Harbor freight wheel balancer?

I don't see why it wouldn't but it is a static balancer, not a dynamic balancer. I believe the best would be to spin the wheel and I doubt the balancers I've seen at my tire shop would work.
 
Russell in Tulsa said:
I don't see why it wouldn't but it is a static balancer, not a dynamic balancer. I believe the best would be to spin the wheel and I doubt the balancers I've seen at my tire shop would work.
Click to expand...

I have a hot rod with a model a engine so I hope it qualifies. i have 16" kelsey wheels and we developed a bad wheel bounce problem. I had the the wheels/tires statically balanced and it cured the problem.
The tires were originally balanced with a spin balancer that spun the tires on the car.
 
I've seen plenty of sloppy, 'close enough' work done on dynamic balancers. Much of the debate over static vs dynamic balance comes down to how wide the tire is. If you had a theoretical flat disc of zero width, the static balance would by default also be perfect dynamic balance. Modern wide tires benefit from dynamic balancing. Narrower old size tires gain nothing that you can feel while driving. A bubble balancer is fine.
 
In the FWIW column, I have used an old bubble balancer from the fifties or sixties for years now. I balanced my Chevy, Ford and Saab wheels on it. And my 3 Daughter's various makes of car wheels as well. Oh yeah, and my model A wheels too. The only wheel I couldn't balance, was a neighbors that turned out to have about a pint of water in it. Condensate from the compressor tank? I have used the tried and true method of splitting the weight, putting half on the inside and half on the outside of the rims. I figured I could always take to a shop if needed. In over twenty five years, I have never needed to do that. And I drive on Interstates a lot. Go with the bubble balancer! It'll be fine.
Terry
 
I've been plenty happy with not doing any balancing and using the balancing beads. Nice and smooth through 60mph.
 
Static balancing seemed to work for everything including race cars for many years ... if they could run in the 150 mph range back then ......
 
Dynabeads and Counteract are the two brands I use. I have Dynabeads in the truck and trailers and Counteract in the model A and motorcycle.
The only problem I have ever had was a bead snuck into the metal valve stem and held the valve open when I was airing up. I just make sure the stem is between 4 and 8 and I have not had a repeat.
 
I ordered what I thought were Dynabeads, but when the order came it was Counteract. Didn't know if they were essentially the same thing or not.

And when you say "between 4 & 8", would that be on the upper or lower side of that quadrant?
 
First, before we continue this hijaaking.....

Kingbee-Yes, the harbor freight balancer works with our wheels.

CarlG- Put the valve at the bottom of the tire. Then any beads fall out of the stem and into the tube.
 
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Take your spare to a tire shop and see if it will fit on their spin balance machine. I found no problem here in my area of Maine.
 
Could someone please give the Harbor Freight model number for this balancer? Also, do they sell the weights that will fit on model A 19" wheels? If not, where can they be purchased?

Glen
 
I was told as long as the tire shop has a cone big enough to fit on our rims , they should be able to spin it. My local discount tire was able to. But he didn't balance it for me, I just wanted him to spin it so I could see how well I straightened the spokes. I'm trying not to get any wobble.
 
You do not have to spin the tire to get dynamic balance. The proper way a tire should be balanced on a stationary balancer.You need four equal size weights. two in one hand and two in another. look where the bubble is and that is the heaviest spot so you set the weights down spread equally apart to center the bubble. With the bubble in the center mark where you put the four weights, two on top of each other . Install two weights on the backside of the rim. Recalibrate the balancer and mount the tire on the balancer. take your last two weights and spread them apart and move until bubble is centered. attach them to the front side. Now you have static and dynamic balance. The reason they use spin balancers is they are easier and less time but you are paying for the machine.
 
back to topic; OK I looked at this balancer... Item#39741 on Harbor Fright web site.

My question with this type, wouldn't it be true that if the wheel were slightly out-of-straight (in other words it had a slight wobble), then it wouldn't balance properly because the rim is sitting off kilter?

In other words, since one side is already low you might be trying to cure a wobble problem and not a balance problem.

Now another thought (I am a six year owner but still a newbee), why not balance like they balance an airplane propeller? Put the wheel on a something that spins and add weights to get it to have a minimal gravity turn, or it stays in one position? I've balanced a prop on a stick between two saw horses.

Thoughts? and thanks for a great thread. Jack
 
Wheelbalancetypes.gif

This shows the effects of static and dynamic imbalance. You can also see why narrower tires and wheels would experience much less force from slight dynamic imbalance.

561_Static%20and%20dynamic%20balance1.png

With a fairly narrow, small airplane propeller, much like a narrow Model A tire, the distance of the C.G. (center of gravity) from the vertical centerline of the object, 90 degrees to the rotational axis, is small enough to render the rotational couple force from off-centerline C.G. points well below any material stress, bearing stress, or discernable vibration threshold. With large, wide, big-bite props like on a turboprop dynamic balance is an issue. If you're making a pietenpol prop or just using the 'ol "A" engine to drive standard 19" or 21" tires at less-than interstate speeds, it is a non-issue.
 
Here's a confession, and I'll bet I'm not the only one.
I don't balance my wheels at all. In the past 30 years and tens of thousands of miles, 3 full sets of tires, I haven't balanced my wheels once. I know some guys are driving 60 mph in their cars and probably need to balance them. But at the top speed of 45 (my coupe will actually cruise nicely at 50) that I drive, I just haven't felt the need.
Sorry for being off-topic again, but I think the OP got his answer.
 
I made this homemade wheel balancer, but like Bobrian, I haven't had a need to balance my tires, as I haven't felt any vibration or bounch.

This tool also works great to check the wheels for wobble and out of round.:)
 

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Yes, fiddlybits gave the answer I needed. Previously my car was very smooth at 45 to 65 MPH with balanced tires. But I just had my wheels blasted and powder coated and installed new tires. Now the car shakes pretty badly over 45. I don't want to move the tires on the rims, as I have properly aligned them with the metal valve stems as they were supposedly done from the factory. As I routinely drive 55 to 65, balancing is a must for me. Oh, the car I'm dealing with is a Town Sedan, not the roadster. Thanks for all the replies,
Walt
 
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