'Balance' Marks on Tires

[crazy steve]

I just thought I'd throw this out here as a heads-up for those who mount their own tires.

Most tires have a balance mark, which we've been told to locate at the valve stem. This assumes that this would be the heaviest point on the wheel, figuring that the wheel is balanced and the stem would throw that off with it's weight. Well, it ain't always so... I just got done checking my bare wheels for balance, and neither wheel has it's 'heavy spot' at the stem. The rear is close; about 5" away from the stem hole and installing the stem reduced that to about 3". The front isn't close; the heavy spot is 10-11" away, and installing the stem didn't change it a bit I could see. So if you're mounting/balancing your tires, this is something to look at (and won't take very long to do) as it may save you from adding extra weight to get a balance, or may eliminate needing weight.

YMMV...

'78E original owner

[b.walker5]

I didnt even know about the balance spot until just recently but while it supposed to indicate the best point on the Tyre to locate the valve, it can't possibly allow for heavy or light spots in the rim, so maybe thats what you're seeing. If you havent done it already, next time you do a tyre change, spin up the rim without the trye and find its balance spot. JAT.

[b.walker5]

Tried to edit my last post with this, but ran out of time. (10 minutes isnt long enough to think in the morning, especially before coffee )

From what I've read about these 'balance spots' they're only a starting point to get you in the ball park and should be followed by dynamic balancing to get it true.

In the past, before I knew about the spot , I just did the static balance thing between two saw horses and had good success, never needing more than a few grams of lead. I'm changing my rear tyre soon so I'll find out then if it makes a difference knowing about it.