Fuchs with balancing weights

[Amanda]

I have a set of 16 x 6/7 Fuchs, each wheel w/weighs, similar to the pic below (not all have that many).

I assume this is from the PO, although would a shop put those on for balancing w/o informing the owner? (I did buy a set of tires for these wheels awhile back).

Anyway, I can't imagine having weights is appealing if trying to sell the wheels. Should I have them removed? Are these typically for tire balancing, or could there be an issue with the wheels themselves? Thanks.

[Ian Comerford]

Amanda I would expect that the shop will have fitted the number of weights specified by the machine for that particular wheel AND tyre together. Each will be different as you already note. It should not devalue them.

[RPV911]

Those weights are for balancing. That does seem excessive to me but it could also be the type of tire, or maybe the wheels aren’t exactly true. Sometimes even the tire balancing machine hasn’t been calibrated in awhile. Are you selling the wheels and tires together? If you’re just selling the wheels I’d have the tires removed, remove the weights and clean them up as best as you can.

If you’re mounting new tires all of the old weights will be removed and new ones added for those new tires.

[Ayles]

Be thankful they are on the inside. Seen a few with them stuck to the outside lip.

[Amanda]

Thanks for the replies. I'm selling wheels w/tires. OK, I'll just sell as is. I just noticed the weights as I was cleaning the inside of the wheels to get pics of the parts numbers.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[175K911]

Weights are essential for correct balance of the wheel/tire combination. I’d be concerned if it didn’t have weights.

[JK McDonald]

Hey Amanda - I recently discovered an even more questionable situation. After having Firestone mount and balance a new set of Pirelli P7 tires on Frau Helga, I sensed a slight vibration at highway speeds. Thinking I'd thrown a weight up front - I found some F!$#*@! jack ass had actually used a grinding wheel on the inner side of my Fuch wheels prior to mounting the weights........ Dispute On going and Under Review

A bit more expensive - but some tire dealers will actually balance the Tires and Wheels on separate "Standardized Proof Jigs" to locate each one's heaviest point. Then mount the two together to minimize the number of weights needed.

Michael

[Solamar]

It's been 30+ years since I worked at a tire shop, but I'm pretty sure that if your adding weight at two spots 180* from each other you need to start over from scratch.

Could be the last tire tech did not notice the weights on the inner face of the rim, dumber things have certainly happened.

[E Sully]

There is an art to mounting tires. Some shops, but probably not most, follow a few guidelines.
Tires may have red and or yellow dots on the sidewall.
There are 2 methods of tire mounting using these dots as guidelines. Red dot is highest point of radial run out, Yellow mark is for lightest part of tire. In the old days, the valve stem was located at the low spot in the rim, although this is no longer accurate. Some rims have a dimple marking the low point of the rim. Red dot should be aligned with the dimple if there is one on the rim. Another method is to align the yellow dot with the valve stem, considered the heavy side of the rim, to minimize amount of weights needed for balance.
A high end dynamic balancing machine gives the best results.
https://www.motor.com/magazinepdfs/042008_09.pdf

[jamesjedi]

You have two strips of weights on the inside. There should only be one spot for the weights.

Possibly balanced without removal of the weights.

[175K911]

Originally Posted by jamesjedi

You have two strips of weights on the inside. There should only be one spot for the weights.

Possibly balanced without removal of the weights.

No there are balancers that can be programmed to put one set of weights at the inner most lip and the second set of weights behind the spokes rather than on the visible outer lip. Weights in two locations is a superior method, and the same as the factory does it.

[175K911]

Originally Posted by jamesjedi

You have two strips of weights on the inside. There should only be one spot for the weights.

Possibly balanced without removal of the weights.

No there are balancers that can be programmed to put one set of weights at the inner most lip and the second set of weights behind the spokes rather than on the visible outer lip. Weights in two locations is a superior method, and the same as the factory does it. But the placement of those weights seems to indicate the wheel might be bent

[jamesjedi]

You are correct. I did not see that they are not parallel. I should have noticed.

[911pcars]

Imagine balancing a long shaft (e.g. crankshaft) by merely placing weights on one end of the shaft. Yes, it could be statically in balance but considerably out, dynamically. And it will most likely destroy itself at high rotation speeds.

When tires and wheels were narrower, it was easier to statically balance them with simpler bubble balancers. Wider tires and wheels (and other high speed rotating parts - like crankshafts) pose more of an issue. The assembly can be out of dynamic balance in two axis, and thus weights must be installed to address both.

Dynamic wheel balancing machines can identify the imbalance in those multiple axis. In some cases, the balancing machine might specify the exact location on a visible part of the wheel. To please the aesthetics of the paying customer, tire shops compromise the correct position of correction weights by moving them to a less visible part of the wheel. This also compromises the goal of a perfect balance - it's the customer's call.

Better explained here:
https://e-quipfix.co.uk/wheel-balancing-101-static-vs-dynamic-wheel-balancing/

Sherwood

[175K911]

Originally Posted by jamesjedi

You are correct. I did not see that they are not parallel. I should have noticed.

And if you look at the weights in the bottom of the picture, notice that there are 2 strips of weights stacked on top of each other, total of 5.5 oz of weight which is really bad. Add the 2.5 oz at the top and that wheel has 8 oz of weight.

To the original poster, I’d have that wheel checked for being bent before doing anything with it. The amount of weight on it is probably 4x what is generally acceptable for a Fuchs wheel. Something is very wrong.

[Amanda]

Originally Posted by 175K911

To the original poster, I’d have that wheel checked for being bent before doing anything with it. The amount of weight on it is probably 4x what is generally acceptable for a Fuchs wheel. Something is very wrong.

That's not my wheel, just a pic I searched up to show wheel weights. My wheels don't have weights stacked like that, but nevertheless good info to be aware of.

[offroader1006]

Cheap tires, tires stored incorrectly(which d-shapes them) or flat spotted tires can require a large amount of weights.

[fred cook]

Often times, the wheel alone will have an imbalance and the tire will also. Also, there will be a static imbalance and a dynamic imbalance. A good tire shop will try rotating the tire on the wheel to find the arrangement that requires the minimum amount of weight to achieve balance. Looks like someone just stuck the tires on the wheels and added weight as needed to achieve balance. No harm done as is, but the same results could likely be achieved with less weight. Hope this helps.

[Kraftwerk]

Yes we need this kind of attention: "..... some tire dealers will actually balance the Tires and Wheels on separate "Standardized Proof Jigs" to locate each one's heaviest point. Then mount the two together to minimize the number of weights needed. "

[shoooo32]

The most weight I’ve ever needed to balance a Fuchs wheel was probably a little over two ounces. I agree that this wheel weight seems excessive.