Author Topic: correct tire weights  (Read 3391 times)

Jkalplus1

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correct tire weights
« on: August 12, 2014, 11:08:50 »
does anyone know where to find them?
J
edit: After posting this I received a call from the MB dealer telling me they had the 20g weights (2.32$ each) with the clips (1.12$) available in the system.  They had initially told me they only had the glue-on types for alloy wheels.  Not sure how to go about it, I read an article in Mercedes Enthusiast about this man who took concours preparation to the next level:  he had MB fit his tires with the correct MB weights, and each tire was arranged in the rim so that the tire pressure information on the tire was right by the valve on all 5 tires.  Interesting.  I am not sure if we need different weights to properly balance a wheel or if they will be able to do a good job with 20 gram only.  Any advice appreciated. Thanks,
J
« Last Edit: August 12, 2014, 12:00:43 by Jkalplus1 »

mdsalemi

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Re: correct tire weights
« Reply #1 on: August 20, 2014, 11:54:34 »
Lining up the tire pressure information to the valve stem sounds a bit OCD to me; also, it won't always work particularly with steel rims and a proper road force balancing.

Tape weights are a bit more expensive that clip on; most tire places should stock both. The tape weights are less damaging to a wheel. IMHO 20G is a lot of weight to put in one place. Generally they'll split that up into lesser weights in multiple locations.
Michael Salemi
Davidson, North Carolina (Charlotte Area) USA
1969 280SL (USA-Spec)
Signal Red 568G w/Black Leather (Restored)
2023 Ford Maverick Lariat Hybrid "Area 51"
2023 Ford Escape Hybrid
2024 Ford Mustang Mach Ex PEV

stickandrudderman

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Re: correct tire weights
« Reply #2 on: August 20, 2014, 17:01:30 »
A little known fact is that a lot of new tyres have a red or yellow dot on them which is to be aligned with the valve. I've never met a tyre fitter yet who actually did it.
Weights will be determined by the balance requirements, there is no "correct weight".

mdsalemi

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Re: correct tire weights
« Reply #3 on: August 20, 2014, 19:26:14 »
A little known fact is that a lot of new tyres have a red or yellow dot on them which is to be aligned with the valve. I've never met a tyre fitter yet who actually did it.
Weights will be determined by the balance requirements, there is no "correct weight".

Stick, let me quote you from information given to me by Hunter Engineering:

I’ll let you in on a little secret: many tires today have a “paint dot” or mark on the tire that indicates either the high side or low side of force variation. Sometimes, tire shops will crudely try to solve vibration problems by blindly “lining up the dot” with the valve stem. The operator assumes the “dot” is the high point of radial force of the tire and the wheel valve stem hole is the low point of run-out of the wheel.  Not only isn’t this always true, but it takes no force measurement into account.  Also, many tires are not marked and many wheel manufacturers do not use the valve stem as the low point. Other tire manufacturer's use the marks to indicate low points instead of high points!

So your last sentence is the honest truth.  :)
Michael Salemi
Davidson, North Carolina (Charlotte Area) USA
1969 280SL (USA-Spec)
Signal Red 568G w/Black Leather (Restored)
2023 Ford Maverick Lariat Hybrid "Area 51"
2023 Ford Escape Hybrid
2024 Ford Mustang Mach Ex PEV