WHEEL BALANCE ACCURACY
PURPOSE
This section contains tips and
procedures for achieving accurate wheel balance. Steering wheel
vibration and/or body shake can result if any of these procedures
are not carefully observed.
1.Wheels and tyres must be
properly mounted on a balancer in order to achieve correct balance.
Centring the wheel on the shaft of the balancer is essential for proper
mounting.
2.Off-the-car wheel balancers must be calibrated
periodically to ensure good balancing results. An inaccurately
calibrated balancer could cause unnecessary replacement of tyres,
shocks, suspension components, or steering components.
Check your
balancer’s calibration approximately every 100 balances. Your
wheel balancer’s instruction manual should include calibration
procedures. If the calibration procedures specifically for your balancer
are missing, use the generic steps in this section for zero calibration,
static balance, and dynamic balance checks. The wheel balancer
calibration checks are also described in the flowchart. (Refer to ).
PROCEDURE <BALANCING
TIPS>
1.Confirm that the balancer’s cone
and the wheel mounting cone are undamaged and free of dirt and
rust.
2.On this vehicle, the wheel’s centre hole on the
hub side has a chamfered edge. Use a back-mounting cone on your wheel
balancer to centre the wheel on the balancer shaft.
3.Install
a wheel mounting cone. The appropriate size cone for this vehicle is
67.0 mm.
4.Before balancing the wheel, remove any wheel
weights from both sides. Also check both sides for any
damage.
5.When installing wheel weights, hammer them at a
straight (not diagonal) angle.
<CONFIRMING PROPER
BALANCE>
1.After balancing the wheel, loosen
the wing nut and turn the wheel 180° against the balancer’s
hub. Then re-tighten the wing nut and check the balance again. Repeat
wheel balance if necessary.
2.Turn the wheel again 180°
against the balancer’s hub. If the wheel becomes out-of-balance
each time it is turned against the balancer’s hub, the wheel
balancer may require calibration.
<WHEEL BALANCER CALIBRATION
CHECKS>
1.Mount an undamaged original-equipment
alloy rim and tyre assembly (wheel) onto your off-the-car wheel
balancer. Balance the wheel.
2.<<Zero Calibration
Check>>
Loosen the balancer wing nut, rotate the wheel a
half-turn (180°), and retighten the nut. Recheck the
balance.
- If the imbalance is 5 g or less, the zero calibration is OK.
Rebalance the wheel, then go to Step 4 to check static
balance.
- If the imbalance is more than 5 g, go to Step 3.
3.Loosen the balancer wing nut, rotate the wheel 1/4
turn (90°), and retighten the nut. Recheck the wheel
balance.
- If the imbalance is 5 g or less, the wheel may not be centred on
the balancer, or the balancing cones, the cup, and/or wing
nut are damaged, dirty, or inappropriate for the wheel. You may
need to refer to the balancer manufacturer’s instructions
to verify the correct attachments. After making the necessary
corrections, recheck the wheel balance. If OK, then go to Step
4.
- If the imbalance is more than 5 g, the balancer requires
calibration. Contact the balancer manufacturer for calibration
by their repair representative.
4.<<Static Balance Check>>
Attach
a 5 g weight to the outer rim. Recheck the balancer. The balancer should
detect 5 ± 2 g of imbalance 170 to 190° away from the 5 g
weight.
- If the imbalance is within specification, the static balance
calibration is correct. Go to Step 5 to check the dynamic
balance.
- If the imbalance is out of specification, the balancer requires
calibration. Contact the balancer manufacturer for calibration
by their repair representative.
5.<<Dynamic Balance
Check>>
Attach a 5 g weight to the inner rim at
180° opposite the 5 g weight that was added in Step 4. Recheck the
balance. The balancer should detect 5 ± 2 g of imbalance 170 to
190° away from both the inner and outer 5 g
weights.
- If the imbalance is within specification, the dynamic balance
calibration is correct. The balancer calibration checks are
complete.
- If the imbalance is out of specification, the balancer requires
calibration. Contact the balancer manufacturer for calibration
by their repair representative.
WHEEL BALANCER CALIBRATION CHECKING
FLOW CHART