Balancing tires
I have dealt with many different ways to balance tires since I started mounting my own tires several years ago. I have had very good results using a simple bubble balancer and lead weights clamped to the rims.
I have considered purchasing a spin balance machine on several occasions but the cost of the machine has deterred me considering the small number of wheels I balance in a year. I can pay to have several tires balanced for the cost of a machine. Also, for most tires my bubble balancer provides acceptable results.
I have studied various methods of automatic wheel balancing for years as well. As the tire wears, the balance changes. And short of taking the tire off the Jeep and rebalancing it, there is nothing else that can be done using the clam on wheel weight method.
I have looked at the rings full of mercury that bolt on the back of the wheel. I have studied the sand and ceramic dust methods used on semi trailer tires. However the simplest method for me to implement would be to add a liquid to the tire.
Looking at the mathematical proof of the physics behind the sand method, I theorized that any fluid would do the same. The material tends to move to the light spot as centripetal force takes over automatically balancing the tire as it rotates.
This week I came across the idea test subject. In the past I was fighting other vibrations at the same time such as bad bearings or U joints. This time however, my truck was running smooth and I had a tire with a big chuck of rubber missing.
Running the tire with no weights produced a huge bounce that could be felt at speeds over 40mph. The Jeep was un drivable at over 60MPH.
The first test was to balance it with conventional lead weights in the bubble balancer. It took slightly over 280 grams of lead on the rim to balance the tire. It was difficult to get that much lead on the wheel and on the test run one of the weights came off. However it did produce a smooth ride.
The next test was to replace the lead with a liquid. I did not want to use water as in freezing conditions it would make a block of ice in the low part and create a huge imbalance. I chose instead a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water.
I popped the bead on the tire and poured in 290 grams of the balancing liquid. I remounted the tier and took it for a test run.
The initial test run showed a nice smooth ride. I was not able to exceed 60MPH on the test run due to road and traffic conditions but the ride was noticeable smoother than with the lead weights.
I plan to further test the liquid wheel balancing method to see if it will automatically balance all wheels. The math shows that it will work with tires that have dynamic balance problems as well. I can’t deal with these on my bubble balancer so if the liquid method of automatic wheel balancing works, I will not ever have to buy a balancing machine.
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