Wheel balancing
That shake through the steering wheel at 50 to 70mph is almost always this.
A wheel and tyre are never perfectly even in weight. A few grams out at one point becomes a measurable force at speed, and you feel it as a vibration through the steering wheel or the seat. Small weights clipped or stuck to the rim cancel it out.
It matters beyond comfort. An unbalanced wheel hammers the suspension, wears the tyre in patches, and the uneven wear then makes the balance worse. Left alone it eats a tyre long before its time.
How you know you need it
- A vibration through the steering wheel that comes in around 50 to 70mph and fades again
- A shake through the seat or floor rather than the wheel — usually a rear wheel
- Patchy, scalloped wear across the tread
- You have hit a pothole or kerb and a weight has come off
What we actually do
- 1 Each wheel comes off and goes on the balancing machine
- 2 The machine finds where the imbalance is and how much it is
- 3 Weights are fitted to cancel it — stick-on weights on alloys so the rim is not marked
- 4 We check the result, not just fit the weight and assume
Questions about this job
Steering shakes or the whole car shakes — is there a difference?
Yes, and it is a useful clue. Through the steering wheel usually means a front wheel; through the seat usually means a rear one.
Do new tyres need balancing?
Always, and it is included when we fit them. You never pay for balancing on a tyre we have supplied.
It still shakes after balancing — now what?
Then it is likely not balance. A buckled rim, a worn suspension joint or a tyre with a shifted belt all feel similar. We will look rather than keep adding weights.
Wheel balancing — in Westhampton
118 Mill Lane, Westhampton, Westshire, WX1 4AB. Open seven days, Sunday included.