balancing aftermarket rims

[hari-bhari]

i have 18x8s on kumho ecsta z-rated tires which i just had rotated and all of a sudden i got all this shimmying on the highway between 65 and 80, so i took it in for a balance. after the balance it seems to drive fine without any problem.

my question was though, whats the standard procedure for balancing an aftermarket wheel. the guy originally put a buncha sticky weights on the innner edge of my wheel (where they would be less visible) but im guessing that didnt work for whatever reason, so now theyre on the outer edge right behind my spokes and much more noticeable. is this standard procedure?

also does anyone know anything about laser balancing and if its any good and how so?

[that1mexguy]

hey man, i've had the same done to my tires and they balanced ok but then it turned out i had a bent rim (damn 285 and I-20) so you might wanna check into that. There is a place in Marietta where I got my rim fixed and for a couple of weeks everything was fine til i hit another damn construction area on I-20 and I think I bent another one

[JMSinMaryland]

Also make sure you have hubcentric rims on your wheels. That could be part of it. Jon.

[hari-bhari]

the wheels have been balanced and the shaking problem is gone. what i am actually asking about is how you guys normally have your wheels balanced? do they put hte sticky weights on the outer or inner edge?

[TadS]

Yeah that's the standard procedure. There should be two sets of weights. One as close to the front as possible (on a OE wheel we hammer them right on to the front lip) then one at the back (usually also hammered on). If the wheel doesn't have a lip, sticky weights are used on the inside of the wheel to get the balance. Even some OE wheels take sticky weights now (eg Volkswagen, Audi, etc.)

Wal-Mart uses a crappy method of balance called static balancing on wheels that only have a rear lip, but like everything else at Wal-Mart it's just not very good. Basically for a static balance you only hammer weights onto the inside lip. You you end up with 4-8 oz all around the inside, where you maybe could have gotten away with 1-2 oz if you would have done it with a normal (both sides of the wheel) balance.

A bent wheel can cause the need for alot more weight to balance the wheel. A crappy tire (eg. Goodyear) can also cause the wheel to need alot of weight. Both of these problems can also cause too much lateral and/ or vertical runout, which will affect ride quality.

[hari-bhari]

so basically theres not really any way to get around having all these weights visible on my rims, huh?

[that1mexguy]

the wheels have been balanced and the shaking problem is gone. what i am actually asking about is how you guys normally have your wheels balanced? do they put hte sticky weights on the outer or inner edge?

i've had it both ways. Right now they are not visible but i've had them where you could see them a lot. Pretty much standard.

[wiz2]

The only way to get mine balanced was to have the weights right on the edge of the lip near the spoke. All hte weights are on the back side lip,they get as close as they can to the outside lip without touching it.

[Jai_Jai_Binks]

The adhesive things (on the inside) are what they used first option on aftermarket wheels. When the customer compains of shakes and if the balancing works out, then they add those wheelweights to the outside(around the lip).

[~SolaRaSpeed~]

just go to butler tire and have them do the on the car balancing $140 for all 4 wheels

[hskrsolara]

I would flip out if they put those weights on the outside of my 3" chrome lips!!!
1. Make sure you have hubcentric rings, this made a huge difference on my car, no more shaking. You can try either the plastic or metal type, every wheel reacts differently. Also make sure it is the right size for the wheels and the hub. They have to match up perfect, if they don't, then they are a waste. Discount Tire sent me a free set, since I purchased my wheels from them. Normally they are between $30-50 otherwise. They have great customer service!
2. There is no reason they can't put the weights on the inside of the wheel. Like I said, if I saw them doing that to my chrome, I would be out of control! Just have them re-balance with the weights on the inside.