tires with springs? and wheel weights
06-12-2003, 12:22 AM
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tires with springs? and wheel weights
After getting my new tires mounted and balanced I noticed first that it took quite a bit of stick on wheel weights... Is this a falt of the tires? Using the Potanza SO3s. any others with these tires needing 8-10 stick on weights for each wheel.. Looked at a new volvo with michelin pilots and had one very very small clip on weight on each rim!!. Also noticed that my car feels now like its on a bed of springs when changing lanes very quicly at fast speeds..,, 
. shocks bad?.have about 78k on the car... may be because I only have potanza SO3 only in the back? . Dunlops up front.. but should this cause such a dramatic difference..?? is it normal to have so many stick on weights??
. shocks bad?.have about 78k on the car... may be because I only have potanza SO3 only in the back? . Dunlops up front.. but should this cause such a dramatic difference..?? is it normal to have so many stick on weights??
06-12-2003, 12:48 AM
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Sounds like there are several possibilities.
If the TIRES are that out of balance, maybe you've got bad tires. If the WHEELS are out of balance they may be dirty. If BOTH are out of balance the tires should be rotated on the wheels to minimize the problem. One of the variables is probably that your suspension hasn't settled after getting the tires changed. Could be shocks, could be the new tires, could be the combination.
I had two new front tires put on my wife's 560SEL yesterday and the monkies at Discount Tire couldn't understand the purpose of a torque wrench.
If the TIRES are that out of balance, maybe you've got bad tires. If the WHEELS are out of balance they may be dirty. If BOTH are out of balance the tires should be rotated on the wheels to minimize the problem. One of the variables is probably that your suspension hasn't settled after getting the tires changed. Could be shocks, could be the new tires, could be the combination.
I had two new front tires put on my wife's 560SEL yesterday and the monkies at Discount Tire couldn't understand the purpose of a torque wrench.
06-12-2003, 12:58 AM
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Did they tell you if it was a static or a dynamic imbalance? And how many oz. were added?
Needing that much weight is very unusual unless...
1) You have bad tires - unlikely with the Bridgestones
2) You have bent rims.
3) Most likely - the guy balancing your tires didn't know what he/she was doing. Failing to line up the weights on the indicated marks, not having the wheel tight against the spindle, and a whole bunch o' other stuff could cause a big flop. If you misalign the first weights, the resulting imbalance will cause the machine to indicate further imbalance, and you chase your tail and add weight to correct it until you have...8-10 stick-on weights.
Let the suspension settle, see if that cures your springiness. Try having someone *else* do the balance - pull the weights and start over, and hang over his/her shoulder.
Needing that much weight is very unusual unless...
1) You have bad tires - unlikely with the Bridgestones
2) You have bent rims.
3) Most likely - the guy balancing your tires didn't know what he/she was doing. Failing to line up the weights on the indicated marks, not having the wheel tight against the spindle, and a whole bunch o' other stuff could cause a big flop. If you misalign the first weights, the resulting imbalance will cause the machine to indicate further imbalance, and you chase your tail and add weight to correct it until you have...8-10 stick-on weights.
Let the suspension settle, see if that cures your springiness. Try having someone *else* do the balance - pull the weights and start over, and hang over his/her shoulder.
06-12-2003, 12:59 AM
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wheels were cleaned and the guys used the hunter gsp 9600. May be my suspension does need to settle. Know what you mean with the torque issues.. thats why I bring them my weels off the car..
06-12-2003, 02:22 AM
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I purchased two tires from The Tire Rack a few years back and when the mechanic went to balance them, he did everything short of putting on a 40 lb dumbell. Turns out that the tires were severly out of round. Called up Tire Rack and they sent replacements and picked up the bad tires N/C. Sal
06-12-2003, 05:02 AM
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ive just added brigestone so3 tyres to the rear of my car and really soon after doing that felt that the suspension was all wrong with instability changing lines at high speed.
someone else here on the list suggested i wait for the tyres to go through a few cycles of heating and cooling and i have to say that, after three weeks or so it does seem a lot better.
though i am still going to change out the rear suspension bushes and would like to pin the rear axle!
someone else here on the list suggested i wait for the tyres to go through a few cycles of heating and cooling and i have to say that, after three weeks or so it does seem a lot better.
though i am still going to change out the rear suspension bushes and would like to pin the rear axle!
06-12-2003, 10:04 AM
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Did you have the new weights mounted on the inside of the wheel? It's just a fact that less weight is required to balance a tire/wheel combo the further the weights are placed to the outside circumference of the wheel. Also, most tires have to be run a few hundred miles before the nice sticky rubber is exposed.
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06-12-2003, 03:40 PM
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I agree with ErnestSW regarding balancing. You shouldn't need more than a couple of weights to balance everything. I've had perfectly balanced tires and rims with no weights added a few times.
IF a lot of weight is added it may be a situation of the tire and rim imperfections adding up. When you take them back for rebalancing if they still need lots of weight, ask them to spin the tire 180 degrees on the rim before rebalancing. then see what happens to the balancing. If it diminishes then great. If the weights now need to be mounted 180 degrees from where they were I would say you probably have a bad tire and should get another one.
IF a lot of weight is added it may be a situation of the tire and rim imperfections adding up. When you take them back for rebalancing if they still need lots of weight, ask them to spin the tire 180 degrees on the rim before rebalancing. then see what happens to the balancing. If it diminishes then great. If the weights now need to be mounted 180 degrees from where they were I would say you probably have a bad tire and should get another one.
