Wire Wheel Balancing Myths

[@SilverFlint247]

Wow, as an engineer in instrumentation, it is rare to see someone differentiate accuracy and precision correctly. Respect.

[@jlwilliams]

I was impressed that Steve didn't fudge the results to match his preconception, and instead actually showed us what really happened. Of course you should use the special cones if you have them... but someone who gets marooned out in central Nebraska and needs to get wire wheels balanced can take comfort in the knowledge that it IS possible to get a pretty decent balance with the standard cones -- good enough to get home on, anyway -- as long as the operator is careful to watch out for slippage.

[@steveoh9838]

I invested many years ago in a set of " Smoothride wire wheel cones" from this guy in the UK. They are made of some kind of composite material and works great. The tire shop dude had the deer in the head light look when I said to use these cones and then had to show him how to set it up...lol. In the end he got them balanced very good. He is probably still around in the UK and can be found on the interweb, I recall less than a $100 bucks plus shipping, not too bad.

[@TL243]

highly specific knowledge but so very fascinating and important

[@48920jeff]

Too many variables without the proper cone sets. Since the last setup yielded different results, I would invest in the wire wheel specific cones. Great video!!

[@ThisWeekWithCars]

The last setup did not yield different results, but to do it without the proper cones could bend your spokes and also scratch up the finish on the wheel. It's best to do it right.

[@48920jeff]

@@ThisWeekWithCars thanks for clarifying.

[@bugeye23]

Very interesting tests. I can’t get the thought out of my head that companies out there just want to sell their product regardless of results. Keep up the good work.

[@americanpatriot2422]

How tight do you suggest i tighten the octogon knock-off nut on an MGB when mounting them back on the car? Another great video.

[@craigwiest772]

Thanks for the information and the amount of work that went into this video. Next time I put tires on my wire wheels I’ll need to ask some questions.

[@mcashnv]

For you next video, please show us how to "true" a wire wheel.

[@ThisWeekWithCars]

I'll keep that in mind

[@MH-wg6bz]

Back in the 70's the only way Firestone would balance the wire wheels on my midget was with a strobe light and spinning the tire mounted on the car. I've not seen that balancing technique for decades

[@ThisWeekWithCars]

That method does not balance the wheels but it does balance the entire wheel, brake and hub assembly together. If you moved that wheel to another corner or took it off and put it on clocked differently it would be off balance.

[@trevorwj]

I would be interested to see used wheels balanced without the cones and compared to balanced with the cones.

[@stephenricketts7764]

Quite an interesting video. My thoughts would be that doing it without the correct cones could be a bit 'hit & miss' if the operator didn't not check if the wheel moved/slipped or not. The use of the correct cones would be the best approach in my opinion. Thank Steve for the information. 👍👍

[@ThisWeekWithCars]

Also there is a good chance of damage to the wheel without the cones.

[@JohnnyBfromPeoria]

Good to know! Thanks!

[@colingale]

can you test out a old saying my late father used to tell me to balance old wheels , "tie a rubber band slightly tight with a washer around the hub circle and drive a short distance and the washer will poit to the heavy side " , i've never had chance to test that idea , would love to see it tested . My dad was a engineer for his entire life and always had "a solution"

[@bobmanzi7712]

great stuff thanks

[@stevenrobinson2381]

Cool-now tune 'em. Actually do believe that should be done first-then balance.

[@johnwren3976]

Hard to imagine but we could accurately bubble balance wire wheels in the 60s & 70s. 🤷‍♂️

[@ThisWeekWithCars]

You could only static balance which works well on skinny tires but not on modern tires.

[@CollectorOfThings]

I try to mount wheels the correct way but from my experiments it has made little difference. I didn't get around to doing wire wheels before selling the car with them. What I have done is many mini wheels. Technically they should be mounted nut-centrically but mounting them using the back cone method seems to be fine. I've also tried with the cone from the front and even when that hole is visually out of round it has been identical to the back cone method. Of course, the larger the wheel the more critical it is. Mini wheels are small. I also do some other odd wheels with a massive centre hole. For that reason I'm looking for an on car balancer which will solve all these issues.

[@parrotraiser6541]

It's always good to see if what everyone believes is actually true.

[@MH-wg6bz]

it would be nice if you were able to secure the spinoff on the wheel when using the spline. I think that is what makes it off using the spline.

[@ThisWeekWithCars]

Having the cone that goes where the spinoff does I could have used that with it but that would not be showing what would happen if you had no cones.

[@michaelwcarpenter5824]

Some racers have turned holes in there knock offs to go over the shaft on the wheel balancer.

[@brianbarney1885]

How much did the paper tag affect the balance?

[@ThisWeekWithCars]

None

[@patrickdixon4945]

When you did it with the hub and it gave a .25/.5 oz error, is that the because the hub is not balanced?

[@CollectorOfThings]

It's not. Because it's close to the centre it would take a large amount of imbalance to show up at the tyre diameter.

[@alfredomorles-miralles684]

In this case, maybe the spline is unbalanced?

[@patrickdixon4945]

Jag-wars? Jag-u-ars please.