Wheel Weights....do I Trust The Shop That The Tires Are Balanced?

[live2learn]

Hi everyone,

Just got new Michelins installed on my '97 LS400. DAMN!!! Quiet, smooth, beautiful ride...amazing stuff...

I get back to the apartment here, park, get out and notice that I have balancing weights on both front wheels, different weights obviously.

But NEITHER of the back wheels have a balancing weight on them.

Now the shop here who sold the tires did the mounting, balancing, etc., and has a lifetime balance adjustment at no cost, so I'm not worried about it really. I called the shop and they said the computer balancer often times will not suggest a weight be installed within certain tolerances, of course. He said I could bring it back anytime to have them re-check it if I had any odd noises, sensations, whatever.

Anyway, I don't think it's anything to be concerned about, but I am curious if it's something anyone else thinks it's something to worry about.

Thanks...

[LScott400]

Congrats on the new Mich's - they do make for a sweet ride. Since you find them to run smooth I wouldn't be concerned about the quality of the wheel balancing. With 27 years in the tire service industry, I can tell you that Mich's consistently have less imbalance than other brands. There is also some New Technology out there that many shops are taking advantage of due to the skyrocketing costs of wheel weights and the environmental concerns surrounding lead.

So enjoy your new purchase - excellent tires on an excellent car!

[live2learn]

Congrats on the new Mich's - they do make for a sweet ride. Since you find them to run smooth I wouldn't be concerned about the quality of the wheel balancing. With 27 years in the tire service industry, I can tell you that Mich's consistently have less imbalance than other brands. There is also some New Technology out there that many shops are taking advantage of due to the skyrocketing costs of wheel weights and the environmental concerns surrounding lead.

So enjoy your new purchase - excellent tires on an excellent car!

Thanks LScott, I appreciate that.

Yeah, I went with the MXV4 Plus XSE. Nice ride.

Plus Discount Tire here in Austin is just cheap as all get out on just about any tire, including the big names.

Gotta love that!

Thanks for the input....and reassurance.

Mark

[dcfish]

Congrats on the new Mich's - they do make for a sweet ride. Since you find them to run smooth I wouldn't be concerned about the quality of the wheel balancing. With 27 years in the tire service industry, I can tell you that Mich's consistently have less imbalance than other brands. There is also some New Technology out there that many shops are taking advantage of due to the skyrocketing costs of wheel weights and the environmental concerns surrounding lead.

So enjoy your new purchase - excellent tires on an excellent car!

Thanks LScott, I appreciate that.

Yeah, I went with the MXV4 Plus XSE. Nice ride.

Plus Discount Tire here in Austin is just cheap as all get out on just about any tire, including the big names.

Gotta love that!

Thanks for the input....and reassurance.

Mark

Back to the weights on the outside of the wheel, Some shops do that for a truer balance ( supposedly ). Personally when I get my tires bal/rotate I always make sure they remove all the old weights, clean the inside of the wheel and put on the weights only on the inside and on the inside of the wheel, Never on the outside ( looks like s$#t ) Just have them balanced/rotate at the proper intervals.

Congrats on the lex and the Michelins simply one of the best tires made, That's all I ever put on my lex's.

[razahyde]

i jsut got 4 new michelin hydroedge put on and i think they are the *BLEEP* haha but i wanted MXV4 but the deal i got on these was unrefusable

[SW03ES]

If it rides smooth, its fine. Michelins are more round than probably any other tire and in my experience it takes less weight to balance them.

dcfish- doesn't your GS has a smooth lipped wheel? You can't put wheel weights on the front of most new wheels.

[akewlguy]

At 65- or 75+ my car is perfect. At 70 there is a slight shake at times. I suspect the wheels, but its aggrivating.

So far I have rotated the tires once (after this I noticed the problem.) Picked up the lifetime alignment, which was sorta useless since company justified they were right on. Of course with time it may come in handy.

Well have a great day and cheers. Any advice appreciated.