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automatic tire balancing ?
- Subject: automatic tire balancing ?
- From: amalventano at sc.rr.com (Allyn)
- Date: Tue Jul 8 13:28:05 2003
ok, i've done some research on automatic-type wheel balancing solutions, as
the rieger wheels have this funky issue with a slightly off-center hub hole
(.5mm), causing the wheel to sit differently on the balancer as compared to
when it is mounted on the car. this results in a wheel that seems to always
be out of balance, as its impossible to correctly compensate for the offset
issue while balancing it.
a quick calculation yields that .5mm off-center will cause nearly half an
ounce of equivalent imbalance on the rieger wheels (due to their weight).
i have found the following possible fixes:
http://www.balancemasters.com/index.html
this is a liquid (mercury) filled ring that attaches to the wheel. only made
for motorcycles and trucks though.
http://www.balancemasters.com/howtheywork.html
more info about it.
http://www.centramatic.com/index.html
basically the same as the balancemaster, but this one uses fluid and steel
balls to do the balancing. also seems truck-specific, but they do custom
applications as well. nothing promising for us though.
http://www.centramatic.com/Demo/demo.html
this is a kick ass video, showing exactly how it works.
http://www.taabs-int.com/frame.htm
one more ball-bearing type balancer.
now for the more promising stuff:
http://www.imiproducts.com/
"equal", plastic sand-like polymer that goes straight into the tire itself.
intended for trucks, but nothing would prevent this from working in
passenger car tires.
http://www.imiproducts.com/imi_htmlcode/imi_frame/imi_fs_news.html
get a basic idea of how it works. (not as good as the centramatic video).
downside to this is special hardware ($$) is needed for installation via the
valve stem.
http://www.tirelife.com/
this stuff is a liquid thats meant to seal tires/wheels and prevent
corrosion. also seems truck oriented, but safe on all types of tires. this
stuff isnt really meant/intended for balancing, but i would imagine it would
work just like the equal stuff would, so long as it stays in the liquid form
(not too sure about this one though). i would imagine a
larger-than-recommended dose of the liquid would be required to have the
proper counter-balance effect, though.
my current intention is to email the tirelife people and see if their
product stays liquid, and possibly use it.
any inputs/experiences/feedback is appreciated.
Al