Hi, this is my first post on this site, but just from reading other people's posts it has been very informative already. The question I have is what is the proper way to balance wheels on a bubble balancer? I have done a number of regular offset wheels with decent results, but front wheel drive wheels and other wheels that are offset in I can't seem to do right. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

I've always had the BIG-O tire shop do the balancing for me on their machine.

 

A computerized digital balancer is about the quickest and most precise IMO. I used to balance tires on those machines and have been impressed. I have driven vehicles that shake terrible before balancing and nothing after. Balancing is fairly inexpensive. You need to rotate your tires anyway, so when you have them off, just balance them.

 

...Welcome to Ford Truck Enthusiasts!

See you on the boards. ….

 

First, welcome to FTE!!!

The old bubble balance is only for static balance. There is also a dynamic balance, that only the newer wheel balancers can do.

 

It takes a lot of experience to be able to effectively balance with the old bubble balancers. I actually know a guy that can do it, and rarely if ever gets a shake, but he has done it for years. The computerized balancers are pretty effective, but not perfect either. The operator has to pay attention for bent rims and such or they will still go out with a shake. Yes, that isn't a balance issue, but it tends to get blamed for it all the same. Operator error is more the cause of balance problems with the machines, but it is a part of the system...

 

Back when I was taking shop, the instructor told me bubble balancing is economy and meant for slow speeds, say under 60mph. Bubble balancing only balances the tire in 2 dimensions, the vertical plane. Imbalances from side to side are not taken care of.

Dynamic balancing is 3 dimensional, that is why sometimes the weights go on the inside AND outside of the rim while bubble balancing is just on the outside.

I have done bubble balancing and it was fine for the "55 stay alive" era, but I suspect if I had a dynamic balancer it would have been better.

The dynamic balancing is much better and gets rid of secondary effects(harmonics) from the wheel.

Supposedly the best dynamic balancing was the one where they balance the wheel while it is on the car. It corrects balance problems of the tire, wheel, brake rotor, hub etc. Dynamic balancing on a machine with the wheel off the car is very good but maybe not as good as on the car. This is what they said 20-30 years ago when I took night school.

I haven't seen on the car balancing for a long time, maybe because balancing the rears might have been harder?

Juts my recollections,

Jim Henderson

 

The guy I referred to was able to figure out whether the weight belonged on the inside or the outside, but most of us would never be able to figure that out with a simple bubble balancer...

 

Bubble balancing does not have to have the weights on the outside. I have bubble balanced thousands of tires and never had a comeback.

-Set up the balancer properly according to the manufactures directions. This largely consisted of making sure it was on firm level ground. That the balancer was leveled, and that the mechanism worked and read true.
-Move the lever to capture the movement.
-Set the tire on the balancer flat face down.
-Make sure it is centered using whatever method the balancer uses.
-Un-capture the mechanism so the bubble reads the balance.
-Pick up FOUR weights that experience would tell should move the bubble back to center.
-Place the weights in two spots around the rim (two at each location) and move them around so they exactly move the bubble to center. The weights should be approximately 90° apart from each other. If not use a heavier or lighter set of FOUR weights to get nearly 90° apart.
-Move the lever to cage the mechanism.
-Mark the weight position with chalk on the outside of the tire.
-Remove the weights and wheel.
-Hammer on TWO weights on the INSIDE of the wheel at the points indicated by the chalk.
-Replace the wheel on the balancer.
-Un-capture the mechanism so the bubble reads the balance.
-Place the remaining two weights on the balancer in the positions indicated by the chalk marks.
-Move the weights until the bubble is exactly centered.
-Check to see that the weights are approximately 90° apart again. If not select the next higher or lower pair of weights.
-Recheck the balance.
-Mark the weight positions.
-Cage the mechanism again.
-Remove the weights and wheel.
-Hammer on the weights in the positions indicated.
-Replace the wheel on the balancer.
-Un-capture the mechanism so the bubble reads the balance.
-Recheck the balance to make sure the bubble is precisely centered. (if not go thru the final balance steps again).
-Cage the mechanism again.
-Remove the wheel.
-Replace wheel on vehicle.

Always cage the mechanism before GENTLY putting a tire and wheel on or off the machine to avoid damaging the balance mechanism. NEVER hammer a weight on while the wheel assy is on the machine.

I have gone 175+MPH on bubble balanced tires with no vibration problems. On any typical night during my teens the bubble balanced wheels on my car worked perfectly with no balance problems at speeds to 150MPH. You haven't lived until you have driven a big block at 8-9000 RPM in second gear! -Sweet music for the soul!!! I kinda liked to play with the Lincoln's and Cadillacs, none of the local hotrods (new or old) could hold with me either...

Ahhh to be young, stupid, and invulnerable again.