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Ted in Tallahassee Samba Member
Joined: September 19, 2007 Posts: 24
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Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 11:26 pm Post subject: Wheel balancing--no local place can do it |
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I just bought new tires and it turns out that the place I bought them from, and every other place in town, can't balance them because the center "hole" of the Thing wheels are too large for any of the adapters those high-speed balancing machines use.
Does anyone know where I can get some sort of adapter to allow a Thing wheel to fit a high-speed balancing machine?
Thanks. |
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Towel Rail Horizontally Opposed

Joined: April 15, 2005 Posts: 4622 Location: SE CR IA US NA PE
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Towel Rail Horizontally Opposed

Joined: April 15, 2005 Posts: 4622 Location: SE CR IA US NA PE
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Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 11:47 pm Post subject: |
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Also, it pays to have your wheels checked for straightness before mounting tires on them. I had to find out the hard way that a couple of my wheels were unusable, *after* sanding, primering, painting, and having tires mounted on them.  _________________ 1974 Thing -- under the knife
1967 Beetle -- spring/summer/fall driver
1996 Subaru OBW (EJ22, 5-speed, AWD) -- winter car, 3-seasons "don't feel like biking today" car
049 > 070 > 053 > 009 |
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Ted in Tallahassee Samba Member
Joined: September 19, 2007 Posts: 24
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Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 11:50 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks--right after I posted I used the "search" feature and found that same ad. I also found a ton of stuff on my headlight hi/lo beam issues.
The next time I have a question I'll use the search function FIRST. What a great resource that is.
One thing I found out was that the lower circle should be clicked right before the search is run, not the default upper one. I got good hits when I tried the lower circle option (I forgot what parameters it says it is), but the upper one seemed to pull up a lot of posts that were not on point. |
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Towel Rail Horizontally Opposed

Joined: April 15, 2005 Posts: 4622 Location: SE CR IA US NA PE
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 12:02 am Post subject: |
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Isn't this place awesome?  _________________ 1974 Thing -- under the knife
1967 Beetle -- spring/summer/fall driver
1996 Subaru OBW (EJ22, 5-speed, AWD) -- winter car, 3-seasons "don't feel like biking today" car
049 > 070 > 053 > 009 |
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sam_w Samba Member

Joined: March 07, 2002 Posts: 1479 Location: Petaluma, CA
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 5:14 am Post subject: |
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The wheel balancing machines are being replaced and the new ones do not have the wide adapters, In San Jose Ca, there is one wheelworks place on Prospect road that will do 'old' VW wheel balancing, even if you did not buy the tires there! They have to look around for the adapter but if you are patient and persistent, they will find it. _________________ 63 singlecab
73 thingster
74 Thing |
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74 Thing Samba Member

Joined: September 02, 2004 Posts: 7582
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 2:57 pm Post subject: |
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You can also get a used drum and clean out the grease, remove the bearings and races and then bring it down and have the person chuck it up on their balancing machine and balance the drum with adhesive weights. Then you can use the drum as an adapter in the future. |
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Pinky Samba Ass Bandit

Joined: December 31, 2003 Posts: 554
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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Just get a static ("bubble") balancer and do it yourself-
They're cheap- you can get a decent one for well under $100. I've used them plenty of times and never had a problem- |
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ztnoo Samba Member

Joined: March 23, 2005 Posts: 801 Location: Indiana
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 3:49 pm Post subject: TimGud where are you? |
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TimGud where are you?
Post some pics of your Thing drum adapter set up.
Slick!!!
 _________________ "Here we don't have a single clock in the shop- time doesn't matter." ----Jake Raby
"The government cannot give to anyone anything that it does not first take from someone else."
When you put the 2 words "The" and "IRS" together it spells "Theirs"
* Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia ! |
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xeno Samba Member

Joined: July 26, 2006 Posts: 653 Location: Mile High
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Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 5:25 am Post subject: |
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Just go to a place that does on vehicle wheel balancing. It's much better & is preferred for lug-centric wheels anyhow.
X |
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TimGud Samba Member

Joined: March 03, 2002 Posts: 6459 Location: Rio Rico Arizona
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Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 7:46 am Post subject: |
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I used a 69 bus drum as it had the largest outer bearing size I could find. Had the side of the drum turned off, then had it chucked back up and the rear side of it turned flush with the front. Removed a bit of the inner race area to clear the balancer. Works perfect, and very durable. I cant see this one warping or stripping out the threads.
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thinghunter Samba Member
Joined: May 18, 2004 Posts: 403 Location: North Texas
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Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 7:11 pm Post subject: |
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My tire shop guy who used to rebuild wrecked VWs in the 70s and 80s balanced mine by setting up the machine to balance dual wheels. While every tire shop might not know this will work if you mention it to them they might be willing to try it and they should all know how to balance dual wheels. |
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ronnie braden Samba Member
Joined: January 05, 2008 Posts: 5 Location: tucson
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Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 10:50 am Post subject: |
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thanks for your reply may check into this ron |
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blsthng Samba Member
Joined: May 29, 2007 Posts: 143
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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:08 am Post subject: Balance wheels |
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I went to an RV service station. They were able to balance with no problem. |
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chris914x181 Samba Member

Joined: January 22, 2008 Posts: 53 Location: Sunny San Diego
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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:53 am Post subject: |
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I bought a lifetime alignment plan from Sears in the 80’s. They have always been able to balance my tires when I bought new ones from them. _________________ 1972 2.0L Porsche 914 Autocrosser
1973 2017 VW Thing
1974 2.0L Porsche 914
1986 Skateboard
2004 7.4L Roadtrek Versatile
http://www.cassidy-online.com |
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hamrendan Samba Member
Joined: July 17, 2013 Posts: 2 Location: Nor Cal
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Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 11:12 am Post subject: Ballancing Beads |
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http://www.innovativebalancing.com/index.php
Dyna beads, or similar ceramic beads
I have used these on my motorcycles for years. Cheap to buy, easy to use...work flawlessly in tubes or in tubeless. |
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Bashr52 Samba Member

Joined: July 16, 2006 Posts: 5667 Location: On an island in VA
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Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 12:16 pm Post subject: Re: Ballancing Beads |
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A friend runs something similar in his truck with 50" tires. No one could balance the things being so big, so he went to a truck place and had something like this added to them. Ran smoooooth, but he would have an issue when slowing down to quick, the beads would all drop to the bottom and give it a hell of a wobble for a few revolutions. This was 8 or so years ago though, so I'm sure this technology has improved greatly over the years. This would also help with getting rid if those ugly ass wheel weights on the outside of the rims |
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citroen Samba Member

Joined: February 28, 2010 Posts: 1578 Location: louisville ky
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Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 2:26 pm Post subject: |
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her is is what the factory one looks like that the domeck brothers use
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cecil Samba Member

Joined: February 23, 2005 Posts: 461 Location: Stockton, CA
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Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 9:32 pm Post subject: |
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At least here in the Big Valley, America's Tire and Discount Tire have the adapters. I think they are nation wide. _________________ I may not be that funny or athletic or good looking or smart or talented....I forgot where I was going with this
I have this wierd desease called "must tear everything up and put it back together when there's nothing wrong with it...Itus." |
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Bashr52 Samba Member

Joined: July 16, 2006 Posts: 5667 Location: On an island in VA
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Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 5:36 am Post subject: |
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I've got an old school wide 5 adapter for a bubble beam balancer hanging in my garage. My great grandfather gave it to me years ago, said he used to use it for his bug. |
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