|
 Mounting
and balancing is far more difficult to do
properly than most people think. Most shops
put the new kid on this assignment. We get
many wheels in for repair that the sole
damage was caused trying to get tires on or
off. This takes a highly skilled person to
do a good job. In addition, a shop needs to
spend money on modern equipment. The most
skilled people cannot do a good job with
antique tire removal equipment. A modern day
tire remover, called a touch less rim clamp,
is the only equipment to use. Never let
anyone work for you having the mounting
equipment with the big vertical screw in the
center. A rim clamp has four clamps that
grab the rim on the rear lip and rotate the
tire. It has an upper stationary post
lowered close to the tire but never
touching. The side mounted shovel is used to
press the tire away from the rim breaking
the bead. The clamped wheel and tire
combination is rotated to remove it. It is
mounted in reverse fashion. We always use a
tire lubricant when mounting. Today SUV
wheels are up to 30” in diameter with a tire
that has a 25 profile. These are very hard
to do. Most shops do not have the equipment
to handle these massive meats.
Tires are very tough
today. Flats on tires with good tread are
few. Some tires are directional meaning they
can only be mounted with the correct side
facing out. They have an arrow on the
sidewall showing their forward rotation.
When having new tires mounted always check
rotation before leaving the shop. Some
performance cars have a larger tire on the
rear and a smaller diameter on the front.
The Acura NSX has one tire specifically for
each of the four positions.
Some of the balancing
equipment today is too sophisticated almost
to the point of being not usable. The Road
Force equipment we feel is too sensitive. It
can find a problem with most tire and wheel
combinations when in realty there is no
problem that cannot be balanced out. NO TIRE
AND WHEEL IS PERFECT. A motorized balancer
spins at about 45mph, which is not fast
enough to get a good balance. We prefer the
hand spun balancers. They us a full computer
head to calculate an accurate high-speed
balance while the tire and wheel turn very
slow. Safe and reliable tire and wheel
combinations, offering a smooth stable ride,
that is what we strive for. We feel this is
the best equipment available at this time.
We do a two plane balance with both sets of
weights being on the inside. The look of no
weights on the face and still getting a
great ride is achieved. |
