On Sat, Dec 19, 2009 at 6:58 AM, Randall <tr3driver@ca.rr.com> wrote:
> > Motorcycle static wheel balancers use the axle to balance the wheel.
> > You would have to fab up some kind of hub to axle fixture to use a
> > rolling type of static balancer like motorcycles do.
>
> Which might be as simple as a spare hub from the car in question.
>
> > However, I
> > remember when bubble level balancers were the only game in
> > town and they
> > seemed to work ok.
>
> Indeed, a friend of mine who used to run a tire shop swore that they
> actually work better than dynamic balancers. When my motorhome had a
> shimmy
> problem that no one else could solve; he put the front wheels on his bubble
> balancer, took off about half the weights, and the problem disappeared.
>
>
Probable cause here is that your RV had lug-centered wheels. On most cars
and light trucks, the wheels are located by the hub. so the tire can be
spin balanced by mounting it on the cone adapter common to wheel balancers.
Some light trucks, and most medium duty and heavy duty ones (and an
increasing number of cars) have lug centered wheels. The hole in the center
of the wheel isn't necessarily concentric with the lugs. (One of my
Land-Rover wheels has the center of the center hole a 1/4 inch away from the
center of the wheel. Trying to balance it using the center hole simply
won't work.) Depending on the wheel, you might get lucky if you use a cone
mounting. Or you might not. Until lug-centered wheels started showing up
on toyotas, many tire shops had no equipment to let them balance them. (And
lots of techs *still* have no clue what this means.)
--
David Scheidt
dmscheidt@gmail.com
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