Foam Wheel Weights?

[Hokiefyd]

I had my Camry to the dealer on Saturday for its 5k mile service and I asked them to rebalance the tires, because of a vibration at 70 MPH. The rebalance fixed the vibration, but the stick-on weights they used appear to be a dense foam material. They're not the segmented metal weights, where you tear off as many segments as you need, like a paper towel. They look to be cut to specific lengths and stuck on the inside of the wheel rim.

Is this is a new "green" metal-free weight?

 

[eljefino]

is it magnetic?

how about a pic?

sounds like a steel weight, maybe with an end chipped off with a hammer.

 

[nwjones18]

I've never heard of that.. I'm curious now too.

 

[Bill in Utah]

I think if you took a magnet to it you would find metal on the inside.

These are the new "EPA" weights. They have steel inside and stick on (and fly off much easier)

Discount tire had them when I had to fix the bent rim on the Subaru. They asked me if I wanted the new ones or old ones with the fly off warning. He said even if he cleaned up the surface real well they still don't stay.

If you get your tires balanced every 5k with the rotate then they are fine. Another dumb idea in my book...

 

[Hokiefyd]

I can pull a wheel off and take a picture tonight.

They're definitely soft, like foam. I took the wheels off after I got home, to clean the inside and to ensure the lugs were torqued correctly. These weights are definitely soft, "spongey". It appears to take a LOT of this material to balance the tires. Probably because they're much lighter than full metal weights. One wheel has two 6" strips, side-by-side. They're not unsightly, and actually blend in with the wheel rim pretty well.

It does seem like you could peel them off easily. But doesn't the centrifugal force of the wheel spinning only serve to press the weight into the wheel more? I'm not sure how a stick-on weight on the inside of the wheel rim could fly off.

 

[Hokiefyd]

This 3M system looks to be what I have. The picture of it is on the first page, but the description is on the 3rd page.

http://www.steelwheelweights.com/pdf/APR_weights.pdf

"The wheel weight
is made of a highly flexible and conformable
polymer composite material that can be cut
to length to meet exact weight requirements,
according to Scott Taylor, automotive technology
manager for 3M Automotive.
The composite material is made up of
both polymers and metals. Recycled materials
make up 89% of the composite
material.
Compared to other weights, the 3M wheel
weight system requires fewer part numbers,
says Taylor. “One or two part numbers can
take care of a tire dealer’s entire inventory.”
The wheel weight material is flexible enough
to be cut with scissors, yet tough enough to
withstand rigorous durability, weathering,
salt spray and “salt fog” testing, he adds.
The wheel weights do not clip onto the
wheel; they are attached using 3M Acrylic
Foam Tape."

BTW, we had the wheels on our T&C balanced this summer in PA, on a road trip, and they used steel clip-on weights, and I like those a lot better than the lead clip-on weights that I've had before. The steel ones look much cleaner for some reason.

 

[Bill in Utah]

The steel ones that clip on do look better (they are thinly painted) than lead when new. But once they have seen a winter with salt and such they rust like no tomorrow. And the rust stains are not so great looking on your rims no matter what they are made of or what color.

The clips on the lead weights do rust if they are the real cheap ones but at least its a smaller object to deal with.

The problem with the foam ones are that the adhesive will come undone (esp in heat) and just fall down. How many tire jockeys do you think are going to make sure that the rim surface is perfectly clean before sticking the weights on?

Doesn't matter, its already here and within the end of the year or the next, lead will be banned for our "good".

Take care, bill

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
How many tire jockeys do you think are going to make sure that the rim surface is perfectly clean before sticking the weights on?


They did with these. There were solvent stains where the new weights are, so I can tell they had "cleaned" the surface of the wheel rim with something.

 

[bdcardinal]

We have the 3M system at my work. We had to switch to it because lead wheel weights are banned in CA.

 

[Johnny248]

They are doing away with lead weights... These are what they have come up with.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
We have the 3M system at my work. We had to switch to it because lead wheel weights are banned in CA.


How do you guys like it? Do the tire/wheels balance as easily? Do you see them coming off the wheels easy or do they stick pretty good?

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
We have the 3M system at my work. We had to switch to it because lead wheel weights are banned in CA.


How do you guys like it? Do the tire/wheels balance as easily? Do you see them coming off the wheels easy or do they stick pretty good?


Our tires guys hate them because they are different and require cleaning to put on correctly, other than that no problems at all.

 

[kkreit01]

I actually prefer stick-ons, and have never had trouble with them falling off. With stick on, there's less damage to wheel, and they look a lot better.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I prefer the look of stick-ons, but I didn't have much luck with them on our '07 T&C. It does have flanges on the wheels, so it would normally take clip-on weights, but Sam's Club just couldn't seem to get the tires balanced with the stick-ons that I asked them to use. I finally gave in and let them use the clip-ons and now it's good.

So when my Camry came up after having the wheels mounted (flangeless OEM Toyota wheels), and the tires had a vibration at 70 MPH, I thought, "here we go again." But now that they're balanced right, I'm in heaven again.

 

[gizzsdad]

Interestingly, after my wheels shucked clip-ons twice, my dealer replaced them with stick-ons on the inside edge of the wheel.

No problems since.

 

[FordFocus]

We tried those 3M tape weights at my work and I did NOT like them. You had to use huge strips for a normal amount of weight. If a tire took a lot of weight you would have to stack them and them you could see those long strips of weight from the outside of the wheel more obviously. Does anyone make a steel of zinc tape weight. We still use lead tape weights since they are still legal in my state.