Bit of gossip

[Nubodi Automotive]

Nah they were conning you.
Balanced wheels are balanced wheels

This is what I do when I go to the tyre place
Take a small bottle of thinners or isopropryl alcohol a small sheet of 400 grade wet and dry cloth and a roll of silver duct tape (proper stuff)
Get the tyre guy to do the first balance run
Just before they stick on the weights, clean the area with the solvent, then lightly sand the area, wipe again. Stick on the weights. Retest
Dont let them tell you 5gms is ok, it has to be 0. Also they always try and get away with only balancing the front, make sure they do all four
While they are setting up the next wheel, clean a bigger area again and the top of the weights. Wait till the solvent has evaporated. Stick a strip of silver duct tape. Press down firmly all over with your finger nail. Repeat with rest of the wheels.
To date I've never had any come loose, even on track days

What you can do though is to polish the lead weight you have with Autosol and it will come up almost like chrome and not be so noticeable.
We also put cheap chrome 17mm nut covers on the wheel nuts. It helps to disguise they are not knock ons

[Mitchelkitman]

Originally Posted by Nubodi Automotive

Nah they were conning you.
Balanced wheels are balanced wheels


Dont let them tell you 5gms is ok, it has to be 0. Also they always try and get away with only balancing the front, make sure they do all four

Very true. Lots of 'tyre fitters' try to cut corners..... why not just do a good job? The most infuriating was when I wanted the trailer wheels for my Quantum folding caravan balanced. Most places said "they're only small they don't need balancing". No amount of my saying 'but the car shakes only when I'm towing the caravan' or 'yes they're small, but it makes little difference, if they're out of balance and revolving faster' or 'it's a rotating part it needs to be balanced' would convince them. Then I found one (old school) guy who did them in a few minutes, and problems solved! Don't get me started about the guy who put 2 new front tyres on my Wife's Fiat and 'tried 3 times' to balance them! Then 2nd garage did them first attempt.