Wheel balance weights

[PaulE]

I am having trouble with the latest type of self adhesive balance weights. Took two refurbed wheels for new tyres and watched as the fitter took a lot of trouble to balance them perfectly, only to find after a short journey home with the wheels laid in the boot that most of the weights had fallen off en-route. Back for another try with extreme care bring taken to clean the rim where the weights were going to be stuck. This time the wheels made it onto the car but some fell off onto the floor and continue to do so after several months.

The current design is obviously useless and the tyre fitters have only that pattern, so where to from here?

Are the weights shown in the handbook with springs and protection for the rim obsolete and gone without trace does anyone know? No point in going through the rigmarole with the adhesive ones again.

[ptjs1]

Paul,

I'm guessing you've got the 5-spoke grooved painted wheels on your car? I'm also assuming that you asked your fitter to only fit weights on the inside face of the wheel to preserve the look of the outside face?

If so, it should be perfectly feasible to use good quality self-adhesive balance weights on these wheels. The very modern balancing machines mean that you don't have to have any balance weights on the outside rim as there is sufficient depth in the inner face of the wheel to allow the self-adhesive weights to be placed in exactly the right position. And decent self-adhesive weights should cause no damage unlike the spring clip-type old weights that can only be placed on the outer edge of the rim.

One tip is to make sure that there is a good lacquer surface, but no polish on the wheels before the weights are applied. If your fitter is struggling to do it, perhaps another fitter is in order?

Good luck

Paul

[PaulE]

You are exactly correct Paul-5 spoke wheels which had been newly refinished balanced on the very latest machine. The fitter even asked if they were for front or rear as balancing for use on the front was done to zero tolerance, and I was very impressed watching this process and so disappointed when they just fell off even after careful cleaning and preparation. The ones which fell off yesterday are now covered in brake dust so cleaning to that standard will be impossible. I wondered if there might be some other weights available with better stiction. Presume the spring ones could be fitted on the inside if still available so as to be invisible.

[ptjs1]

Paul,

I might be seeing my fitter this weekend; if so, I'll ask him which weights he uses on my cars as they have never fallen off.

I might be wrong but I don't think you can use spring weights on one side only as you can't get the balance right for both sides of the rim. My fitters sophisticated machine tells you exactly where to put each weight including the offset from the inside rim. You naturally can't achieve that with sprung clip weights on one edge only.

Apart from making sure there is no polish on the wheel before applying the weights (and asking my fitter which type he uses), I'm running out of ideas, I'm afraid! Sorry!

Paul

[PaulE]

Paul,
Thanks for that, any other ideas will be welcome. I did 80miles along M18 and 180 last night going to and from the Club meeting and there was no vibration to feel at 70, so I have more or less decided to leave well alone; but it would be nice to fix them properly if I can find out how. Good to keep the tyres circular if possible.