How important is wheel balance?
Balancing means compensating for the weight of both the tire and wheel after the tire is mounted. A wheel is out of balance when one area is heavier or lighter than the rest. Out-of-balance tires will cause vibration, will tend to wear excessively at the tire/wheel assembly’s heaviest spot, and increase the stress on the front-end parts and may cause them to wear prematurely.
The weight of the tire-and-wheel assembly must be distributed evenly around the tire’s circumference. A heavy spot in the assembly should be counter-balanced by wheel weights. Otherwise, out-of-balance tires will wear excessively at the heavy spot.
When to balance your wheels?
- When new tires are mounted
- When tire and wheel are moved to another wheel position
- When used tires are installed on existing wheels
- After a flat repair or any time a tire is dismounted and mounted
How does balancing work?
To balance the wheel, we use a balancing machine to determine where the heavy spots are. Weights are then attached to the exterior or interior of the wheel to counteract centrifugal forces acting on the heavy areas when the wheel is turning. Most modern tire service shops, including Tirehaus, use off-the-vehicle computer balancers which correct for both static (single plane) and dynamic (two plane) imbalance. This will eliminate vertical bouncing (static balance) and side-to-side wobble (dynamic balance). Radial tires should always be dynamically balanced.
Make wheel balancing part of your vehicle’s regular maintenance
As your vehicle travels, very bump and corner affects wheel balance. As the tires wear, the balance of your wheel changes. Over time, your tires get out of balance again. That’s why it’s important to have tires balanced regularly. For vehicles where high performance and accuracy is expected, TIREHAUS offers Precision Wheel Balancing.
Tirehaus offers wheel balancing for passenger cars, SUVs, pick-ups, light trucks and other commercial vehicles. Take advantage of our BALANCE SPECIAL OFFER. Please contact us with questions or to book an appointment.