Wheel Balance

[twanita]

a lot has been written on this forum about wheel balance. listen to this one. i have trigos and yokahamas that were dynamically balanced yet car was shimmying. took front wheels to another place that had a more sophisticated machine that was just calibrated. same problem. now i start looking at all other possibilities but allan w. still says it's wheel balance so try balancing on the car and make sure to put weights on both sides of wheel even if it does not look great. . i go to a 3rd place that does that and i go back to them a second time and it seems a little better but shimmy still there. last weekend i was installing new softer brake pads and decided to dust off an old hennessy micro bubble balancer i bought at a yard sale 30 years ago. followed the procedure exactly (written in the 50's) using 4 equal weights 2 inside and 2 outside. really got bubble to center pretty well using a lot less weight than all previous methods. perfect at all speeds now. how's that for computerized technology. allen right again.

p.s. the softer wilwood pads screech to a halt now with much less pedal pressure.

[pgermond]

That's how I use to balance tires at the Richfield station I worked at back in the mid-60's. Some of this new technology is over-rated :);)

[RJacobsen]

Used that same equipment myself. that kind of dates me but I'm still younger than you Phil.:D

[pgermond]

That must mean you worked at an ARCO station rather than a Richfield station :D

Rod - you should get involved with the Nor Cal group.... assuming you are interested - http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?&forumid=85

[RJacobsen]

Phil, actually it was a Mobil station in Montana. about the Norcal group I would love to, almost went to the last meeting at Mel's, Looked like you had a good turnout.

[pgermond]

I received an e-mail from Chuck Fletcher (Grass Valley gang) today and he's trying to get some cars together for a Fall Lunch down at Crawdads River Cantina on Sunday (noon'ish). I think my bride is busy so, if it does materialize and your available, give me a holler - you have the number.

[weaver]

I don't think it is the equipment as much as the guy using it, they think getting it close is good enough but with no dampner it has to be dead on.

Alan

[Jeff 427]

I had a real bad balance problem between 55-60 MPH. It was so bad it felt like the steering wheel was going to come off in your hand!

Had the tires rebalanced with a computer balancer with stick-on weights on inside only ..... no good just as bad. Rebalanced with weights on both sides ..... still no good! Tire guy said one rear B.F. Goodrich could not be balanced because the tire was so bad.

I was going to replace all (4) with Yohamma's but found out they were no longer going to make the 15" size we need.

I spoke to Alan and he said try to find a shop that could spin balance the tire on car .... could not find anyone in my area, but I found a shop that had a "Road Force" balancer. A computer spin balancer with a "wheel" that contacts the tire tread as the balancer spins to simulate driving on the road. The guy did all (4) tires and WOW what a difference!!! It feels like a different car!!! I would say its 98 percent better even with the B.F Goodrich tires.

[davebetts]

I strongly agree with Alan. It's difficult to find mechanics who will take their time and be true to what they know might not be correct or safe. That's why most of us do are own work. But when I am over my head, fortunately, I have just the best young man, with great ethics and experience in doing things right. Time is money, a good mechanic isn't expensive, he's priceless. And for those who don't know me, I'm not a wealthy man. Let's not forget the invaluable information the Weavers share. I view them as direction indicators, getting you on the right track is more than half the game.
It's great to be in the "Unique" family.