Balancing tires -- Did they screw it up?

You have left-overs from lazy past installers. Go to a quality tire shop, have them removed all the old weights and wash and dry the tire/wheels assemblies...then re-balanced using one method only as required.

 

If the tires don't exhibit vibration when the car is at speed, and the tread wear is even, then the tires can be assumed to be properly balanced. Most tire retailers offer to rotate the tires that they have sold and check wheel balance periodically, without further charge - so it usually is not necessary for you to do the rotation yourself.

The point of using adhesive-backed weights is so that the front face of the wheel which is visible doesn't have weights stuck to the rim which would interfere with the wheel cover, causing a cosmetic issue.

On the rear face of the wheel, if a weight is stuck to the rim, no one can see it. Unless the tires are actually unbalanced, is there a problem? I don't think so.

 

I agree with Patrick.

If the tires behave well leave them alone.

 

Hi CP. The machines they use to balance tires indicate how much weight to place, where it should go around the circumference, and whether it should go on the inside or the outside. So there is nothing wrong with having weights on both sides.

 

and in the future, there's no need to balance tyres by the calendar. time doesn't affect them, driving does. if you're having a problem that's a different story.

and to get it out of my system, again, why does anyone live in the northeast?

 

Hi bisco. She was rotating the tires, not balancing them. She just happened to notice what seemed like an anomaly in the balancing while rotating them.

I agree in any case that rotating is best done by mileage rather than calander, but many of us drive approximately the same miles each month, so either way can work.

I saw on the news tonight that you guys are having some lovely weather up there in Boston at the moment.

 

yes, we're enjoying the ice dams and collapsing rooves. makes life so much more interesting!

 

There's typically weights on both inside and outside rims. And with alloys per the Prius stick-on weights are used for the outside rim, but you're still likely going to see clamp-on weights used on the inside rim, no?

 

The rear wheels get to bathe in the spray kicked up by the front wheels and (to a small extent) the opposite rear wheel.

Rear tires are also much more likely to suffer punctures (thanks to the front wheels kicking debris up into proper orientation).

 

Further, assuming that you need to do the tire rotation personally (vs. having Sears do it for you) there is nothing wrong with waiting until better weather arrives in April or whenever.

 

It's good to look over the tread, pull out the pebbles stuck in there. Kinda like the dentist scaling your teeth. In the process you might something that's not just a rock, meta or glass bit, potential leaker. Trouble with the high hourly rate pros: they don't sweat the small stuff, that occasionally can be important.

 

That's great! I take it then, that this tire rotation in 14 degree F weather is just a small part of your personal fitness program.

I agree and do the same, although I wait for pleasant weather to do this. This potentially is a way to find a nail in the tread before the tire actually becomes flat, I have managed to find an embedded nail this way a few times over the years, prior to the tire actually starting to flatten.

 

why do i live in a place where the air hurts my face?

 

Further, even though you're south of me, and on the coast (similarly), the climate is insanely different right now? Was around +15C here today, and sunny. Part of it obviously 'cause our prevailing winds come off the Pacific, while yours come across country in deep freeze.