TheSamba.com :: View topic - Beauty Rings, Balance Weights and Valve Stems

Tue Jul 30, 2013 9:55 am

After blasting and painting and new chrome hubcaps I'm thinking of adding some additional bling to the stock 14" rims on my '72. I've never seen beauty rims up close to see how they mount to the rims. I have some fairly large wheel balancing weights on the outer part of the rims and the shortest valve stems available. Wondering if these rings would work or would the weights interfere and/or the stems require lengthening?

Tue Jul 30, 2013 10:04 am

I guess it depends on the ring. Some are held on by the hubcap, others are pressure fit to the inside of the outer rim. In either case, I don't think the wheel weights would be a problem. The valve stem may be another story.

-jeffrey

Tue Jul 30, 2013 10:05 am

Most rings press in against the horizontal section of the wheel inside of the tire bead and are hollow under where they cover the weights. Valve stem extensions or long inflate through caps are available as well.

Tue Jul 30, 2013 10:18 am

FWIW I have stopped balancing my tires on ACVWs. I cant feel the difference and it is a waste of money in my opinion. You can have them balanced on the inside of the rim if you wanted also.

Tue Jul 30, 2013 12:51 pm

CoastalAirCooledVW wrote: FWIW I have stopped balancing my tires on ACVWs. I cant feel the difference and it is a waste of money in my opinion. You can have them balanced on the inside of the rim if you wanted also.

Don't do that. If you can't feel the difference it is possible that one of two things are going on.

1. The retailer is not maintaining his machine. Have him balance a tire and then rotate it 90 degrees on the chuck. Balance again - it should still be zero or very close to it. If not then the machine is not zeroed which is usually something that takes a technician to do. Tell him to call you the next time he has the machine serviced and calibrate.

2. The bus wheels have a center the fits tight around the hub. If the log nuts are not torqued evenly they distort the wheel and DEFORM the center so it no longer is 100% true to the outside of the wheel. A few slams with an airgun is all it takes. When the shop spins the wheel on a cone that sits in the center it doesn't run true anymore so you are balancing a wheel on that untrue center. When you mount it on the bus it mounts on self centering lug nuts. The solution is to use a shop that can balance the wheels on an adapter that goes thru the lug nut holes. If you have the time you can use some calipers to measure between the center hole and each lug nut. You can use a rounded file to make sure the distance from the hole to the lug nut is the same on each hole. That way it will run true on a center cone style balancer.

from Samba:

Tue Jul 30, 2013 3:17 pm

SGKent wrote: CoastalAirCooledVW wrote: FWIW I have stopped balancing my tires on ACVWs. I cant feel the difference and it is a waste of money in my opinion. You can have them balanced on the inside of the rim if you wanted also.

Don't do that. If you can't feel the difference it is possible that one of two things are going on.

1. The retailer is not maintaining his machine. Have him balance a tire and then rotate it 90 degrees on the chuck. Balance again - it should still be zero or very close to it. If not then the machine is not zeroed which is usually something that takes a technician to do. Tell him to call you the next time he has the machine serviced and calibrate.

2. The bus wheels have a center the fits tight around the hub. If the log nuts are not torqued evenly they distort the wheel and DEFORM the center so it no longer is 100% true to the outside of the wheel. A few slams with an airgun is all it takes. When the shop spins the wheel on a cone that sits in the center it doesn't run true anymore so you are balancing a wheel on that untrue center. When you mount it on the bus it mounts on self centering lug nuts. The solution is to use a shop that can balance the wheels on an adapter that goes thru the lug nut holes. If you have the time you can use some calipers to measure between the center hole and each lug nut. You can use a rounded file to make sure the distance from the hole to the lug nut is the same on each hole. That way it will run true on a center cone style balancer.

from Samba:

I agree totally and let me add a few things. Unbalanced wheels and tires..e.specially those in serious need...are risking your like and those lives around you. Unbalanced wheels cannot maintain proper adhesion on soft or wet surfaces. Very quick way to go hydro planing when the unbalance point hits.

A few other notes:

1. 90% of all steel wheels on ACVW's are bent, especially if the car has been sitting on flats for any period of time north of about 6 months. The wheel takes a spred between the beads.
You WILL NOT be able to see this just spinning the tire or driving. The only way you can see this is with the tire off generally...on a balance machine or on your axle...but still with tire off.

Looking at it on its centerline as it spins you will see the up/down oscillation every time the "flat/spread" spot goes past.

I will bet you a $100 bill...that if you have not checked for this and you have old original equipment wheels...you have at least one wheel like this.

It causes a vibration that NO amount of balancing can fix. It is the main cause of wheels that balance dead on and still leave you with a miserable vibration.

2. Because of the offset on the "j" type wheels we use...if the weight needed to balance is over 3/4 to 1.0 oz...have it split and half of the weight applied to the inside of the rim and half to he outside. It makes a huge difference. Ray

Tue Jul 30, 2013 3:34 pm

I bought my beauty rings from the folks over at GoWesty. Used a technique discovered by cavemen to get them in. Fairly easy process and they look nice! I have had them for about a month now and no signs of rust.

Wed Jul 31, 2013 9:55 am

Quote: 90% of all steel wheels on ACVWs are bent
I found out that 3 out of the 6 rims I took in to get tires mounted were bent. The tire guy's advice was to bring the rims in FIRST and they would check them out prior to investing time and money on them. Good advice. Of course I was given that advice AFTER spending about $60 a rim to refinish and another $20 per to mount and balance the tires :( . The rims have been in use without any noted vibration so hopefully they will remain that way.

Tom71: Roughly how far does the outer surface of the beauty ring come away from the base of the valve stem? My stems are quite short in length and I'm concerned they may no be long enough to extent past the beauty ring.

Wed Jul 31, 2013 10:58 am

Actually the best way to balance wheels is touse an on car balancer,it balances everything including disc/drums etc.

Wed Jul 31, 2013 2:46 pm

cliveawn wrote: Actually the best way to balance wheels is touse an on car balancer,it balances everything including disc/drums etc.

Yes...it is the best way....but also very hard to find that process in the US. Typically it is found only in high end sports car shops and some Mercedes/BMW/Porsche shops.
Very expensive. Ray

Wed Jul 31, 2013 2:57 pm

Expensive? I used to do it,i think the machine was called a hoffmann,you put a sensor on the lower control arm then you sort of sat on it and it had a fast spinning wheel which was placed against the jacked up car wheel,strobe light flashes which picks up vibration from the hub assembly.we did not charge that much more than off car balancing,yet that was 15 years ago when i was a motor technician in south africa.It worked well and was quicker than taking offthe wheel and setting up the off car balancer.

Sat Aug 03, 2013 9:54 am

[quote="Oil Phil-M"] Quote:
Tom71: Roughly how far does the outer surface of the beauty ring come away from the base of the valve stem? My stems are quite short in length and I'm concerned they may no be long enough to extent past the beauty ring.

Here's a photo of mine in action. I hope this helps you out.

Thu May 11, 2017 9:41 am

Has anyone painted their beauty rings white to make the effect of a white wall? Been thinking of doing that and best thing about it you can always go back to stock.