Automotive Tires & Wheels: Wheel Balance
Description: Wheel balance refers to the proper distribution of weight around a revolving tire and wheel assembly. Poor wheel balance can have a marked impact on both your car and your safety.
Purpose: Correct wheel balance ensures that the wheels, while spinning, do not have a heavy spot that can cause vibration and premature wear of tires, struts, shocks and other steering and suspension components. When combined with proper wheel alignment, balanced wheels ensure smooth and enjoyable driving.
Maintenance Tips/Suggestions: The most common signs of unbalanced tires are vibration and noise problems. When driving with an out-of-balance wheel, the wheel literally bounces down the road rather than spinning smoothly. This can affect the speed, handling, braking distance and mileage of your car. Many of today's cars have lightweight suspension systems and are therefore, more sensitive to imbalance than older cars. It's a good idea to have your car's wheels balanced when rotating the tires, about every 6,000 miles. It's not uncommon for wheels to lose a wheel weight from time to time; so periodic balancing minimizes the impact of unbalanced wheels on your car.
Content provided by Car Care Alliance
Road Force
Just as critical as tire balance, road force is the measurement of tires maximum amount of force applied to the pavement. Road force is different from tire balance. Tire may be in balance, but the tire has a vibration or tire concern. How can this be? Another way of looking at road force is a tire that is out of round or deformed or a defect in the tire. Defect as a busted cord that is used to reinforce the tire, a bent rim, or a tire not mounted on the rim properly. When getting new tires, it is important to have your technician test the road force. Even new tires can have excessive road force. Excessive road force does not mean you have to replace the tires in all cases. Sometimes the tires can be matched to the rim to give the best tire run out and reduced road force.
