I've noticed that using that many weights is a cause of a) a bent rim, or b) the tire bead isnt sitting right, they should have let the air out and turned the tire 1/4 turn on rim.
hey Don, at first I was thinking bent wheel too, but the wheels don’t look damaged, so that’s unlikely for an aluminum wheel. I never saw a bead not sit right, but I only did tires at a garage for a year or two when I was a kid. Usually they’d pop right in once you had enough pressure behind them
I guess I mean more the imperfections of the rubber walls. I used to do tires in a mechanics shop and a tire shop (a couple of years total). The older guy in the mechanics shop I worked in, would tell me to take the weights off and turn the rubber and try again when theres a bunch. Any time I did that, I used less weights the second time.
I guess I mean more the imperfections of the rubber walls. I used to do tires in a mechanics shop and a tire shop (a couple of years total). The older guy in the mechanics shop I worked in, would tell me to take the weights off and turn the rubber and try again when theres a bunch. Any time I did that, I used less weights the second time.
yep, sometimes taking it off the bead and spinning the tire 180 on the rim will solve some problems due to cheap castings, valve stem weight, etc.
I’m still thinking bad tire though. Btw, OP, what’s the date code on the tires?
Whenever changing tires you always remove all the weights. We also remove all remaining adhesive. Remove the old tire, check the rim for dents, bending, cracks and the sealing shoulder/lip. May need a quick brush if too much rubber residue from tires sticks to it as it may loose pressure. (These usually take a long time but you can add a psi every week or so.)
For sportscars I usually give the rim alone a quick spin on the balancing machine to check for runout and the machine is far quicker in telling me if something is wrong. Also one needs to know his balancing machine to get the rim properly centered.
If the first spin with the new tires gives more than 30 g (grams where 30 g approx. 1 ounce) I rotate the tire 180 degrees marking the initial spot of the correction on the rim and tire. From where the correction wanders to you can determine if the tire is the culprit.
Aluminium rims which make up about 90 percent of today's wheels never use the weights that attach with a bent metal tongue. You can damage the paint! The weights (correct is "masses") that are glued to the inside of the rim are those to be used with aluminium wheels. On the picture I do not like the look of those. They look "old" to me.
As it is OEM wheels they are usually very high quality and I have hardly ever seen a rim which was more than 5 - 10 g out of balance. (Only the rim by itself)
A good tire shop balances to +/- 1 g, while the Blazer is happy with about +/- 3 g. Above that you start to feel it at higher speeds. Above 15 g it starts to wobble and vibrate. Above 30 g you are not going faster than 35 mph for fear that something is shaking loose.
Your felt vibration may be another issue altogether, but I’d take my bets on a bad tire.
Really? I just bought these tires. They have less than 500 miles on them. Should I take this concern to Pepboys and ask them to investigate? Could new tires come damaged?
Does anyone know a chain shop that's really, really, really good with tires? If you all say that aluminum wheels shouldn't have/need weights on the outside, and that the OEM wheels don't need that much tuning, then there is something very wrong with the tires apparently, and I need to get an expert diagnosis. I've been to several Pep Boys locations around my area, and I'm not sure I can really trust their techs.
How would you know if the wheel is out of wack versus the tire? Would you balance test the wheel with no tire, then check it with the tire?
This is a Blazer I use as a long distance commuter (45 miles one way to my work place). I need to have good tires installed correctly.
A few observations, some of which have already been made:
Wheels can be out of round. They can be spun on the balancer and observed or even checked for runout with a dial indicator. You can jack up the truck on that corner and check the rim with a dial indicator with the tire on the rim or fix a reference at the outer edge and spin the wheel.
Tires can be out of round from the factory. Michelin and Yokahoma's are some that have a good reputation for being true, some other brands not so much. I always ask to see the runout on the balancing machine slowly rotated after the tire has been mounted. You would not believe how much hop you will see with some brand new tires on a good rim. Weights cannot fully balance a wheel/tire combo that is hopping really bad.
Blocky off road tires can need more weight than top shelf car touring tires.
If a wheel tire combination needs a lot of weight on the first spin up then yes you can "index" the tire on the wheel by rotating it 90 or 180 degrees and try again. Some tires have dots on them telling the tech where to start in reference to say the valve stem.
Usually on aluminum rims the weights are stuck on on the inside inner wheel surface. I don't know if some Al wheels these day are set up to accept pound on rim weights but I agree that it looks like a**.
Balancers can be out of spec. Techs can get the wheel on the spindle slightly off.
The best tire shops in my town are independent small outfits not chain shops. You can spot a better shop if it has older more experienced techs. Also look for someone who does road force balancing or tire truing. Ask them if they do tire indexing to minimize balance weights. A really good shop will do more of these things. Ask them which brands of tires routinely have out of round problems vs easier to balance brands and see if they sound like they know what they are talking about. Of the chain shops here, Tires Plus is the best.
Good luck, chasing tire issues can be a PITA for sure.
I called around some different places just trying to pick their brain. A resounding majority of the people I talked to said there's way too much weight on all 4 wheels.
On the rear passenger I counted the following weights: 1.75, 1.25, .75 on the outside, and 1.25, .75 on the inside. For just one wheel.
When the tech who did this balance returned the vehicle, I only saw the one outside weight on each of the driver side tires, so I didn't think much of it then.
Now really looking at this with you guys, I'm really wondering what the hell was this guy was thinking.
I didn't really know what sticky weights were until now. The rear passenger has sticky weights on the inner wheel that have always been there. When I got the new tires installed, the guy at the counter assured me they remove all the weights are start from scratch. Well, they seemed to have never removed those sticky weights. So this whole time I think they've been chasing that as the balance problem not knowing what it was.
I don't recall exactly when these sticky weights were put on. I just happened to notice them one day when I was cleaning and detailing the rims. Weirdly this is the only wheel that has them.
So guys I have an official verdict.
The new tires are just bad.
I'm at another Pep Boys location I trust, and they're telling me the tires are bad. They let watch them work the balancing machine, and both front wheels are asking for 5 grams of weight. They also balanced just the wheel with the tire off, and the wheel itself balances out correctly. Seems I got a bad batch of tires.
08-06-2020, 04:43 PM
