Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Wheels & Tires Static vs Dynamic balance

I need some feedback on this one. Currently, my tires are static balanced (weights on the inside of the wheel). Tire place says they're balanced correctly, but I keep getting a vibration. Vibe is more on acceleration and can be felt in the pedals, seat, and steering wheel. I've read on here that un-balanced rear tires could transmitt a vibe into the wheel and seat, so maybe that's the issue? I'm thinking about going back and getting everything balanced with weights on the outside too. Anybody have any experience with this?

I had the vibration just like you. Ever notice your passenger seat will be shaking like a mofo too? hehe, kinda wierd. Anyway, took my car in and had the rear tires re-balanced (I had just bought new tires but apparently they wheren't balanced very well) and the problem is almost completely gone. I can BARELY notice a slight hint of a vibration now, but I'm just being picky. No vibration like it used to, and my wheels are static balanced.

My tires are new too (less than 2K miles on them) and I've had them re-balanced 2 or 3 times to no avail. I don't notice my pass seat vibrating as much as my radar detector, which really gets a ride. On the discounttire website they talk about the difference in dynamic vs static, and it makes sense that what I am experiencing may be corrected by a dynamic balance. I really like not having any weights on the outside, but if that sacrifices ride quality it's really not worth it.

do you have stock wheels? i just got my 17"s static balanced and it helped immensely. The vibrations I do feel now are nothing more than what I had before. Is the shop you go to reputable? And how is your suspension?

My aftermarket wheels were balanced using stick-on weights, and some clip-ons on the inside face. The stick-ons are not all "on center." I'm certain they are balanced against both types of vibration, and yet there are no ugly, finish-ruining clip-ons on the outside.

Yes, stock wheels with 225/50/16 tires. I got my tires mounted/balanced at Tire Kingdom, who seem to do good work (from what I can tell from past work). I'm pretty sure my suspension is OK. I have new half shafts and stabilizer links, and control arm bushings are less than 1 year old. I was wondering if what I'm feeling is do to the tire tread? My new tires are Hankook Ventus Sport K104's.

anybody else have those tires here? could just be the tires.

what kind of balancing machine. gotta find a place w/ a hunter balancer.

I found a place here in VT that has a road-force balancer, I have an apt. for next Friday, that's the earliest they could get me in. At $62/hour, I hope this works. I'd hate to spend like $130 just to find out that the vibration isn't coming from the tires being unbalanced.

I had the same "bouncy" feeling on a brand new set of 18s I just put on my car....this is how I resolved the problem:

I knew it was not my suspension (BAT struts/Eibach) as it less than 10 months old....and my car is not a daily driver. Also, it had just spent an hour on the alignment rack prior to the install of the tires.

It turns out the problem is that the tires and rims needed to be "indexed" or "ride matched."

Tire Kingdom in Miami has a machine that puts a load on the tires under speed and determines the high spot on both the tire and rim. The tech then deflates the tire, turns the tire on the rim to the correct place (as determined by the machine), and puts air back in the tire. This whole process took about 2 hours...what a difference. My car is glass smooth @ 95+....not that I drive that fast.

As an aside, I paid Discount Tire Direct an extra 40 to ride match my wheels/tires before shipping them to me...obviously this did not happen. I called them and told them about the problem....they told me to resolve it at the tire shop and they would foot the bill...they did. I recommend them as they stand behind their product.