Wheel Balance Check..

[Cougar]

The last month or so I have noticed a slight front end shake/vib at 70 mph.

 

Yes, I checked the tree for the proper adjustments and all was good there.

Then I got to thinking my tire was never high speed balanced from what

I found out at the Honda dealer that I took I to.

 

So anyways I removed the tire and took the Ride-On out of it,

put the tire back on and this is my results on how much the weights

are. would this cause this kind of problem I am having?

 

Notice the wheel weights to the left.

 

I have found a shop that does high speed balance as well.

 

I also ordered a Marc Parnes wheel balancer. boy is this a nice

balancer very high grade stuff he uses in his product. much

better then the bent rod harbor fright ones I was looking at.

 

ANYWAYS!

Take a look at these photos and tell me if this would cause the

sight vib. at 70 mph . oh the wheel bearings are good as well.

 

[ATTACH]84299[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH]84300[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH]84301[/ATTACH]

[Prairiehammer]

How did your required balance weights compare to the ones that were done "professionally"? How many ounces did it take to balance statically?

[Cougar]

I left the old weight on the wheel. then rechecked it.

and the pictures show the results. I have not had

it re-balanced yet. I needed to know how far off it was.

or if any at all.

Tomorrow I will experiment more with how much

was is on there and see how much I remove.

[Prairiehammer]

You are saying that the three successive pics were taken after spinning the wheel each time? And it ALWAYS ended up with weights at ten o'clock?

Doesn't seem very balanced then.

[Cougar]

Correct,I should be able to stop it and it stays .

[DMW]

When spund it should hardly ever stop in the same place. When you remounted tire did you line up dot with valve stem?

[Cougar]

There is no dot.

[Cougar]

I am posting this , cuz I have had a shimmy at 70 mph and this is what I found.

I just wanted to know if you think that caused it. The tire will be rebalanced soon.

This is what I found after a dealer mounted and balanced the tire.

( not good )

[Cougar]

Had to move the original weights over to the next spoke

and add 10 more grams. now to see if this is the fix :-) .

 

 

[ATTACH]84309[/ATTACH]

[Prairiehammer]

Had to move the original weights over to the next spoke

and add 10 more grams. now to see if this is the fix :-) .

 

 

[ATTACH]84309[/ATTACH]

 

Seems like a lot of weight.

[billmac]

kinda smells like the person who mounted it didn't know or forgot about the dot and valve stem. you did also check the air in the front shocks?

[Cougar]

Font shock air is perfect and I see NO DOT on the tire.

looked on both sides.

[billmac]

usually the dot gets washed off when they clean the tire after mounting. it's just a temp mark on a new tire for mounting. Just had new tires mounted and I saw the dots and they were gone when he wiped the tire off after he was done.

[Cougar]

From what I am seeing online searching the Mich II's do not have a dot anymore.

not sure why. but thanks for the info.

So anyways if there was one it is gone now .

This is got me thinking that in the future I will be

doing all this myself. I just can not believe how

far off a dealer was when they did this.

[bikenut]

What brand is the tire. Some have a dot and some have a white tag on the bead of the tire.

Mich 'll have a tag on the bead but can not see it unless you pop the bead and look for it. The wheel will cover it up

Edited May 17, 2014 by bikenut

[Cougar]

Michelin Commander 2's from still reading on-line ,they have not had a DOT since 2006

on there tires.

 

I might have seen the bar code your talking about. I will look on another one I have , thanks

[Cougar]

So we take the bar code and place it at the stem correct ?

[bikenut]

Yes

[Cougar]

OK, I will run the tire down now and have it done right then check

balance and report back. thanks !!!

you guys rock

[billmac]

weird, both the front and rear had a white dot on my commander ll's

[Cougar]

OK guys, there was a barcode on the inside lip

and it was at the opposite end of all those weights.

Now to see how much it will take, looking so far like

maybe 5 grams. will be back in a few. made all the diff

in the world !!!! THANKS !

[Cougar]

OK, I went from 60 grams down to 30 grams of wheel weight.

I think now I am on the right track.

 

[ATTACH]84315[/ATTACH]

 

Again , THANKS !

 

Jeff

[skydoc_17]

Hey Cougar,

You mentioned that you may be doing this for yourself in the future. DOT or not, If I were putting more than 20 grams on a tire of mine, I would debead and rotate the tire 45 degrees on the rim until I found the best location as far as balance is concerned. I am currently running 10 grams on my front tire, (Dunlop E3's) and 15 grams on the rear tire. It takes some extra time, but if you will soon have the equipment to make these adjustments yourself, it is worth it. I personally would not take a tire from a dealer that had 60 grams of weight on it! I would be taking the mechanic to "school" though!

Just an FYI.

Earl

[Cougar]

Thanks EARL

yes, I was reading more into that like you said

and if I had the rest if the equipment I would do

just as you said , keep moving it to almost the point

of no weight at all !

I just can not believe this mechanic did it this way .

live and learn I guess. learned lots the past two days though

[Cougar]

weird, both the front and rear had a white dot on my commander ll's

Yes maybe, I am also betting it got washed off on the first mount.

at lest the barcode was in there still.

Thanks!

Jeff