manual tire changer and spin balancer

enotslim · Post by **enotslim** » 17 Oct 2019, 09:42

I'm curious how useful these tools are:

https://www.harborfreight.com/manual-ti ... 69686.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/portable- ... 39741.html

and how static balancing compares to a "professional" job - which I guess would usually be "dynamic balancing"?

I also wonder how dynamic balancing might compare if done by someone who isn't good at it. My recent experience with a commercial tire vendor has me thinking that I may not get what I think I'm paying for and I might not be able to tell the difference.

Likely not worth the effort but does anyone have any experience with or (informed) opinions about manual tire mounting and balancing?

Thanks.

Post by **Clemens** » 17 Oct 2019, 14:31

static balancing is better than nothing, but just that.
If you want to make use of the speed the T5 can provide, have them rotation balanced.

a friend of mine had a static balancer way back in his shop, and it was alright, but far from good.

Post by **Eddystone** » 18 Oct 2019, 12:32

enotslim wrote: 17 Oct 2019, 09:42
Likely not worth the effort but does anyone have any experience with or (informed) opinions about manual tire mounting and balancing?

Thanks.

Find a place that does "Road Force Balancing" and that will take care of just about all possible balancing issues, even one that traditional dynamic balancing may not catch. It is somewhat more expensive than standard balancing, but the computer makes it more or less foolproof. I had it done on one of my cars that had a lot of annoying vibrations, and they completely disappeared. It takes into consideration motions in every axis.

greg850r · Post by **greg850r** » 21 Oct 2019, 19:40

When I was young I worked at a tire store. I remember using a balancer that spun the wheel on the car. It was an electric motor that would run a small wheel against the tire tread to spin it. The balancer itself was a round unit clamped to the wheel that looked like a hubcap. It had a shaft protruding from the center with 4 discs of different colors on it. You would touch the individual discs as it spun to stop or slow them and feel the vibration come and go as you played with the discs. I assume they moved small weights around inside the 'hubcap'. It balanced not only the wheel but the entire rotating assembly by telling you where to hang how much weight. We would mark the wheel and one lug stud so it could be clocked properly if the wheel was removed after the balance was done. I have never balanced a wheel better.