[Chrysler300] Balancing Act

[Rich Barber <barber@xxxxxxxxx>]

(Retransmitted)

The wheel/tire balancing and tube vs. tubeless thread has been amazing 
and informative. Thanks to all that contributed.  

I understand and appreciate the concept of a wheel and tire each having 
their own imbalance and
I recall previous guidance to locate the heaviest portions of the wheel 
and tire separately,
then place them opposite to each other before starting the balancing 
process.

Sounds reasonable and I suppose there are several ways to find the 
heaviest point on the rim. 

My question is:  how does one find the heaviest point on an unmounted 
tire?  Obviously, if the tire has
been poorly designed or fabricated with excessive overlap of plies and 
tread, balancing will be difficult and
require more weights.  Ultimately, a buyer would select their tires from 
a rack full of candidates based on
roundness and inherent imbalance.  Try that at Tires-R-Us!

Perhaps one could use a perfectly-balanced armature that would center 
and support the tire on a horizontal
spindle or even on an old "bubble balancer".

When I had my tubed Remingtons mounted on the Motor Wheel wires, the 
tire technician was
very sensitive to protecting the appearance of the rims and used the 
proper procedure to install the tubes and tires
while babying the rims on the tire changing machine.   He mounted all 
the clip-on weights on the inside of the rim
at my direction as if this were common practice with the sport wheel 
customers. 

And several of the tire-wheel combos required a lot of lead.

Based on what I've heard from you guys, when I get to supervise that 
process again,
I'll consider having the tech find the heavy points on each wheel and 
tire, have them mounted
in opposition and then use the stick-on lead tape on the inside of the 
center hub to achieve
some of the dynamic balance while preserving the attractive appearance 
of the chrome rims.

I'd be up front in agreeing to pay a premium for this premium service.

Any thoughts you may have on this process would be appreciated.

Rich Barber
Brentwood, CA (getting chilly-just dropped below 40!)
1955 CCC

Ray Jones wrote:

Roger, it looks like they should have been willing to help in any way 
they could. In your case, which is not the norm, you are a great 
customer, and should be treated as such. But your original post proves 
my point, it's not the kind of job they are used to. Or  equipped to 
do. I also must watch and/or be involved when I let others work on my 
stuff. I'm a retired Master Tech and know how I want it done. I worked 
all my Professional career as a "flat rate" mechanic. I retired not as 
wealthy as I could, by selling my customers only what they really 
needed right now and advised them what would be  needed later. I always 
felt it was better to have loyal customers than angry ones.
I don't even want to think about what goes on in the kitchen....

I worked on quite a few cars with very pricey wheels and very picky 
owners. It was a fun challenge  to me to keep the added weight to a 
minimum. Also, less chance to have a "comeback" from a thrown weight.

Chrysler 300 lesson here is: Balance and mark  the wheel first, then 
add the tire. Slower, but more precise.
Regards, Ray





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