At home wheel balancers...anyone tried one??

[Guest]

I`ve pretty much had it with dealers wanting 30 bucks to change a tire and balance it. I`ve even brought some home knowing it was improperly balanced. I and a friend have invested in a coats manual tire changer so I got that out of the way(found a like new used one ). I have looked at the one that Rod Ness has and have noticed several more like it. Basically they are a stand and either use a shaft with cones or as the one Rod has uses the axle. All of these ride on a set of high quality bearings. Its not spin balancing but I think it will serve the purpose. Does anyone know of a better unit or have experience with any of this equipment?? Thanks again!!!!!!

[Billy Ricks]

I just balanced a new D208 I installed on the front of my bike. I didn't use a stand. I just left the calipers and speedo drive off and mounted the wheel on the front end. I went to a tire shop and told them I needed to buy some stick on wheel weights and they ended up giving me more than enough for both wheels. I'll be getting a new 208 for the rear soon and I have plenty of weights left for the rear. The front seems to be balanced pretty good.

[Anonymous]

I just balanced a new D208 I installed on the front of my bike. I didn't use a stand. I just left the calipers and speedo drive off and mounted the wheel on the front end. I went to a tire shop and told them I needed to by some stick on wheel weights and they ended up giving me more that enough for both wheels. I'll be getting a new 208 for the rear soon and I have plenty of weights left for the rear. The front seems to be balanced pretty good.

OK, I know I'm being a little thick here, but exactly what did you to balance the tire?

[Billy Ricks]

OK, I know I'm being a little thick here, but exactly what did you to balance the tire?

The heavy side of the wheel will settle straight down. Just add 1/4 oz. of weight at a time 180 degrees opposite the heavy side and turn the wheel 1/4 turn and see if that's enough weight. Keep adding weight until what was the heavy side quits settling to the bottom. Then check your weighted side to make sure you haven't added too much weight.

[cbxchris]

Billy the only bad thing with that is you are depending on your bearings and seals which sometimes will lead you wrong. Good idea though.

[moto_dan]

I've balanced my tires and wheels for years with good results using Jack stands to hold my axle and wheel. Clean and lightly lubricate your axle to eliminate as much friction as possible. The less friction when wheel is rotated the better the results. There are stands availble that use low friction bearings which the track side vendors use, but for street use mine or Billy's method will work fine with a little patience.

[Anonymous]

those bubble balancers work fine, nascar has used them for years, dont know if they still do or not but im sure ebay has some good deals to be found.

[dgeorge]

Rick, is this the type of bubble balancer your talking about http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=39741
I've been thinking about getting one, this is the way I learned to balance tires back when I was working in service stations as a teenager.

[Anonymous]

yup thats it.

[HiSPL]

I used Dan's method to balance my rear tire.....worked great.....

We hit triple digit speed on the TX hill country ride and it was smooth as silk 8O