Does anyone here use a bubble balancer?

[Klutch9]

Anyone? As many of you, I like to DIY as many car repairs as I can. Not only to save money, but I enjoy it as well. I know that bubble balancing/static balancing was the standard many years ago, and rims and tires have changed a lot since then, but some people still use this method. So for those of you who have done it, how accurate is it and what were your results? Yes, I know that it's old technology, I'm just curious.

 

[robertcope]

I own a cheap one from HF and have used it to balance trailer tires and race car tires. It works okay. Clearly not as good as a modern balancer, but good enough for my trailer and used race car wheels/tires.

robert

 

[Bgallagher]

It would be fine for a trailer tire as mentioned above but I wouldn't use it for any modern day cars. Good idea but how often do your tires lose their balance?

 

[Jim K]

What do you need to balance bubbles for ?

 

[supton]

I got the cheapo portable one from HF, and it's junk. If I had metal working tools I could fix it--it doesn't mate well to the base.

When I looked into it, skinny/tall tires do ok with bubble balancing. Wide/short, not so much. On any tire the imbalance can be anyplace; on a narrow tire putting the weight on the wrong side doesn't matter as much.

The stick-on weights from HF weren't all that great either. Probably worthwhile to buy a stack of crimp-on ones (amazon?) if serious.

Problem is, it's like $6 per to balance at Walmart (one time, have to ask, IIRC, YMMV). Or just part of the typical $20 mount/balance deal at a shop. Tires usually don't go out of balance, it's a one-time thing; and last time I did tires it was a real pain on my Toyota, so I likely won't do car tires again. Trailer tires, ok not an issue--but they don't seem to need balancing.

 

[tomcat27]

Originally Posted By: Jimkobb
What do you need to balance bubbles for ?

imbalanced bubbles are pretty unpredictable!

 

[CT8]

Originally Posted By: Jimkobb
What do you need to balance bubbles for ?
It is lots of fun!!!

 

[EdwardC]

I only buy bubbles that are already balanced.

I do my own motorcycle tires and just do a simple static balance (not a bubble, balanced through the axle and spinning manually). I've never had any issues up to highway speeds.

 

[ChiTDI]

I used it a lot.
Balance wasn't anyway near as accurate as dynamic balances, but they worked.
The less lead you used overall, the better.
Steel wheels seemed to deliver the best results, but they too are a vanishing item.

 

[tc1446]

Since I learned about the Hunter Roadforce balancer, I won't use anything else. Not a lot of stations
in my area have it, and my local tire shop insists its not any better than the normal spin. Nevertheless
I'm gonna need four new tires soon for the Accord and they are going to be done on the Roadforce.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: supton
I got the cheapo portable one from HF, and it's junk. If I had metal working tools I could fix it--it doesn't mate well to the base.


X2

It's more reliable to static balance tires by the "heavy spot down" method:

Pull a rear brake drum from a FWD car so you see just the bearing, and so it has very little drag. Bolt your wheel up (with all lug nuts) and spin it, taking note of where the valve stem stops. If it stops in the same place 3x add weight "up top" and repeat until it stops randomly.

 

[Kestas]

I was lucky enough to get a horizontal axis balancer (heavy spot down). It uses a threaded rod, cones and a pair of bearings. I verified its efficacy by balancing a tire, breaking the setup down, and remounting the tire. It indicated good balance without showing a "new" heavy spot. It's a pre-1952 Snap-on unit. Probably state of the art for garages back then.