Question addressed to those members with tire industry knowledge/experience:



In a theoretical situation where the highest quality radials are running in perfectly true alignment, in initially perfect "road-force" balance, with even 50/50 weight distribution, and assuming no burn-outs, panic braking, hard cornering, or suspension wear complications, should tire rebalancing ever really be needed?

6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

Wheel balance has always been a problem. Tires have gotten a lot better, but they still are not perfect. I have a runout gauge that we use on our truck tires which is nothing more than a dial indicator on a heavy base with a wheel to run with the tire. We had our tires trued about 15 years ago, but it was a lot of trouble. Out of round tires can never be balanced and we find them in Michelin, Bridgestone and other premium priced tires. Not very often, but still occasionally. We use glass beads called Counteract which we get from All Tire Supply in Houston to balance our tires. We use them in all our truck tires. I use them in my jalopies too and its the best balancing I have seen in the over 50 years I have driving. I'm not sure Counteract is really meant for passenger tires, but I use them in my jalopies as well as my over the road trucks. http://www.counteractbalancing.com/

Kenneth

Fredricksburg, Texas

Guess I should have used the criteria: highest quality radials SHAVED PERFECTLY ROUND. I get it. Out-of-round tires could not likely wear evenly, therefore the balance would have to shift.



I know balancing fluid was once popular for motorcycle tires, but wonder if it might be worthwhile to investigate passenger car feasibility/use?



It seems likely that modern component-isolation suspensions have made obsolete the kind of services once available (tire shaving/on-the-car dynamic balancing/etc.) in the 'bias-ply" era, when labor was relatively cheap and tire quality was low.

6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

If everything is perfect, balancing is probably a waste. The problem is, nothing you mentioned may be perfect, so balancing is the way to go.

54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

sitting around the tire shop not too long ago and the subject of out of balance tires came up. owning dump trucks and running into this often enough, i began to listen to some of the men discussing this, one said whenever he has tires put on his over the road truck he always puts in 2 to 3 golf balls. swears it makes a difference . dont know, but sounded interesting.

You would know if there was a tire out of balance while you were driving your vehicle . So I say balance only when necessary and rotate every 5000 miles 

Some might say just the opposite. Rotation can mask location of misalignment problems, and by the time unbalance is obvious, tire might be past saving?

6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

Dan,

In my expierience , misalignment is obvious ,as is a tire out of balance , also if you have a tire that is slightly out of balance , say.25 oz. I dont believe you would feel it or that it would do any damage. Considering the cost of spin balancing, I would still rotate often and balance when necessary .

Frank