Wheel Balancing - Is it always necessary?

[Gammyleg]

I finally managed to get a couple of new front tyres fitted to my Superb over the weekend but unfortunately the tyre fitter's balancing machine was out of action ( been nearly 3 weeks now!!! )

 

Anyhow, I got a refund for the balancing that they couldn't do and was going to pop in somewhere else to get it done however after a quick blast up the motorway at speeds of up to ~75mph the wheels are showing no obvious signs of needing balancing, ie no shaking or vibration of the steering or generally. I did a further 130 motorway miles over the weekend with no signs of trouble.

 

Have I just struck lucky or should I have them checked out anyway?    

Edited 6 March, 2023 by Gammyleg
extra item added.

[Ootohere]

If the car feels OK at all speeds and no in balance from the wheels / tyres then all is well.

 

Around 50-60 mph is often where out of balance wheels / tyres is felt.

 

Did you chose the tyre pressure they set and reset the TPMS, or a check and adjust the pressures yourself & reset the TPMS after the fitter fitted the tyres?

Edited 6 March, 2023 by toot

[StevesTruck]

If it feels right, it is right. 

 

I read a long time ago that 90% of the imbalance is in the rim, so if they left the weights on, it's probably close enough. I fit my own tyres and don't have a balancer. Tyres have a marking on to show their heaviest and lightest point, so I just line that up to where the old one was. 

[Gammyleg]

35 minutes ago, toot said:

Did you chose the tyre pressure they set and reset the TPMS, or a check and adjust the pressures yourself & reset the TPMS after the fitter fitted the tyres?

 

Thanks for the reply Toot.

 

I'm not sure if the fitters reset the TPMS or not.

I checked the pressures after I got home and tweaked them all to 32psi which is where they should be for lightly loaded vehicle. Did nothing else at this stage but after about 100 miles the TPMS warning light came up on the dash.

Checked the pressures again when the tyres had cooled to ambient and they were all within a knats of where they should be. A final tweak then reset the TPMS. 

[Gammyleg]

31 minutes ago, StevesTruck said:

Tyres have a marking on to show their heaviest and lightest point, so I just line that up to where the old one was. 

 

The fitter may have followed the same process but it wasn't mentioned when I got the keys back. They had been dicking me about for 3 weeks with a broken balancer issue so maybe he did try a bit harder to get it right when fitting the new ones. 

[Gammyleg]

Update:

 

4 months on and still shake free🙂 Looks like I got lucky. The manager at the tyre fitters said they would refund the cost of the balancing ( i'd paid upfront via Blackcircles ), but of course that never happened.

[AGFalco]

On 20/07/2023 at 17:22, Gammyleg said:

The manager at the tyre fitters said they would refund the cost of the balancing ( i'd paid upfront via Blackcircles )

 

You paid Blackcircles to get the wheels balanced not the tyre fitter, so the refund should come from them.

Did you tell them? ( Blackcircles that is )

 

The tyre fitter will get very little money for fitting a tyre from Blackcircles.

It is almost not worth doing work for them.

 

Thanks. AG Falco

[Gammyleg]

I didn't bother pursuing this. The wheels didn't need balancing so I left it. I just won't use this tyre place again.