Tire Story Or How to Balance Fuch's?

[Halm]

With the summer heat now letting up a bit and a few planned drives coming up here in the Carolinas, I decided it was time for new shoes for my baby. After strongly considering different sizes, I ended up with 195x65x15’s. My first choice for the tires were Yoko Intermediates, but Tire Rack had none in that size, so it came down Dunlop Sport A2’s or Yoko Avid’s. Before ordering from Tire Rack, I compared prices with a local NTB and they were very competitive on the Avid’s so I elected to do one stop shopping.

This particular store is literally next door to Hendrick BMW and Hendrick Porsche and I know they have done a great deal of work on high end cars in the past. So, contrary to other experiences I have read about on the BB with large tire stores, I came away reasonably satisfied with not only the tires but the service I received: Not a single nick or minor scratch.

My only question is: what is the proper way to balance Fuch’s if you do not want weights on the outside of the rim? The technician seemed to really struggle with this, but in the end, the balance seems fine, at least up to 75 mph. It seemed a little “jury rigged” the way he did it with weights in the proper position on the inside edge of the rim and up next to the spokes. Is there a particular brand of balancing equipment I need to look for? Ideas???

[autobonrun]

For years, I struggled with the desire not to put weights on the outside of my rims. Others may disagree, but I found I could get a much better balance if weights can be placed on both sides. Sometimes, it's nearly impossible to get a good balance with weights on one side. So I just gave up years ago and decided a proper balance was more important to me and I just try to keep the extra glue off when the tire gets rebalanced. You may be faced with a decision on which is most important to you; looks or balance. I hope you can get both, but if not .......

Typicaly, at the speeds I drive, the weights on the outside can't be seen anyway.

[Zeke]

On my Boxster there is a large area on the inside of the wheel to distribute the weights as required by the computer balancer. The Fuchs, much less so, and I assume by the tire size that you have narrow wheels. So the *outside* weight is actually near the center. It is probably sufficient for all but the most demanding of performance enthusiasts.

I would check tire runout as many tires are ever so slightly out-of-round. This condition cannot be corrected with weights. And you could trim out the balance job by spinning up the wheels on the car with an old fashioned Hunter or Bear balancer uint using the strobe method. The rears can be spun up with the engine while off the ground. Professional help or extreme caution is in order here. This method takes into account the entire turning mass at each wheel. Once done, the tires should always be placed back on the hub in the same position.

Real acurate balancing is an art that is not pursued much anymore with modern day equipment and at volume tire stores.