my Vintage Wheel Works wheels are hard to balance

[BigDuke6 17]

had the new tires installed today.  The guy was wondering at the sheer number of balancing weights on the wheels and said he had never seen so many.  He finished the job and said he spoke too soon, as he ended up using more than what was originally on there.  Other than press in weights, is there any fix for a set of terribly unbalanced wheels?

[lanky 44]

If the wheels are new I would return them and demand return shipping paid. I know you had them mounted already, but I don't like any wheel that requires too many weights.

[1969_Mach1 333]

Before condemning the wheels, they might not be the problem.  What type of tires did you install on them?  I have noticed lower price tires usually need more weight to balance.  Also, are those wheels supposed to be hub-centric balanced or lug-centric balanced?  Not certain my terms are correct, but some aftermarket wheels cannot be located by the hub opening when balancing and must be located by the lug nut holes when balancing.

[BigDuke6 17]

3 hours ago, 1969_Mach1 said:

Before condemning the wheels, they might not be the problem.  What type of tires did you install on them?  I have noticed lower price tires usually need more weight to balance.  Also, are those wheels supposed to be hub-centric balanced or lug-centric balanced?  Not certain my terms are correct, but some aftermarket wheels cannot be located by the hub opening when balancing and must be located by the lug nut holes when balancing.  

wheels are from 2004.  I just mounted some BF Goodrich Comp TAs.  The balancer was hub centric.  Don't know if these wheels have to be lug balanced or not.

[Mach1 Driver 560]

I recently read where a guy with new wheels and tires was having trouble getting them balanced. Two of the wheels had excessive weights: one was 5 and the other 7.5 oz. He had them remove the tires and balance the just the rims (steel magnum 500s). They both came in less than 2 oz, so he had them send the tires back and get new ones. The tires were Cooper Cobras. As I recall Cooper gets a rating of 3 out of 5 and BF Goodrich is 2 or 2.5.

[Brian Conway 264]

It seems time and distance are not on your side.  So probably make the best of the circumstance's.   As long as the front end doesn't go bouncing around you'll be OK.   A word of caution; be careful of those BFG's in the rain.  My experience is they have a traction problem and let go when least convenient.  Brian

[stangs-R-me 120]

If they are Steel Magnum 500 wheels, the OE wheels were always LUG centric … not HUB centric as there really is no round center hub to locate on.   I'd assume the repros are the same. 

Doug

[barnett468 418]

3 hours ago, BigDuke6 said:

wheels are from 2004.  I just mounted some BF Goodrich Comp TAs.  The balancer was hub centric.  Don't know if these wheels have to be lug balanced or not.

exactly what wheels are they?

[danno 128]

I can understand the problem.  Wheels are not made to be centered on the hub, but on the lug nuts. You need a template of some sort, to know if there is a difference.  There might be an adapter available to bolt to the lug nuts and the adapter has an exact center based on equal distance to each lug nut.   Maybe use a caliper and measure the exact distance between the hub center ( when on the alignment tool) and each lug nut?  

This is an interesting problem, good luck!

[BigDuke6 17]

9 hours ago, barnett468 said:

exactly what wheels are they?

Like the title says, vintage wheel works. These are the V45s. 10 oz of imbalance in one and 8.5 oz on another

[2ndgear 1]

Just a thought but I have done this and it seems to help. Take the tire and break both beads loose and turn the tire 90 degrees on the rim and then balance again. Sometimes you may have to go 180 degrees or more. Good luck

[stangs-R-me 120]

Just googled VWW and all the links I clicked on to their site are down.  Likely reason is it appears that Coker Tire bought them out.

Also googled the V45 and I see that it is an aluminum wheel similar to an old-school Torq-Thrust D.   Can't say I've ever run across an aluminum wheel that is NOT hub centric, so your installer balanced them right which means you either have bad tires, wheels or both.

Doug 

[barnett468 418]

17 hours ago, BigDuke6 said:

wheels are from 2004.  I just mounted some BF Goodrich Comp TAs.  The balancer was hub centric.  Don't know if these wheels have to be lug balanced or not.

ok, this is quite simple.

ecklers says they must be balanced using the lugs, NOT the center of the wheel.

https://www.ecklers.com/corvette/corvette-vintage-wheel-works-v45-17x9-2-piece-wheel-1968-1982-25-348169-1.html

This "should" be easy to confirm by simply calling vintage wheel works and asking their tech department at (714) 278-1600

If they do need to be balanced by the lugs, you can have the wheels mounted by the lugs then have them checked for balance. If they are just a little bit out of balance, look at the edge of the rim (not the tire) while the wheel is spinning and see if it is true or not. If the wheel is true, have the tires removed and spin up the wheels only. This will tell you for certain exactly how much the wheels are out of balance and how much the tires are out of balance. If the wheels are out of balance by very much or untrue, simply call VWW and tell them and see what they say.

 

 

[BigDuke6 17]

Yes. VWW was purchased by Coker Tire.. I sent a message to Coker and asked about the proper method for balancing and they came back with "lug-centered.. Hopefully this is the issue.. 

[Alan_Mac 48]

Also the weights are not as heavy as the lead ones from years past.  So you end up with more.   

[stangs-R-me 120]

5 hours ago, BigDuke6 said:

Yes. VWW was purchased by Coker Tire.. I sent a message to Coker and asked about the proper method for balancing and they came back with "lug-centered.. Hopefully this is the issue.. 

Glad I was wrong in my thinking that aluminum wheels should normally be hub centric.

Learned something new today ... that is always good.

Hopefully your installer or someone else close to you has the correct lug centric adapter so they can get you set up properly. 

Doug