Balancing Wheels

[wanderinstar]

Last week I went into a Kwikfit to get some wheels balanced. When the fitter saw my newly painted wheels [about 6 months ago] he said they wouldnt balance. When asked why he said because they were hand painted. He did balance them, but said they would only last a few days.
Has anyone else had this problem?

[Onne]

The problem is described by you, and is called Kwikfit.

I have never had problems with balancing painted wheels. Why would they go out of balance anyway?

Onne

[bmcecosse]

Usual Kwak Fut 'mince' - as it's known in écosseland!!
I balance my own wheels- just back off the adjusters till the wheel swings freely - let it settle and mark the low point with chalk - repeat a couple of times to check it's a true result. Then turn the chalk mark up from 6 o'clock to 9 o'clock, and add some weights at 3 o'clock until the wheel has no tendency to turn one way or the other - then fix the weights on properly and re-adjust the brakes. Job done !Obviously only works on front wheels of Minor - but it does also take into account the often badly out-of-balance brake drum!! This is only a 'static' balance - but on thin tall wheels like 14" Minor - it works just fine for me.

[MikeNash]

bmc,
where do you get your balance weights - apart from picking them up from the road! regards, MikeN.

[8009STEVE]

Went to Kwifkit today to get some tyres changed. Mr Manager said that he could not fit the brand new tyre that I had as it came under Health and Saftey. I asked him to break the beads so that I could change the tyre myself. When I got home, the b######## had taken out the valve, hoping that I could not do it!Had to make a valve tool out of a split pin. Guess where I am not going again.

[millerman]

Call at ATS and ask nicely?

[alex_holden]

What did he mean by "it came under Health and Saftey"?

I got lucky with my tyres. A local garage agreed to do them for a fiver a wheel as long as I didn't need them doing immediately. Then my dad's car went in for some work and it took them longer than expected to fix the problem, so they fitted and balanced my tyres for free in compensation for the delay.

[8009STEVE]

Health and Saftey is a large umbrella. If you do not want to do something, then quote Health and Saftey. He did say that he was allowed to take the spare tyre off the rim and fit it to a road wheel.(alloys road wheel, steel spare)

[wanderinstar]

Health & Safety. Huh! They say they cannot fit tubeless tyres to a tubrd rim with a tube in it. Because, they say, tubeless tyres have ridges round the inside which may rubtube and puncture it. But if you can get the smaller dia. valve to go in tubed rim, the design of rim is not condusive to fitting a tubeless tyre onto. Something to do with not having ridges round inside of rim to keep tyre on rim in case of a blowout.
So where does that leave us. Have to get tubed tyres with smooth inside casing. Is it possible to get these.

ANSWER. Buy a pair of tyre levers and do job yourself.

[rayofleamington]

'Health and safety' is a pefectly legitimate reason not to fit a tubeless tyre on a tube type rim, however the most likely reason was that he just didn't want to fit a tyre to a 40 year old steel rim as you could come back a couple of days later and get him to fix the leaks for nothing (high chance that the rim was rusty somewhere and may well not seal unless it has a tube fitted).

ANSWER. Buy a pair of tyre levers and do job yourself.

Fine in theory but for those people who've changed their own tyres on a very smart rim you will have found how easy it is to damage the paint in the process.
Easiest way I found was to go to a back street tyre place (not a big chain) in an afternoon when they are not busy and ask them to do it for cash, no receipt. I managed this a few months ago for £5 but i had to try a few places as the one's I'd used before have had some hassle and now won't do it.

Tyre specialists are coming under immense pressure from those lovely individuals who get second hand tyres fitted, then sue the fitter a few weeks later if the tyre turns out to be faulty. Maybe this is our adoption of the 'sue someone else for our own stupidity' American legalistic culture but the consequences are that fewer places are prepared to take any risk.

[wanderinstar]

'Health and safety' is a pefectly legitimate reason not to fit a tubeless tyre on a tube type rim, however the most likely reason was that he just didn't want to fit a tyre to a 40 year old steel rim as you could come back a couple of days later and get him to fix the leaks for nothing (high chance that the rim was rusty somewhere and may well not seal unless it has a tube fitted).

ANSWER. Buy a pair of tyre levers and do job yourself.

Fine in theory but for those people who've changed their own tyres on a very smart rim you will have found how easy it is to damage the paint in the process.
Easiest way I found was to go to a back street tyre place (not a big chain) in an afternoon when they are not busy and ask them to do it for cash, no receipt. I managed this a few months ago for £5 but i had to try a few places as the one's I'd used before have had some hassle and now won't do it.

Tyre specialists are coming under immense pressure from those lovely individuals who get second hand tyres fitted, then sue the fitter a few weeks later if the tyre turns out to be faulty. Maybe this is our adoption of the 'sue someone else for our own stupidity' American legalistic culture but the consequences are that fewer places are prepared to take any risk.

[wanderinstar]

All I wanted to quote was a little bit at the top
"not seal unless it has a tube fitted"
They wont fit tube either as I said in post #9.

[bmcecosse]

Many years ago I started my working life at UniRoyal - making tyres. Any tyres that had a 'tubeless liner' fault had the 'tubeless' wording buffed off the sidewalls and were branded 'tubed' - and sold on as such. These tyres all had the ribbed liner - the ribbing comes from the rubber bladder that is inflated (by high pressure hot water!) inside the carcase as it is cured inside the steam heated clam-shell mould. So - UniRoyal had no qualms about these tyres being used with tubes. And neither do I - I have some with tubes and some without, all on standard rims. Yes - it's sensible to buff off any rusty bits and give them a coat of kurust followed by paint.
Ian - I get my balance weights from old wheels collected over the years - got a box full of them !! Kwak Fut usually pulls off the old weights - and discards them - you could ask for some when passing.

[8009STEVE]

and discards them -

When I was in the tyre trade, we used to cash the old weights in at the local scrappy.

[bmcecosse]

Aye - they probably do that still !! But handling all that LEAD - wow - HSE would go mad (yes, pun intended) on that !!

[Onne]

I worked in a garage for a while, and we changed from lead to zinc. And any proper car spares shop should be able to sell you balance weights.

[Kevin]

When asked why he said because they were hand painted. He did balance them, but said they would only last a few days.
Has anyone else had this problem?

I cant believe the weight of the paint is going to make the slightest difference, if you are having trouble finding a good local place search one of the online tyre suppliers as they often list the nearest places that will fit their tyres for you and you will have found your local friendly place.
Also if you use BMC method remember to put a mark on one stud and them rim as you are balancing the drum as well as the wheel.

[bmcecosse]

Good point Kevin - indeed mine are marked !