Front tire balancing?

[Don60]

I have a 2020 F3 basic with Vredestein Quatrac 5 tires on the front. When I had them balanced, technician tried to get it right with his balancer, but I question the trueness? I put American Seal in them and have a slight vibration when you let the handle bars go? My question is, if I can find a local dealer with a better balancer, can i balance them with sealer still in them or do I have to break them down and remove the sealer for a better balance? Thanks for any advice!

[CopperSpyder]

You can try this product http://www.lamonstergarage.com/centr...ster-approved/ This will help your tires last longer also and stay balanced.

[bikerchris1270]

LaMonster has wheel balancing discs which work well. Eliminating guesswork easily, maybe not cheaply though.👍

[Papa103]

I balanced mine on my Coats spin balancer (I own and automotive repair shop) like I would any other wheel and tire. I don't think the balancer will balance a tire with something in it. The balancer will chase an object inside the tire and keep putting a weight in a different place trying to compensate for the moving substance.

[Don60]

Thanks for the advice, will look into after first of the year! Nice thing is you can take it and move it to new Spyder!

[trikermutha]

Its hit and miss on the balancers JMO> Take them to another tire shop to be balanced. I like to use a Road force Balancer if you can find a shop that has one and a small cone hub that fits your wheel.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I balanced mine on my Coats spin balancer (I own and automotive repair shop) like I would any other wheel and tire. I don't think the balancer will balance a tire with something in it. The balancer will chase an object inside the tire and keep putting a weight in a different place trying to compensate for the moving substance.

.... modern wheels today, are almost perfectly balanced .... it's possible yours is the exception .... remove tire and Ameriseal, and check the wheels for balance ..... I have yet to find a " high speed spin balancer " that can't Balance a wheel & tire ..... Tires can be DEFECTIVE and non-balanceable because of it .... KENDA's have a bad reputation for this reason alone .... most folks here who have the Q-5's have said they were surprised at little weight was needed to balance. Sometimes the Balance machine needs re-calibrating but good operators do this ..... good luck ... keep us posted ..... Mike

[Peter Aawen]

I have a 2020 F3 basic with Vredestein Quatrac 5 tires on the front. When I had them balanced, technician tried to get it right with his balancer, but I question the trueness? I put American Seal in them and have a slight vibration when you let the handle bars go? My question is, if I can find a local dealer with a better balancer, can i balance them with sealer still in them or do I have to break them down and remove the sealer for a better balance? Thanks for any advice!

Do you still get that 'slight vibration' after ryding for 30 mins or so?? While many manufacturer's blurbs will tell you that their particular sealant/balancing product won't migrate to the bottom of the tire while the vehicle is parked, if the sealant/balancer remains 'fluid' enough to actually work as a sealany &/or tire balancer at any level, then the 'fluid' WILL migrate to some extent and that will often mean you get a (hopefully minor) vibration for maybe as long as 30 minutes or so after starting to ride....

You can spend a lot of money on fluids & beads & other crap that goes inside your tires to supposedly 'perfectly balance' them &/or seal them in the event of a puncture, but if these products can actually DO the job of balancing or sealing your tires while your tires are rotating, then the product NEEDS to be able to move or flow to achieve that, even if it does move sloooowly, and that means you WILL get some degree of imbalance after parking for a while - even those externally mounted bolt on Centramatic products that Lamonster sells/CopperSpyder linked above, which are one of the better if not actually the best 'continually balancing' products on the market today, even they will leave you with a short period of 'less than ideal balance' after parking up for a while, but at least with them it's usually only for moments after starting to ride, not minutes!!

So, bearing all that in mind, any subsequent mechanical balancing done with sealant/balancing fluid still inside the tire must be done AFTER the tire has been rotating at speed for about 30 minutes or so & reached its operating temp, or you'll just be 'balancing' an incorrectly balanced tire to start with, perpetuating the 'imbalance' if not actually making it worse, AND that 'incorrect balance' will still continue to vary every time you park the vehicle as the sealant/balancing fluid slooowly pools in a different place.... All of which adds up to anything remaining inside the tire being an absofreakinlutely pain in the butt if you really want a 'well balanced' wheel, even with the most sensitive of moden balancing equipment!

You might get reasonably close to achieving a 'well balanced' wheel with any stuff remaining inside your tires; but it does tend to become a bit of an exercise in chasing a white rabbit down a hole expecting to find a tea party... and you'll almost always get a whole lot closer with a quality tire (like the Vredesteiens) being balanced by a competent & skilled balancing technician working on/with modern balancing equipment and with NO stuff inside your tires! If you still feel a vibration after having a skilled tech do their thing on modern gear & them being sure the tire/rim assy is as near to being a 'correctly balanced' wheel as they can get it, then there might be an issue with the manufacture of tire &/or rim itself, but the tech should be able to identify that; or it could well be something like a dodgy suspension &/or driveline component that's either failed or is failing & causing the vibration..... If you are happy that the tech was competent & skilled in their job & they were using modern machinery, then maybe consider the Centramatics to iron out any residual imbalance &/or any changes in balance as the tire wears, but for my two bob's worth, if a good tire balancing tech using modern gear says the Vredestein is balanced well & the wheel assy is not the cause, yet you are still getting vibrations, then you've got another problem somewhere and I'd seriously be looking elsewhere for issues!!

Ps: Have you swapped out the rear tire to something other than a Kenda yet?? If not, that could be a good place to start!

[PMK]

In the interest of safety, your tires should be removed from the rims, all balancing goo should be removed, the tires remounted and correctly dynamic balanced.

I suggest ensuring the person balancing the wheels accomplishes a dynamic balance that will place weights on the inner and outer flange areas of the wheel. Static balancing will place a single row of weights inside the wheels centerline. Unfortunately, static balancing will not correct precession, which is essentially an induced wobble into the rotating wheel assembly.

When I balance Spyder wheels on my Snap On balancer, I also make setting changes on the machine to accomplish a fine balance, accurate to within one tenth of an ounce.

Failing to correct imbalance, including precession, will cause premature wear to suspension and the the very expensive electric DPS steering box.

Once correctly balanced and test ridden to verify, you can consider adding goo to offer some form of tire sealing if desired. Doing so may induce an imbalance that will smooth out as you ride.

Several replies suggested purchasing Centrimatic balancing discs. Last I read, it was suggested that for best results you accomplish a quality balancing of the wheel assembly, then install the Centrimtic balancers. This is done to reduce the likelihood of exceeding the range of imbalance the Centrimatic is capable of adjusting for.

All the best however you sort this out.

[Don60]

Thanks for your reasoning! I agree on the sealant causing some of the problem when I first start out, but after tires warm up, I still have a slight vibration! I am going to remove sealant, clean the tire and find a place with more modern equipment and a skilled technician. As for the rear tire, still in the original for now, can’t find a place that has the right equipment to swap it out for a Vredestein rear! I only have 2500 miles on the Spyder! Thanks again for all your comments!

[trikermutha]

I only use counter act beads on my rears. Seems good so far and two tires later.

[RudyB]

I have a 2020 F3 basic with Vredestein Quatrac 5 tires on the front. When I had them balanced, technician tried to get it right with his balancer, but I question the trueness? I put American Seal in them and have a slight vibration when you let the handle bars go? My question is, if I can find a local dealer with a better balancer, can i balance them with sealer still in them or do I have to break them down and remove the sealer for a better balance? Thanks for any advice!

You can’t go wrong with the Centramatic wheel balancers