Vibration and trueing tires

[tbirdman]

I had my tires trued today and the vibration I was fighting went away. He said on one wheel which had a ton of weights, only needed a 1/2 oz to balance it after he trued the tires. Interesting sight with a ton of rubber on the shop floor when they true the tires.

[Owen_Dyneto]

I'm familiar with the process, though you're the first person I've heard from who used it and reported on their success. That's good information for us to have. My own 34 Eight used to get an awful shimmy at a specific road speed, and when crossing railroad tracks on a diagonal. The solution that worked for me was having the front wheels balanced by a truck shop that rotated them on the car and balanced the entire assembly including the brake drum. Tires were Lesters and had little or no run-out when tested. End of problems, though you've always got to make sure you get the wheel back on the drum in the same position (marked with daubs of paint).

[Guest imported_PackardV8]

Tbird: Glad to hear th e tire vibration problem has been resolved. It would be nice to know a little more about the history of the tyres and their construction.

Are they radials, nylons or ???? Did u buy them new?? Did u drive them 10k miles and they suddenly started to vibrate one day??? How old are they??? Did the car they are on set for 2 or 3 years and never moved????

Give us some history please.

[tbirdman]

The tires are two years old. They are Bedford Classics Bias Ply and were bought new. The former set was very old set of Lester and I had the same vibration problem.

[tbirdman]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Owen_Dyneto</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'm familiar with the process, though you're the first person I've heard from who used it and reported on their success. That's good information for us to have. My own 34 Eight used to get an awful shimmy at a specific road speed, and when crossing railroad tracks on a diagonal. The solution that worked for me was having the front wheels balanced by a truck shop that rotated them on the car and balanced the entire assembly including the brake drum. Tires were Lesters and had little or no run-out when tested. End of problems, though you've always got to make sure you get the wheel back on the drum in the same position (marked with daubs of paint). </div></div>

I previously had them balanced on the car with little luck. This has also worked for a nother Packard club member recently. Also it has worked for Jay Leno on his 32 V12 coupe. Here's the video where Jay talks about his vibration problem.

[Owen_Dyneto]

In the earlier sizes up thru 7:00 and 7:50 x 17 it's impossible to match the Bedford Cord bias ply tires for authentic appearance. I've had absolutely no problems riding on Lesters (and Lincoln Highway as they were known back in the 60s) for more than 40 years, but they can't match the correct appearance of the Bedfords. Great choice in tires.

[mrpushbutton]

the repo tires for old cars usually require a lot of weights to balance, I guess beggers can't be chosers.

[Owen_Dyneto]

Not disagreeing with you John, but on 34 and back if you are staying authentic, I've always suspected that metal valve stems, covers and associated hardware from the inner tube is a significant contributor to the amount of balancing needed.