Confirming no balancing needed for slicks

[twistedneck]

I'm trying to save up for some slicks and wheels.. I heard today that you do not need to high speed balance them because they move around a lot on the rim and also lose material so quickly that its pointless.

Thoughts?

 

[steveespo]

Please balance your wheels and tires. A good tire tech can position a tire on a wheel so that the heavy sides are set opposite of each other and need only a minimum of weight. Most just put the tire on and add weight as the machine indicates. Either way you will be much happier than running unbalanced wheel assemblies which in my option are harmful to performance and the suspension parts of the car. I've been marking valve stem location on my tires since we first discussed this a year ago and I haven't had slippage on 4 different sets of Continentals and 1 set of Toyos.
Tape the weights with foil HVAC tape so they don't get thrown off from brake heat.
Not the best place to save $50.
Steve

 

[302 Hi Pro]

Steve:

Excellent advice and I totally agree. I never thought it was a good idea to be running triple digit speeds on unbalanced tires.

Dave
2HP

 

[Roadhouse]

I've never balanced my slicks before. It saves a little money and it's not worth the hassle in my opinion.

My thought is if you get them balanced, they're really only going to be balanced until you use the tire. You'll get uneven tread wear, tire buggers, rubber build-up on the wheel, etc. All this will then lead to an unbalanced tire. And many times you will be trying to balance a used tire on the machine with tire buildup that will give you an inaccurate balance.

 

[VoodooBoss]

There's another thread on this subject. As previously discussed the tires move on the wheels so balancing them doesn't seem to do much good. I marked my R comps relative to my wheels and they moved a lot. I'm driving my car to and from the track so I'm balancing them but I'm not sure if it's worth the effort.

 

[DGRacing]

I don't think wheels are guaranteed to be balanced so Even though the tire will change If the wheel isn't itself balanced "things" can happen...

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

My previous tire guy didn't balance any of my race rubber, my current guy does. Never had an issue with either one. Only reason I switched people is because my current tire guy is also my Hoosier distributor.

I didn't think about an imbalance in the wheel itself but that is a possibility. That being said, as roadhouse already mentioned, the clagg and pickup that accumulates will likely negate any balancing anyways.

Speaking of which--clagg prevention tip--spray some PAM or other cooking spray onto a rag and wipe down the inside of the wheel barrel (after cleaning). That will help prevent stuff from sticking to the wheel.

 

[WinterSucks]

Does anyone bother to balance the wheels themselves? I am sure no one would be comfortable removing wheel material, but what about tack-welding on some balancing weights?

 

[302 Hi Pro]

Does anyone bother to balance the wheels themselves? I am sure no one would be comfortable removing wheel material, but what about tack-welding on some balancing weights?

Not a good solution, aluminum wheels, lead weights, etc., not to mention the clean up required for the next set of rubber.

IMO,
Dave

 

[WinterSucks]

I was thinking of tacking small aluminum blocks. I am figuring the wheels can't get that much out of balance to need lead since they are machined/forged to be identical.

 

[302 Hi Pro]

I was thinking of tacking small aluminum blocks. I am figuring the wheels can't get that much out of balance to need lead since they are machined/forged to be identical.

Well, yes I see what you mean, but if you needed 3.25oz to balance, how big would that aluminum block be? Not sure, but much larger than lead. Aluminum tape is so much easier, but it's your car, your call.

Good luck, and if you do it, please post pics.
Thanks so much,
Dave
302 Hi Pro

 

[j3st3r]

Most of the imbalance comes from the tire not the wheel so permanently attaching weights does not seem like a good idea

 

[blacksheep-1]

I would recommend that you balance them, even if you purchase one of the cheapo balancing machines and do it statically, then do it again after they've been "run in". True the tires move on the rim, and for this reason we run the brand of wheels that we do, because the bead "grips" the tire substantially better than other designs, especially the ones with polished aluminum components. You may take a wheel and have the bead area bead blasted with a coarse medium to help with that. We run our tires for about an hour and discard them so we never really rebalance anything, but I would definitely balance the assembly, at the very minimum you would discover an assembly that would be way off.

 

[Fastfordnut]

Has anyone considered this solution to the balancing issue?
http://www.innovativebalancing.com/index.php
I've used them in 3 different balancing scenarios and they all worked out really well.
35x12.5x20 truck tires, all 4 of my car trailer tires as well as the tires on my Explorer.
Great supplement to fine tune a balance issue and in 2 of my 3 uses, they eliminated the need for any weights at all.
They are also reusable when replacing tires.

 

[Grant 302]

Those sound cool except for this part:

If your tires have an Aspect ratio of 65 or below, we do not list these tire types as we classify them as "low-profile". Low profile tires often need lateral balance correction that can only be rectified with the use of standard wheel weights applied to both the inside and outside rim.
In this case, we recommend a "Maintenance Amount".

 

[Fastfordnut]

Guess I missed that part.