What a love/hate relationship we have with wheels.
Some basics.
Wire wheels move around a lot. They are flexible, as are all things
made of molecules. The difference is that wire wheels will flex a long way,
then straighten out again as the tension and compression forces in the
spokes even out. Early steel wheels tended to flex, then crack under
sustained hard use. (Right Barney?) That is why the majority of early
racing was done on wire wheels.
When a wheel is shipped it experiences all kinds of loading that has
nothing to do with being spun around on a car.
In the same manner, installing a tire with a tire machine also loads
the wheel in all kinds of weird ways.
The wheel must be allowed to get back to it's working shape before
there is any chance of accurately balancing the assembly.
The best way to do this is to put the wheels and tires on a car and
drive them for a short while.
The next question is how to balance the assembly. The most
important thing to remember is that the wheel is designed to self center on
the knock of hub taper. No other portion of the wheel is true. Most spin
balance machines have a back plate that is flat designed to duplicate the
flat brake drum or hub of the car. The back face of a wire wheel center is
a rolled edge that is not accurately trued. There is a special conical
taper mount for some balance machines that can be ordered for center lock
wheels. Chances are your local shop does not have one.
Spin balancing of the wheel on the car is the neatest answer.
Unfortunately many LBCs don't have enough wheel well space for the balancing
assembly to fit. Pete at the Tire Source in Boulder CO. came up with a
neat solution. He mounted an MGB hub and spindle assembly securely in a
bench vise. Then used his on car spin balancer to get a good high speed
reading.
I'm not a great fan of bubble balancing, but since wires wobble
around a lot chances are it may work fine. I would be looking in the
auction pages, as shops close down all the time and professional equipment
is usually available cheaply at auction.
My suggestion to any who want to use wire wheels is to get together
as many like minded people as possible to approach a tire store. If you
patronize the store, chances are the owner will go out of the way to make
sure your special needs are taken care of. Working on off beat, weird bits
is not a strong profit motivator, so most shops won't bother to take the
time to do things correctly. Buying your tires off the internet at cost+,
then expecting the local shop to bend over backwards is unlikely to increase
Karmic value for any involved.
Hope this helps/clarifies
Kelvin.
-
Do they *need* balancing?
I bought chrome wires and had the existing tyres swapped over but refused to
have them balanced (mucking up my nice new chrome) untill I had tried the
car - no wobble at any speed. Fronts eventually wore out and were replaced
and I did the same thing - still not a trace of wobble at any speed. Maybe
I was just (very) lucky.
PaulH.
----- Original Message -----
From: thomas mitchell <irishman_ireland@yahoo.com>
To: <mgs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2000 7:43 PM
Subject: Wheel balancing
> I ordered new wire wheels, after years of saving all
> my pennies. Yet now how do I get them balanced. I
> could drive 2.5 hours one way to John Twists place.
> John's and his staff are great, yet that awful far and
> there has to be a closer place or a source for a old
> bubble balancer. I've gone to the tire places and they
> all SAY they can balance them, yet I usually wind up
> removing the weights with a few days due to vibration.
> Could anyone direct me to where I can purchase a
> bubble balancer for cheap? or maybe I can get few
> people to go in with me. Otherwise is there a place in
> Ann Arbor or at least nearer, say Detroit to get my
> wheels balanced? I've looked and looked, yet keep
> stricking out. Can anyone help?
>
> tom mitchell 66 mgb-gt
>
>
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