RickBetterley

At my last track event (Thunderbolt with Delaware PCA), I felt a rotational imbalance that may have been caused by a lost wheel weight. It could be an imbalance caused by the large amount of track rubber acquired by the tire, but that stuff usually gets thrown off when the tire is reheated. Not so this time.
Since the tires have life left in them, I figured I would have the balance checked and corrected.
I have scraped off some of the extra rubber, but there is a lot left (I have also removed the crap from inside the wheel).
BUT, with all of the track rubber that is still on the tire, I wonder if it is feasible to re-balance the tire.
Suggestions?
Thanks

mark kibort

Yes, the track rubber can throw off the balance. also , depending on how far you are pushing the car, the tires can move on the rim 1-6" and further!

aj986s

Also check for flat spots. Especially if non-ABS car.

JoeMag

tape the wheel weights on with alum tape so you do not loose, and mark where valve stem is so you can see rotation as mark mentions.

i'd try rebalancing.

dbryant61

Rick,

I have done this also. You can remove the majority of the rubber boogers with a propane torch and a paint scraper (or chisel or...).

Lemming

I never bother to have my wheels/tires balanced on the track car

Porsche917K

They tend to rotate quite a bit on the rim so you will lose your balance pretty quick. Try a re-balance.

Cory M

I would check and rebalance them if needed.

kurt M

I was using used race take offs for a good while and having my own tire machines I came up with something that worked for me.
first I balance my rims without the tires on them. I tape and mark any weights needed with an "R" I then mount and balance the tire / rim combo marking the tire weights with a "T" I make a hard mark on tire at the "T" weight and if the tire moves while at the track I know where the "T" weight needs to be moved to to regain balance. That said I did not bother to rebalance much but I was also using 225/ 15 inch tires.

I took a section of old one inch band saw blade and bent it into a flat bottomed U shape. I taped on a wood handle and after bending a slight angle to the flat section of the blade, sharpened it a little against a belt sander. It works sort of like a cheeze slicer of sorts for cutting off the bigger boogers and knocking all the rocks off. A little heat for the real big ones and the runners that form on the grooves helps.

Cleaning the rim bead seat and tire beads well and mounting using hair spray goes a long way to keep tires from turning on the rims. Waiting 2 or 3 days after unsing this method before driving on them stops tire movement on rims in all the casses I have seen. I watched one tire that was so slippery on the rim that under gas the rim spun to the point of melting the tire bead.

John H

I always mare the valve stem and the weights on the tire so i know if I threw one off or the tire rotated on the wheel. Mark the weights with a line as long as the weights.

MUSSBERGER

And remove the boogers with a heat gun and scraper.

Jason Judd

Rick,

The tires are probably no good...I'll come up and take them off your hands for you; and I won't even charge you the recycling fee.

What a deal!

RickBetterley

You are such a good friend.
Though I do wonder about how cost effective this would be for you.

Tim L

Rick

If you lost some wheel weight I would balance them, if not you could have fixed your problem by removing the rubber. I usually pick up a lot of rubber on the inside of the inside front wheel but never enough to cause more than a slight imbalance.

Tim

RickBetterley

Hi Tim; good to hear from you. I see you have added a few logos to your car!
I typically pick up a fair amount of rubber on the tires themselves as well as some minor amounts on the inside of the wheels (which are easily removed).
I am not sure if the imbalance is caused by extra rubber on the tires, but since its never happened before, I am guessing wheel weight.
So, I need to remove the extra unwanted rubber and then re-balance, I suspect.
I am going to be more diligent about taping wheel weights in the future.