Really Old School Tire Balancing

[ctechbob]

Never gave much thought as to how you'd do anything other than static balance a tire 'back in the day'.

Seems the Germans had an answer for that. Although, I'm sure there were other machines as well. Youtube just thought I needed to see this video today and it is kind of fascinating.

 

[Jetronic]

Done that aswell (like he did at the start), if I'm not 100% convinced the machine is telling me an accurate location. Sometimes it's a few inches off

 

[k1xv]

Talk about really old school, my morbidly thrifty father changed his own tires in his driveway, including balancing.

To break the bead, he would lay the tire and wheel on the driveway, carefully placing it so that he could drive over it with another car to break the bead. Then it was armstrong work with tire irons. Then, reinflation with a manual tire pump. Then to balance, he would loosen a front wheel bearing so that a tire mounted would freely turn. Identified the heavy side, and put a weight on the opposite side. Did this until no side of the wheel was pulled down by gravity.

 

[Kira]

he would loosen a front wheel bearing so that a tire mounted would freely turn. Identified the heavy side, and put a weight on the opposite side. Did this until no side of the wheel was pulled down by gravity.

And a patient man he was.

Also, the revolving guts of the machine in the video must be rubber or spring suspended (going by the wobble).

 

[joekingcorvette]

My dad used to have a manual machine called an Iron Tireman and we used a bubble balancer and would get the wheel weights from the local salvage yard.

 

[Fitter30]

Remember this going to the local gas station in around 1958 as a kid it would balance the whole assembly brake drum and hub. Have to appreciate the white coat and hat!

 

[repairman54]

I've got a Weaver in the garage. I use it for trailer tires, especially the 10 in. rim ones.
Borrowed picture.

 

[Kira]

On-car balancers (post #6) are subject to resonance. The balanced wheel assembly might roll well at 30 but might shake at 60.

There was one of these at the car dealership I worked at. garbage

 

[someonesomewhere]

That's a neat old tire balancer! Old school analog for sure!

 

[CapriRacer]

What I find most interesting is how clever the system is. Someone stayed up late at night thinking that up!

 

[ctechbob]

What I find most interesting is how clever the system is. Someone stayed up late at night thinking that up!

Well, some germans built the moon rockets, the ones that didn't pass their astrophysics course built tire balancers.

 

[Marcozi]

I worked at an E J Korvette's tire center one summer. A newbie was trying to balance a tire on a bobble balancer. He put the tire on the balancer and then proceeded to adjust the feet until the bubble was in the center of the glass!!!! I had to retrain him.

 

[JHZR2]

What I find most interesting is how clever the system is. Someone stayed up late at night thinking that up!

For $78 you too could have a manual balancer. Not going to lie, this thing is kind of tempting for tinkering on old cars that sometimes have different vibrations show up…

 

[KGMtech]

I used to use the bubble level and the 1980's electronic balancers, I wonder how much lead I ingested with my dirty fingers! I know the lead didn't get into me via the fingers, but I was always noshing on something working at the old Chevron station!

 

[hrv]

Remember this going to the local gas station in around 1958 as a kid it would balance the whole assembly brake drum and hub. Have to appreciate the white coat and hat!
View attachment 163046

I remember this one at a Cities Service gas station down the road where I grew up in Cleveland Oh.

 

[eljefino]

Those bubble balancers are garbage, this German guy knows the right way to do a static balance. You can yank a drum from the rear of a FWD car and mount the tire without it to get a good low-friction bearing.

I got a real balancer for $400, figure my estate can sell it for the same money when I'm dust & bones.

 

[vwmaniaman]

I have an old JCWhitney bubble balancer. I also have a VW large hole adapter for the old 5 hole VW Beetle wheels. You have to have patients, but it does work very well. Recently used it to check some Raybestos brake drums for my 1990 Ford Ranger. They were so bad that I consider them scrap iron. Check the old ones and they were perfect. Guess which ones went on my truck.

 

[vwmaniaman]

I had a 1959 Edsal and was on the way to Reno for a car show. I could feel it shaking in the front so I stopped at Kingman,AZ and found a service station that had a spin balancer. When the tech got done it was perfect. I was impressed.