Balancing rear wheels

R

rowanh

Sunday Drivers
Hi,

Just wondering if i balanced the front wheels on an impreza and there is still a good bit of vibration when the car is going 120 kms + is there any point in balancing hte rear wheels? I was thinking it being four wheel drive it might make a lot more difference than in a fwd car. The guy who did the front wheels said they were a good bit out so its likley the rears are too..
 
Absolutely, Imprezas are highly sensitive to unbalanced wheels and it's essential to get the four done at once, make sure that whoever is doing it has their machine calibrated recently. I got it done a while back and still had vibration, took her back in and they said they'd calibrate their machine again, was sorted after that.
 
If you still have vibration after having the wheels balanced then either the balancing machine has not been calibrated or your wheels are buckled and the balancing cannot compensate enough to cancel out the vibration.

When balancing and tracking you should always get all four done. I had a nightmare with balancing wheels before and I found that a hell of a lot of garages don't calibrate their balancers or don't put the weights on in exactly the right place. It is worth getting the job done by someone who has a reputation for doing a good job at balancing as vibration at speed is really really annoying and all because a euro 40 job wasnt done right.

Frawls
 
and go to a shop that doesnt have the cover over the wheel. any shop that does just doesnt care, then you will definately know if you are buckled or not. its also worth noting that if the machine is not set up right as ai for knock on or stick on weight it will be a false reading also :thumbsup:
 
balancing the wheels is normally done when you get new tyres with little weights stuck to the inside of the wheels
as apose to
tracking can be done anytime and lines up all four wheels horizontly and vertically depending on what setting you want

both of these word need to be done to sort out your vibration
 
Frawls, most modern balancers wont run unless the cover is over the wheel, a H&S requirement. If you want to see if the wheel or tyre is buckled, just spin the wheel by hand while it is on the balancer. 2 or 4wd, dosent make a difference, all wheels should be balanced,

John
 
i clipped a rock avoiding a c**nt in a oil truck
put the rim on the back had to replace shock
and wheel bearing 6 months later
wheel bearings were a pig.
got the rim sorted 40 euro
about 700 euro later
 
Theres a lad in sallins! He's an absalute gent!
When I fitted the big brakes the little narrow weights that go on the inside of the rim behind the spokes wher catching the calipers :dance: (they are only about 3mm thick :lol:
So he took the time to put twice as many weights in a bit further in on the rim and then ground them down to make sure they would fit! and he just asked for €20! :thumbsup:
He's a very small operation and works out of an old garage but best price for tyres I've come across
Barnie 0876505798 if you need him!
Dan
 
sounds good dan :thumbsup:

@ johnny 99 , you can take the cover off, just pull the bar down and the wheel will spin
 
[quote author=johnny99 link=topic=4450.msg47232#msg47232 date=1196285148]
Frawls, most modern balancers wont run unless the cover is over the wheel, a H&S requirement. If you want to see if the wheel or tyre is buckled, just spin the wheel by hand while it is on the balancer. 2 or 4wd, dosent make a difference, all wheels should be balanced,

John
[/quote]

Johnny99 I said nothing about wheel balancing covers. I think you meant to direct that reply at someone else but in any case obviously H&S hasn't really caught on in the garages I had balance my wheels although the last one had a brand new machine and I dont remember a full cover as you could see the wheel spin and any buckle was impossible to miss.

Tracking sorts out the tyre ware not the vibration. Balancing fixes the vibration. The Impreza is very sensitive to tracking and all 4 wheels should be doen when changing all four tyres and the balancing should also be done then. If you have low profile tyres you should make sure you getthe stick on weights as the ones that shim under the tyre will let the air out over time and this causes increased tyre ware.
 
Sorry Frawls, it wasn't you, my mistake. Your correct about the cover and the H&S. Another negative on clip on weights, is that they can chip the laquer on the wheel and they will discolour the finish.

John
 
Why would you have to track the 4 wheels after getting new tyres??
Dan
 
Dan you wouldn't necessarily have to get the wheels tracked when fitting new tyres but since it only costs about 40 yo yos (or less if you get them to throw it in with the tyre's overall price) then it would be crazy not to.

Whatever about tracking the wheels balancing is essential when fitting new tyres as the new tyres will not be balanced correctly to the original specification when the car first left the factory.

Frawls
 
for some strange reason i could never get the tracking right on the 2wd 1.6 impreza and i had that tracked a few times but to no avail in the end i just decided to live with it.
 
Hi, i got the back ones done seperatly to the fronts as in the place they said there was no point doing the fronts again, i didnt argue with them. Also they were saying the machine had not been calibrated in some time, he was sure it was ok though.

So the wobble now starts at 120kms now where originally it was under 100kms then around 100kms after doing the fronts.

Im wondering where would be a better place to go ideally around south dublin somewhere. Also is there anything else that could cause it other than a buckled wheel? The fact that it has gotten a lot better does sort of point it just being balancing maybe?
 
Got them balanced in advanced pitstop in loughlanstown, one was very slightly buckled but between putting it on the back instead of the front and using 100 grams which seems to be a lot from the way the guy said it seems like there is no wobble anymore. Owesome as the french say. Also the guy was very helpful he was able to anser a bunch of questions i had and showed me a bunch of things under the car. Also only 30 blips.
 
Good stuff! :thumbsup:
It's nice to know that there are still decsent lads out there!
Dan
 
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