Why wheel balancing is a useless procedure?
- July 13, 2022
- 0
Most drivers know why they need to balance their wheels. And they do that every now and then when replacing tires or discs at a “tire shop”. However,
Most drivers know why they need to balance their wheels. And they do that every now and then when replacing tires or discs at a “tire shop”. However, not everyone knows that balancing is not a panacea for some problems. And even if the wheel is balanced, which is called zero, the ride comfort does not increase. The AvtoVzglyad portal found out why wheel balancing is a waste of time and money in some cases.
Many drivers have experienced one or more wobbly wheels in their car. Usually it occurs when the latter are out of balance with respect to the axis of rotation. For example, a rim or tire is damaged by a deep hole in the asphalt. Or is it just an ordinary marriage of a band or disc he’s on.
Poor tire and disc repairs, asymmetrical tread pattern or uneven tire wear and age-related deformation can also lead to imbalance. Eventually, the balancing weight may fall off during operation. In general, there are many ways to unbalance the wheels, but not all of them will lead you to a tire shop, whose workers are always ready to restore the balance using special equipment and weights mounted on the wheel disc . Unfortunately, it also happens that even with excellent readings on the balancing machine, the wheel continues to vibrate. How is this possible?
But first, we’ll figure out where the wheel imbalance leads, because vibration in the body and knocking in the steering wheel are not all the charms of imbalance. For example, if the imbalance is strong and is not remedied by the car owner for a long time, the vibrating wheel puts a lot of strain on the wheel bearing, which must be replaced with a new one later. It is therefore recommended to balance the wheels from time to time, and be sure to do this even if they are composed of new wheels and tires.
However, there are situations where you don’t have to run for a tire fit. For example, you drove into the snow. He stuck to a hot disk – and here’s a reason for you to beat. At a speed of 80-100 km / h, the wheel begins to vibrate nervously, and all the vibrations are transferred to the steering wheel. The ride becomes uncomfortable in an instant. The same thing happens if dirt sticks to the disc. And in this case, the problem is solved by an ordinary sink. The snow melts, the dirt is washed away and the balance is restored.
It is not necessary to balance the wheels, even if the replacement rubber set, which is placed on the rims, is properly stored. But there are other cases where balancing seems necessary but turns out to be useless. It simply cannot solve the problem that even a zero-balanced wheel continues to vibrate. The fault is the broken geometry of the disk. For this reason, vibrations on the body and knocks in the steering wheel will not go anywhere no matter how hard the tire mechanic tries. You can check this by disconnecting the wheel and disc and scrolling it on a balancing machine.
In this case, however, you can return to balancing after restoring the geometry of the disk. But not all discs are well tolerated by such a procedure. For example, it is easy to restore the geometry on stamped discs. But forged and cast, after being rolled on a special machine, lose their properties and become unsafe. The reason for this is the unstable pressure on the disc and thermal stress at a certain point, which have a devastating effect on the structure of the disc. Eventually, the drive may fall apart along the way.
There is another reason – there is no centering of the wheel on the hub. In other words, the wheel turns. And this is easy to check by loosening the bolts a little and moving the wheel up and down without removing it from the hub. A clearance of 1 mm or more is considered critical. Many people try to solve the problem with centering rings or a more accurate fit of the disc to the hub. However, all this, as they say, is a death compress. In fact, it is better to refuse the use of such drives.
Photo: AvtoVzglyad
Many drivers have experienced one or more wobbly wheels in their car. Usually it occurs when the latter are out of balance with respect to the axis of rotation. For example, a rim or tire is damaged by a deep hole in the asphalt. Or is it just an ordinary marriage of a band or disc he’s on.
Poor tire and disc repairs, asymmetrical tread pattern or uneven tire wear and age-related deformation can also lead to imbalance. Eventually, the balancing weight may fall off during operation. In general, there are many ways to unbalance the wheels, but not all of them will lead you to a tire shop, whose workers are always ready to restore the balance using special equipment and weights mounted on the wheel disc . Unfortunately, it also happens that even with excellent readings on the balancing machine, the wheel continues to vibrate. How is this possible?
But first, we’ll figure out where the wheel imbalance leads, because vibration in the body and knocking in the steering wheel are not all the charms of imbalance. For example, if the imbalance is strong and is not remedied by the car owner for a long time, the vibrating wheel puts a lot of strain on the wheel bearing, which must be replaced with a new one later. It is therefore recommended to balance the wheels from time to time, and be sure to do this even if they are composed of new wheels and tires.
However, there are situations where you don’t have to run for a tire fit. For example, you drove into the snow. He stuck to a hot disk – and here’s a reason for you to beat. At a speed of 80-100 km / h, the wheel begins to vibrate nervously, and all the vibrations are transferred to the steering wheel. The ride becomes uncomfortable in an instant. The same thing happens if dirt sticks to the disc. And in this case, the problem is solved by an ordinary sink. The snow melts, the dirt is washed away and the balance is restored.
It is not necessary to balance the wheels, even if the replacement rubber set, which is placed on the rims, is properly stored. But there are other cases where balancing seems necessary but turns out to be useless. It simply cannot solve the problem that even a zero-balanced wheel continues to vibrate. The fault is the broken geometry of the disk. For this reason, vibrations on the body and knocks in the steering wheel will not go anywhere no matter how hard the tire mechanic tries. You can check this by disconnecting the wheel and disc and scrolling it on a balancing machine.
In this case, however, you can return to balancing after restoring the geometry of the disk. But not all discs are well tolerated by such a procedure. For example, it is easy to restore the geometry on stamped discs. But forged and cast, after being rolled on a special machine, lose their properties and become unsafe. The reason for this is the unstable pressure on the disc and thermal stress at a certain point, which have a devastating effect on the structure of the disc. Eventually, the drive may fall apart along the way.
There is another reason – there is no centering of the wheel on the hub. In other words, the wheel turns. And this is easy to check by loosening the bolts a little and moving the wheel up and down without removing it from the hub. A clearance of 1 mm or more is considered critical. Many people try to solve the problem with centering rings or a more accurate fit of the disc to the hub. However, all this, as they say, is a death compress. In fact, it is better to refuse the use of such drives.
Source: Avto Vzglyad
I’m Sandra Torres, a passionate journalist and content creator. My specialty lies in covering the latest gadgets, trends and tech news for Div Bracket. With over 5 years of experience as a professional writer, I have built up an impressive portfolio of published works that showcase my expertise in this field.
