balancing wheels

[Jeff Hurd]

Maybe silly to ask but anyone not balanced tires before? I switched out my white spoke wheels for original 14" Thing wheels on my “73” last weekend. My question is how important is it to balance these new old wheels? It drives great even at 70 MPH. Hate to take them to a shop and have someone scuff them up and put put weight on them after the powder coating if I don't have to.
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Jeff

[chinarider]

If your wheels needed balancing, you would feel at least some sort of vibration. If they're performing well, I'd leave them be. You know what they say: "If it aint broke..."

[TimGud]

Balancing the wheels is important if you want the suspension components to hold up longer. I always balance my tires, and use a drum from a 69 bus that I turned off the portion the brake pads contacted,turned the inside of the drum flush wioth the outside, and turned off the inside wheel bearing race area as well. The smallest cone on an old sun balancer fits perfectly on the outer wheel bearing race and I can spin balance them that way.

[Octa]

Nowadays most tyre shops will glue the weights on the inside of the wheel if you ask them to. Also, if you recently powdercoated your wheels remember to you check the lugs after a few hundred miles to ensure they are tight.
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..We teach best what we most need to learn..

My old 71 Notch RHD

[Jeff Hurd]

Thanks for the responses. I ended up getting them balanced with the stick on weights. The wheels in front needed less than a 1/4 oz so that's why they run so well.
Thanks,
Jeff
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Jeff

[Buckly]

Be sure to scrap the powder coating off the surface where the lug bolts contact the rim. The lug bolts will not stay tight. THEY WILL NOT STAY TIGHT. Do a search on the spit bus forum for more info on powder coated rims.
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Cool runnins,
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Bucky