Long ago the old machinist in our town made a truck wheel balancer,it was a shaft mounted in the wheel with centering cones . He then leveled a pair of straightedges placed the assembly on there let it seek the heavy spot. Then adjust weights till it will stay anywhere on there. Anyone have other methods or ways you have seen ??
That's called a "static balance." It works, but won't be as good as a dynamic balance that adjusts for heavier weight on one side of the wheel or a non-concentric tire. A wheel that's balanced statically can still be out of balance if spun up on a dynamic balancer.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
Now days most truck tires use balance beads. You determine the size and weight of the tire and add the beads when mounting.
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I don't go fast enough to need balanced tires but I do like them round. My old bias ply tires would set up upon standing and take several miles of driving to get rid of the flat region.
33 Years. Now with a '61 261, 848 head, Rochester Monojet carb, SM420 4-speed, 4.10 rear, dual reservoir MC, Bendix up front, 235/85R16 tires, 12-volt w/alternator, electric wipers and a modern radio in the glove box.
Balance beads ᠁᠁᠁might be one of the most controversial topics on the internet next to oil. Add a bunch of beads or BB’s or what ever to a modern wheel and get back to us.
Spent $8.00 per tire for a spin balance. Buy new tires they might balance for free.
If you insist on going cheap᠁᠁..go to Harbor Freight and buy their bubble balancer ᠁..same concept as the old machinist in OP. It did work reasonably well in the 50’s ᠁᠁᠁taught students to use BB in the 70’s᠁᠁..but even then spin was the choice.
We have been using balance beads for about 2 years in our school bus tires at work. Mostly 11 r22.5 and 225/75 r16 radials. The small glass beads work the best, the larger beads ( BB sized ) don't work at all. The small beads static cling to the inside and maintain balance with slow speed and lots of stops. The larger beads balance out at highway speeds but fall to the bottom every time you stop. We have now switched to a shredded plastic type material, no miles yet to determine if its working. Best way for the DIY is bubble balancer, shop around you can find used ones pretty cheap.
showkey Have a snap-on balancer with 2 posts and a shaft with bearings that turn free. I think it tells you to divide up the weight and add to inner and outer rim and maybe offset it like in a dynamic balance. Kind of lightweight and maybe too short for truck use(8.25x20). Haveto look at that,used it for real in the 80's on cars. Neighbor garage used one too.
klhansen Do you think putting stick-on weights in the center of the wheel would help on dynamic balance ?? Someone earlier commented you didn't need to balance big-bolt wheels,then said you certainly do ,must have helped ! As I get things tuned for better speed I can tell it would help to smooth it out. That toe-in adjustment helped my 51 6400.
Wally/Montana My main road is class 3 truck so is smooth where you can tell more,rubber sets up of course worse in cold weather but if I drive every day it helps that . Now it's HOT so rubber is softer,mine I think is pretty round steering is conventional,drivers are a mud tread but fairly round. Learned from the old 10 wheeler pro to dig the rocks out of those drivers so they don't hit you on the elbow !!
