1928 Chrysler Model 72 Roadster Front Wheel Weights?

[leomara]

Each front wheel on my 1928 Chrysler has these 5 acorn nut caped bolts which extend through the wheel and have large thick washers mounted on them in what I believe to be an effort to balance the wheels.  However, there is no mention of this in the owners manual.  Are these some type of after market accessory? The first photo shows the bolt which holds the weights and the second shows my restored wood spoke wheel with the 5 caps in place.  

[keiser31]

Not aftermarket. My 1929 Model 75 roadster had them, too.

[zeke01]

I once owned a 1928 Chrysler 72 sedan and it was equipped with the same weights. They looked factory to me. Zeke

[31 LaSalle]

I have them on my 1928 72 convertible coupe 

I have a peerless with wood wheels and a LaSalle with wood wheels

neither of which has any sort of balance weights on front wheels

was this something specific to Chrysler 

 

[Vintageben]

Both my 75 and my 72 have these weights definitely original to the car. Not sure if other makes had them or not.

[ipeeforward]

My 75 has them (front wheels only) I understand Rolls Royce used a similar system. 
http://www.boddice.co.uk/bpic2533.html

[leomara]

The reason I asked is a friend has the same car and his front wheels do not have them nor do they even have the holes where they would mount.  Puzzling? 

[tcslr]

There were five (5) weights of those nuts. 1/2,1,2,3 and4 ounce.

very hard to find. 
 

[leomara]

Hi tcsir, the only type I found were like the ones in my photo, oh and a couple of common washers someone had substituted over the last 93 years.  When I took the wheels apart I noted where the weights were and replaced them in the same place.  I have no clue as to the effectiveness of this effort.

[31 LaSalle]

I might be wrong on this but surely you would have to re balance the wheel every time you changed the tyres.

[Tim Wolfe]

I use ceramic balance beads in my 1930 Chrysler and they work real well. I didn't like the look of the old balance weights. You can change tires and use the same beads too, no need to rebalance the tires.

[tcslr]

Mr Leonard,

what I understand but have not confirmed with documentation: the weights (balancing) was primarily front wheels only. If car came with dual  mounts, one side mount was ‘balanced’. 
on my 29 Chrysler - an original car - all wheels have weights though.

Comments I had been told was front and one side mount was likely the only wheels balanced as road speed was not ‘high’. I’d think that even unbalanced wheels wouldn’t have posed too much issue as period speed was likely 30-40ish mph. Roads then were not what we have today. 

my 31 Buick 90 series also has this weight feature.

those weights are almost unobtanium today and modern lead or ceramics are used. 
as far as replacing after each tire, in theory - yes. Again, I think balanced wheels ( my opinion only) were uncommon and generally unnecessary. Sustained speeds and improved surfaces likely defined the ‘need’. 
I wonder what German cars were doing in the 30s on the autobahn?

[zeke01]

From my memory, the weights were on the front wheels only. The spare included only the rim and tire which mounted on the wood wheel. I may have some weights around, but they bear a strong resemblance to thick flat washers. Zeke.

[Vintageben]

What my wheel is a bit out of balance, Never 🙄🤣 this is what I discovered under a couple of the covers on the last 75 wreck I purchased. And under the opposite Covers Nothing! Lucky my other 75 and 72 have more respectable weights. 

[leomara]

tcsir, nice guess but it's Leo not Leonard......🙂

[Gary56]

I have 1929 graham and I have not found any weights or place for them.  I understand somebody put beads in the tube?  Where did they get the beads and how much did they use?

[31 LaSalle]

9 hours ago, Gary56 said:

I have 1929 graham and I have not found any weights or place for them.  I understand somebody put beads in the tube?  Where did they get the beads and how much did they use?

Hi Gary 

in the uk they are marketed as DYNO BEADS 

you can get them on ebay as a kit with applicator

haven't used them personally but they sound a good solution