Tire Balancing

if you have a good rim and new tire, there shouldnt be much balancing at all.


If you run at high speeds...... thats another story.
 
x2 on ronn's post #3.

A new set of American Radials from Coker and tubes from Brattons with beads installed made a huge difference. Before, the car could not be driven over 40mph without tire bounce etc. After, I experimented on selected roads that had been repaved all the way to 60 + mph for a couple miles at a time. Amazing difference.

It turned out, the tubes had flaws in them and all 4 failed within 2000 miles where the flaws existed when mounted. A complete set of new Hartford tubes without the beads have lasted more than 2500 without a failure. The Hartford tubes did not have the flaws that were in the previous tubes. I'm hopeful that the new set will give reasonable service distances. On the plus side, I'm now an expert at changing out Model A tires and tubes, LOL.

I did not put the beads in the new Hartfords. The left front spindle was used to test the balance of the new Hartford tubes and Radials, all 4. The spindle bearings had been properly greased and set a couple thousand miles previous and when given a good spin, the tire would rotate more than 20+ times. I spun each tire multiple times, at least 4, and they all stopped at random locations each time. This is with no balance weights or beads of any kind. Not a precise balance, but it would reveal any drastic condition.

The car drives nicely up to 45 - 50 mph which is enough for us. We rarely exceed 40 mph. There is a left to right shake that appears now above 50 mph. Nothing drastic, but there none the less. I believe that tire beads really kick in at higher speeds and were taking care of this phenomenon.
 
Rob Doe said:
A new set of American Radials from Coker and tubes from Brattons with beads installed made a huge difference.

It turned out, the tubes had flaws in them and all 4 failed within 2000 miles where the flaws existed when mounted. A complete set of new Hartford tubes without the beads have lasted more than 2500 without a failure.
Click to expand...

I don't believe it was Bratton's tubes that had flaws but instead the "inspection stickers" that Coker puts in the American Classic Radial Tires that caused your leaks. Check your old tubes for marks from the stickers. All five of my tubes had the same imprints from the stickers. Numerous people have had flats because of this.

I complained to Coker who did nothing, as expected.

I think you will probably be experiencing more flats if you have not removed the "stickers". The reason the Hartford tubes have lasted longer is because they are thicker than the Bratton's tubes.

There was another thread on this a while ago.

Inspection stickers inside of American Classic Radials
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Imprint in tube from "Inspection Sticker"
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Slice in tube
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Debris removed for American Classic Radial
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rustyparts said:
What did the factory do when mounting tires? Were they balanced? What is everybody doing today when mounting new tires.
Click to expand...

I used balance beads when I had Lucas tires on my Town Sedan. Since installing the American Classic Radials (twice!) I have not installed balance beads. I may install them as I bought them when I bought the radials. I'm glad I didn't install them before 5 tubes were ruined.

The American Classic Radials with Hartford tubes are pretty well balanced as they come from Coker.
 
All good info, Y-, thanks for the response, but I'm stickin' to muh story. The flaws were in the tubes I had when they were taken out of the box. I've definitely removed the stickers from our tires, which is not an easy task by hand. There is a thread where I documented this at the time.

By the way, I never asked for a refund on the tubes.The vendors have their hands full trying to stay in business for a number of reasons, but they all need to put their heads together and make an effort to correct this as a group. IMHO, the new radial tires are a major improvement for the Model A.
 
Rob Doe said:
All good info, Y-, thanks for the response, but I'm stickin' to muh story. The flaws were in the tubes I had when they were taken out of the box. I've definitely removed the stickers from our tires, which is not an easy task by hand. There is a thread where I documented this at the time.
Click to expand...

I hope you are right!! Not fun changing tires on the road. I had plenty of "help" last time tho.

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Do you happen to have pictures of the flawed tubes so that me and others will know what to look for?

Rob Doe said:
IMHO, the new radial tires are a major improvement for the Model A.
Click to expand...

No argument from me there. The Radial tires are vast improvement in ride and handling over my previous tires.
 

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Here is an easy way to check and balance wheels on a Model A, and I revised the slide to include The Master Cylinder's suggestion (Post 12) re brakes.
 

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I balance mine on a stand I made for the purpose. It is an old front hub mounted so that the tyre is clear of the ground and the stand, the bearings are old yet have no pitting and are lubricated only with a little oil. I use double sided adhesive tape to hold modern stick on weights in place on the back of the rim.
The results are good enough for smooth running at 60+ mph.
 
I used to work at a garage that also offered spin balancing on the car. It was nice because it also balanced the drum/rotor, wheel tire, as a unit. We'd mark the stud so it needed not to be done again if the wheel needed to come off. Then the machine broke. We tried, and tried to get it fixed, and no one would repair it. We junked it, and went to that newfangled spin balancer (like what they use today). Yes what we have today is better than a bubble balance, but technology some times is about quickly making money.

Kind of a shame.
 
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