Home » Classic Car Steel Rim Wheel Balance

If you happen to own a static wheel balancer or have access to one, have a go at balancing your steel rims yourself.

 

A static wheel balancer is one which has a chrome head (top) which balances on oil. There is a cross hair in the middle on the top which you can see through the centre hole of your rims once they are placed on the balancer.

 

When trying to get a good balance on your rims there are a number of things which you must do.

 

1. Wire brush the back of the rim until it is smooth and clean. A little hard work which most people do not want to do.

 

2. Hose it off and dry off with a clean rag. Make sure that there aren't any large lumps of hard mud or tar as these will throw your wheels out of balance.

 

3. Wire brush your wheel studs also until smooth and clean. Then put a couple of drops of oil on all threads and wipe around with a rag.

 

4. Make sure that the outside face of the hub (where the wheel rim buts to) is also clean and free from road dirt.

Balancing the Rims

 

Put the clean rim onto the balancer and push the lever down so that the rim is ready for balancing (the chome balancing head is now floating on oil). Find the spot where the greatest imbalance is by touching the outside of the tyre with your finger.

 

You will soon see when the bubble moves back to the cross hair (perfect balance). Find the correct sized steel rim wheel weight and place it on the rim so that the bubble is almost perfectly centered. Then mark around to the back with a piece of chalk, take the wheel off the balancer and add that weight to the back of the rim.

 

Replace the wheel to the balancer and then use two very small weights (if the wheel is almost balanced). Put the weights on the rim so that they are almost opposite each other. Do this while the weight on the back of the rim is in front of your legs (at 6 o'clock).

 

The two small weights would then be at 9am and 3pm in front of you. Then move the weights around equally towards 12 o'clock or 6 o'clock depending on which way you need to move them to get the bubble centered on the cross hair. Generally it is towards 12 o'clock.

 

You will notice that by gradually moving them in the correct direction to achieve a balance that you will be able to position the bubble exactly across the cross hair. Mark the tyre softly with a piece of chalk and then carefully remove the wheel from the balancer.

 

Fit the new weights to the top of the rim and then place the rim back on the balancer to make sure you have it right. If the bubble is still dead centre on the cross hair you have a perfect balance.

If you have already cleaned the hub, oiled the studs and wheel nuts then you are ready to refit the wheel to the car. You will notice that you can obtain a smoother and tighter fit with the oiled studs and wheel nuts.

 

Also if your hub is clean as previously discussed you will then have your wheel rim affixed to the car in as square a position as possible. This all adds to the best balance that you can get.

Tyre Pressures

 

If you are running 30 psi in the front, make sure that both tyres have equal pressures. Same with the back tyres. I have used this method many times while travelling in my Volvo on western (dirt) roads and the balance was never better.

 

The car always travelled very smoothly. Hope this advice helps any car enthusiasts (buffs) who may wish to try this out.

 

P.S. I can absolutely vouch that a tyre fitting shop balance (computer wheel spin) did not ever produce a better balance than what I could achieve using the above steps.

 

P.P.S. At the time when you are placing the two small weights on the top of the rim, you will need to use a pair of tin snips to clip off pieces from the original weights to bring them to the required size.

You can check out this article and others on my classic car articles page at

http://www.classic-car-restorer-and-trader.com/classic-car-articles.html

See you in your classy classic car,
Cheers,
Bob Welcome
Classic Car Trim Pty Ltd
98 Livingstone St
North Rockhampton Queensland 4701.
Telephone from within Australia 07 49265721
Telephone from outside Australia +61 7 49265721