 2 machines (you can't spin up a driven wheel)
- Balancing machines got better as well as cleverer, so the advantages of on-car balancing disappeared. Mostly.

(I had an old Citroen DS & had terrible trouble with getting rid of a front wheel vibration when I fitted new Michelins. The old boy in the garage hummed & hawed & scratched his head, then rummaged around out the back for the old on-car balancer. Worked a treat. He said the disc was probably way out of balance .....

 

[Ron240]

This brings back memories for me because I had wheels balanced on my car (Rover 216 VP EFi) back in the late 80's. I believe it was a slightly more costly option compared with conventional wheel balancing but it was a well known thing at the time.
I am genuinely very surprised there are people here that have never heard of it...and some are probably older than me!