Just put some 34 x 4.5 BFGoodrich Silvertown tires on some quick release Houk Wheels. 1922 Chandler Royal Dispatch.

No tire shop in Gainesville Florida seems to think they can be balanced.

Can they be balanced?

Do they need to be?

I figure I will be driving around 40-50 mph and doing some touring.

Thank you.

Dear PWN,IMHO i would think a wheel of that size should be balanced.A number of years ago i made a plate out of 1/4" aluminum to balance a set of 37 Ford wide five wheels on an old style bubble balancer i would think you could do the same.Take care.diz

You will have to use a static balancer. You might have to make it yourself. You need to ballance the tire, rim and wheel as a unit or your wasting your time.
Depending on how you drive the car and the tires you may be wasting your time anyway.
I ballanced the Lucus 34x3.5's on my 1916 Elgin but found ballance wasn't the issue, the tires were eggs.

I suspect Jay is correct for lots of us.

Last year when I got new 17-5.25 tires I checked the radial and lateral run out on my wheels. They were pretty good. I had trouble finding specifications for those numbers but my wheel run out was within that specified for a late model Jeep. So I figure they were okay.

Then I checked each wheel on a bubble balancer and all of them were pretty close to perfect for static balance.

But when I put the tires and tubes on the balance went way off. I had to use a huge amount of weight on all the wheel/tire assemblies.

I figure that the specialty sized tires probably use a lot of hand work in their manufacture and that they are not as uniform in weight and shape as high volume tires for newer cars.

From what I remember from my statics and dynamics class many decades ago, static balance for a tall narrow tire should be good enough. A wider tire of smaller diameter needs good dynamic balance. But a tall narrow wheel should be okay with static balance alone and you can do that on the car or on a bubble balancer.

There are still some truck shops around that spin the wheels on the vehicle and have a sensor that sits under the axle. They do an excellent job.
You can also lossen the wheel bearings off and see where the wheel stops. Put two small weights 120 degrees each way from this point on the rim. Spin the wheel and watch where it stops. Increase or decrease the weights until the wheel stops at random. If you want to make it even better when you are finished divide the weights in half and put half on the inside of the wheel and half on the outside. A bit time consuming but every bit as satisfying in the end. I have used this method on my artillery wheels and have no vibration up to 70 MPH.

I used flat lead balancing weights with a self- adhesive layer on the inner surface of rim between wire wheel spokes. This was on Rudge 80 wheels on 1918 Mercer. From memory no-one wanted to do these on a bubble machine, s I did it on a front hub with the bearings loosened. I don't recall that I drove it much above 60 at the time, and it seemed OK. Another thing you can do is wind lead wire around the spokes.
Only two makes I have seen that thought of wheel balancing in Antique era were Mercer, and later Stutz. Stutz in late 20's had about 6 studs welded to the inside of rims, with a "hat" held by an acorn nut, inside which you could enclse balancing washers. T-head Mercer raceabouts had wooden wheels balanced by asymetrically spaced rim lugs. Note for authenticity judges: modern restorers have addressed this "mistake" by spacing the retaining lugs evenly.
Ivan Saxton

We had an untraceable vibration on the front of our Model A roadster. New tires, new kingpins, static balancing. We tried everything.

Eventually we got a flat and had to use the spare. The vibration vanished. The wheel was bent. Duh.

Of course, none of the other wheels were balanced and in a car like that, we never noticed. I don't think it's necessary for a car that won't see sustained highway speeds. There are too many other parts vibrating on an ancient car at ~40 MPH.

Thanks for the replies and info. On the inner wheel lip, you can mount, what appears to be, standard wheel weights.

I will try and balance them on the car and see what happens.

For the cost of the tires, I would hope they are fairly round. BFGoodrich discuses the quality of their tires to great length, but they were MADE in India.

I can pick up a bubble balancer for 20$ that will fit the hub.



I report back.

That bubble balancer for $20.00. Where and how can I get one?
Joe, BCA 33493

http://www.amazon.com/Mini-Wheel-Bubble-...07676380&sr=8-2

I have not ordered it yet or tried one, but it looks solid, takes the correct hub size and wheel weight and looks simple.

you have 2 great modern options, both of which i've used. the easiest, is balance on a crankshaft balancer.i would reccomend dividing the components up, meaning: on a wood wheel, with or without drum,balance that assembly.then mount the rim without tube and tire. then fully assembled.you will be shocked how far out of balance all these parts will be. 2nd option: go to a place that deals with high dollar motorhomes. they run truck tires and they should have a modern hunter balancer [i forget what its called] and it will work. the problem wiht the latter is you will wheel weights on your rim for , perhaps 10 or 12 inches. the reason being is that all of the components, not just the tire and tube need to be balanced. i can drive my auburns at speeds i can't mention without vibration.

Hi new contributor. I was just trying to have the wheels balnaced on my 1929 model a and to no avail. The service tech reffered to tire balancing powder and after a little internet research I found Dyna Beads. Their web address is http://www.innovativebalancing.com/. The product is applied directly through the valve stem and dynamicalyy balances as you drive, changing constantly over the life of the tire. A 6oz. pack per wheel is recomended for a 21" model a and costs $6.00 per pack. I am going to order some soon.