Balancing tires - question for those who know

[mankypro]

So when you balance tires, would it not make sense to do it at full pressure?

I had a Discount Tire balance the winters for my wagon before installing them and it would seem that they balanced them at 20psi...

***?

 

[towcat]

imho that's a little low. 2/3r'ds of max pressure is usually where I balance them at.

 

[troupp]

always balance at running pressure, as the tire is at the size it will be when running down the road.( as per the COATS setup guy that dropped off our new balancer)

 

[mankypro]

Yeah they're going to re-balance these tires, ********.

 

[fx4wannabe]

The guy that balances mine does something else that no one else does. Instead of just stacking on the weights he will move the tire on the rim until he gets it close. He won't put more than an ounce of weight on a wheel. I have never had anyone that good and he only charges $20 for a mount and balance. I have to go 60 miles to get to him but its worth it.

 

[mankypro]

The wheels are 3 piece Audi 16" rims - the heaviest damn rims you've ever seen. One of them had 8 of those stick ons that go on the inside of mags, I think they're .5 ounce.

 

[7bicks]

Yes they should be at full pressure, when they are low the air settles to the bottom and can cause an out of balance situation. Very hard to get right on balance machine with the dense air sloshing around.











I don't see why a person would not just fill a tire up while on the changing machine, but at 20 pis the tire is as large as it is going to get so it really makes no difference. Even at 10 psi it will still be the same.

 

[franklin2]

Yes they should be at full pressure, when they are low the air settles to the bottom and can cause an out of balance situation. Very hard to get right on balance machine with the dense air sloshing around.

I like that one

 

[timothyr1014]

so wait....does that mean when I rotate the air in my tires i should rebalance them? or does the air stay balanced when moving from one tire to another?

 

[mankypro]

I would think that with the tire at full pressure it would force the rubber and belts to take the shapes that they would under use, obviously if you move the weight farther from the rim the centrifugal forces will change etc. causing a change in balance I would think.

 

[Agnem]

Having worked in a tire shop, I can tell you that a flat tire will balance the same as a full one. The mass of the rubber does not change, just the distance from the center does. Granted, it may be more sensitive to minor variations, but when you are only able to balance within .25 oz anyway, it's not going to matter.

 

[mankypro]

thank you for all the responses

 

[memphisrain]

I use airsoft beads, they seem to work really well.


mR