Static Wheel Balancer

[david.g.chapman]

I notice that Frost are now selling a static wheel balancer for ?59 (I think).

It appears to cope with wire wheels and looks as if it could take our lotus wheels as well.

I am tempted to buy it to continue fiddling about with the front wheel balance and eliminate the last bit of steering wheel shake I have (although it's not bad).

I an concious though of ruining the dynamic balance of the wheels, although I could mark the weight positions and play about from there.

Has anyone had any experience of static balancers - are they any good for the lotus steel, or alloy wheels?

Dave Chapman.

[twincamman]

nothing is as good as spinning the wheel to balance them but we have used a static balancer for formula vee wheels at the track in an emergency and its not all that bad ---but not as accurate ----ed

[bill308]

A proper dynamic balancing can correct for inbalance couples, that where the inside edge and outside edge are not in harmony. Static balancing cannot discriminate and correct this type of imbalance, yet it can be significant.

Bill

[david.g.chapman]

Thanks for that.

I might still buy one if I'm feeling rich - otherwise I will stick with what I have now.

Incidentally I think it is worthwhile if anyone has a wheel imbalance problem on steel wheels, to get hold of a 20 gram weight and fix it to each of the front wheels in turn at 120 degree intervals. Take the car up to speed each time and see if you get an improvement.

If you find a sensitive area you can then add more or less weight if feeling keen.

Dave Chapman.

[lotuselan2]

I have a static balancer and use it occasionally. One advantage is you don't have to pay to get a wheel checked quickly. If done with patience, you can get it pretty close and I think the dynamic issues arise more with wheels wider than ours! If nothing else if you have a bit of a shake, you might eliminate wheel balance as a possible cause and look for something else.

Here is one that hit me this week, while at a conference of engineers. A Brit told me his brother injects a small amount of liquid into his wheels and then NEVER balances them. He claims never to have a vibration! Anyone ever heard of that? Unfortunately, this brother had no clue how much liquid to add. He said he used a liquid that would not freeze or damage rubber or wheels (maybe propylene glycol). I'd love to hear if anyone has heard about this one.
Ken

[denicholls2]

I have one that was made in China, sold through J.C. Whitney for about $75, and isn't worth the trouble. The flaws in the basic design (a horrendous sprung centering device with too much spring pressure for use with Lotus rims) make it less accurate than an unbalanced wheel. Stay away from this one. I also have my doubts about the value of static balance, because you basically wind up putting a lot of weight in one place to attain balance. If you note a dynamically balanced wheel, you won't see this -- instead smaller weights are distributed around the rim. I suspect that the static method creates a kind of axial balance that looks good on the balancer but not when the wheel is spinning.

I've actually considered using fluid. The theory may be flawed, but it suggests that the fluid will deposit itself so as to stabilize the wheel in dynamic motion.

Either that or the wheel will be so imbalanced due to fluid moving about that basic balance won't matter!

I've heard that some OEMs now use Slime (tire sealant) on new cars. The amount of sealant recommended per tire is substantial -- IIRC, somewhere around four ounces. Compare this to a typical 1.5 ounce wheel weight and it clearly has the ability to make some impact. For good or bad, I do not know, but anecdotally, the wheels I've put Slime in to seal slow rim leaks do seem to have less balance issues.

[Bruce Crowthorne]

I have an old "Paddy Hopkirk" one that I have had for years and it works a treat.
The key is having a good method of centring the wheel - with bolt on wheels it's not a problem as it has a plate with several holes at different PCDs.
Not sure about how I may do it with my knock on wheels!
So far I don't have the problem as I replaced all the tyres and had the fitter do the balancing.

In my experience, if you get shake at the wheel, you can fix it with static balance.

I am sure there will be some cases when the wheel will be so badly out of balance side to side that a dynamic balance will be required but I haven't had one yet in 20 years of using mine!

Bruce