How much weight is too much to balance a tire?

[Kestas]

I do my own balancing. I typically find my tires need maybe up to 3 ounces to balance a tire. I just bought a set that needed considerably more. Two balanced okay, the other two needed 6 and 8 ounces to balance.

When is it too much? Are there standards for max weight to balance tires? I imagine any standards would be dependent on the size of the tire. These tires are 215/70/15.

 

[Kuato]

I don't know of any spec that says what weight is "too much".

On some of the mud tread offroad tires, a lot of weight is needed; but that's a large amount of weight for a smaller tire like that. I'd try breaking the seal and rotating the tire 90 degrees on the rim - sometimes that will help with the balancing.

If it balances I wouldn't worry about it, but if it doesn't then you might want to consider returning it as defective.

 

[2oldtommy]

what equipment are you using for your balancing. A static bubble balance? On the car or off? Anything less than an electronic balance with today's tires will not do a proper job IMO. If you are happy with it, that's great. FWIW-Oldtommy

 

[Eddie]

Gads, 6-8 oz to balance suggest a really poor quality tire or worse. I have never had a tire that required more than 2.5 OZ as best as I can remember. This using a electronic hunter balancer which checks static and dynamic.

 

[Quattro Pete]

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1619822

 

[Ken2]

Six ounces, or even three ounces, indicates poor tire construction to me. Have you tried breaking the bead and rotating the tire around the rim to find the best balance point? Or just balance the wheel without the tire to see how much of a problem the wheel's own balance is. If the tire has the red or yellow dots, the yellow dot should go by the wheel's heavy spot, often but not always at the valve. The red spot is the high point and should match the wheel's low point marked with a dimple on steel wheels.

 

[Hokiefyd]

What size tires? For the same amount of "imbalance", a larger tire will require more weight than a smaller tire. Also, with relatively heavy TPMS sensors, the amount of balance an assembly requires has gone up (at least in my experience).

Still, none of my wheel/tire assemblies has more than 2 oz. Some of them don't have ANY. They all roll out super smooth on the road. I'm extremely sensitive to tire balance, and demand tires that roll smooth.

 

[Kestas]

I suppose I should have moved the tires 90° or 180° and rebalanced. But that's a pain when you're mounting the tires yourself with Harbor Freight tire mounting equipment.

My balancing is done with a Snap-On tire balancer manufactured before 1954. It mounts the tire on an axle, centered with cones, and propped with bearings on each end. Gravity rotates the heavy part of the tire down. Weights are added until there is no heavy spot on the tire

I double-checked my balance by breaking down the setup and remounting them for balance, just in case the setup wasn't perfectly centered. The balance was spot on where I left it.

The tires are three year old Wintermark tires, originally sold by WalMart. I bought them through Craigslist.

Thankfully, a ride down the freeway tells me the tires are properly balanced. While balancing them, I could see they were round with little wobble, unlike some other tires I've balanced.

 

[The motor guy]

shouldn't be more than 5.5oz per tire. If it requires more than that then there is probably a defect in the tire and you should get another one cause it will only get worse as the tire gets older.

 

[JHZR2]

walmart noname tires? Sounds like part of the problem.

Generally there are a few colored dots on the sidewall to indicate proper alignment on the rim for best balance. Were they gone on yours?

 

[eljefino]

You're describing a static balance. I do the same thing sometimes by taking off a brake drum (or caliper) and letting the assembly spin on the (non driven axle) spindle. .5 oz off will stop the tire and reverse it.

I should get pics of a coworker's tire. He has three or four weights on both inside and outside. Gets the cheapest 235/75/15s known to man for his neglected sonoma. And they're the new fangled steel weights so they're even bigger and uglier.