How to Choose Your Wheel Balancer

Wheel Balancing Machines

A wheel balancer is used in the motor vehicle repair industry to carry out tyre balancing also known as wheel balancing. Wheel balancing is carried out to ensure the correct and even weight distribution of the complete wheel and tyre assembly allowing them to rotate evenly will afford maximum tyre life and a smooth ride at higher speeds.

A Wheel Balancer rotates the wheel and tyre assembly at speed, determines the heaviest point and provides the operator with the data required for correct placement and required weight of balancing weights. A wheels balance will change as the tyre wears it is therefore recommended to re-balance the wheel and tyre assembly mid-way through a tyres useful lifespan.

How To Spot A Poorly Balanced Wheel

An unbalanced wheel is hard to spot at lower speeds, generally as a vehicle exceeds approximately 40 miles per hour you will begin to notice vibration in the steering wheel the higher the speed the worse the vibration will become. Ensuring that your vehicles wheels are correctly balanced will have a significant impact on the lifespan of vehicle components such as tyres and steering and suspension bushes.

What is the result of unbalanced wheels?

As well as the unpleasant vibration, an unbalanced wheel will cause the tyre on the effected wheel to wear unevenly. It could also affect your suspension and steering, causing wear that you won’t know about until it comes to light, either when your car fails its MOT or when it’s highlighted by a garage during a regular service.

How do you Balance Vehicle Wheels?

Motor vehcile repair workshops will typically have a machine dedicated to this purpose commonly known as a wheel balancer or wheel balancing machine, this piece of garage equipment is used to spin the tyre and wheel assembly together and uses an onboard computer to inform the operative wheer the balancing weights should be positioned therby correcting any imperfections.

When is Wheel Balancing Required?

Generally a wheel will require balancing whenever vibration is detected in the steering or if you have just fitted a new tyre onto a vehicle.

Balanced a Wheel but Vibration is Still There?

If you have correctly balanced a wheel and tyre assembly using a wheel balancer and the problem persists then it is likely that the wheel is bent, this can occur by simply hitting a pothole in the road, remember a wheel balancer can only assist you with uneven weight distribution it cannot compensate for an out of shape wheel.

Wheel balancer technology has evolved somewhat since its beginnings. The range of wheel balancers provided by Garage Equipment Online are all capable of balancing to within accuracies of 1 gram ensuring smooth rotation of the wheels and happy customers.

Choosing the correct wheel balancer for your needs is generally dependent on the output of your workshop and budget constraints, as with all machinery the more features you require the higher the initial purchase cost a low output workshop would have to balance a lot of wheels to justify the costs of a big brand name wheel balancer, below we have listed our available wheel balancers and their intended purpose.

Hand Spin Wheel Balancer

This type of wheel balancing machine is suited for use by hobbyists, home enthusiasts and mobile tyre fitters for low output wheel balancing purposes it does not feature an internal motor so the rotation of the wheel is performed by hand this type of wheel balancer is just as accurate but would be a real headache for garage workshops who regularly carry out vehicle wheel balancing services. You can view this wheel balancer by clicking this link.

Semi Automatic Wheel Balancer

Our semi automatic wheel balancers are suitable for medium to high output wheel balancing tasks, this wheel balancer features an intergrated motor to spin the wheel at high speeds and affords the user a simple to operate wheel balancing machine that is capable of turning out high volume wheel balancing operations. You can view our semi-automatic wheel balancer by clicking this link.

Fully Automatic Wheel Balancer

A fully Automatic wheel balancer is the ultimate in wheel balancer technology with time saving and user interface features such as automatic calibration, hidden spoke mode and automatic parameter entry, meaning the operative does not have to manually enter the required parameters and much more besides. To gain a thorough understanding of all of the technical capabilities of a fully auto wheel balancer we suggest that you read our product PDF in its entirity ask for one to be sent electronically prior to purchase. To view our range of fully automatic wheel balancers Click this link.

For all of your wheel balancer requirements call Garage Equipment Online Today on +44 (0)151 601 4945.

For more information on How to Choose Your Wheel Balancer talk to Garage Equipment Online Limited