Help - Alloy Wheels - Wheel balancing

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Sat 1 Jan 2005 17:03
Help - Alloy Wheels - Wheel balancing - Lucian Deville
Hi

HNY all!! :)

My sister has recently bought a Ford Mondeo 1998 Ghia. The car has alloy wheels and three have lead weights on for balancing - two front tyres and one rear tyre.

My question is - do alloys need wheel balancing weights? (If yes, why?) My Mondeo Ghia - bought new has not got any I noticed - drives fine.

Thanks in advance.

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Sat 1 Jan 2005 17:10
Help - Alloy Wheels - Wheel balancing - Altea Ego
Yes alloy wheel need balancing. Yours are almost certainly balanced, the balance weights my be stuck in the inside of the rim where you cant see them.
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Sat 1 Jan 2005 17:13
Help - Alloy Wheels - Wheel balancing - Quinny100
Alloy wheels do need to be balanced just like any other wheel - most of the imbalance of a wheel comes from the tyre hence why you have your wheels balanced when having new tyres.

Alloys can be balanced by rim weights or by using different types of stick on weights on the inside of the rim where you can't see them. These are more expensive hence why most places don't use them, but Kwik Fit always have done on my cars when they've fitted tyres or balanced wheels for me.
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Sat 1 Jan 2005 17:58
Help - Alloy Wheels - Wheel balancing - Lucian Deville
Hi R/Family and Quinny

Thany you all very much for a faster than light response. I will phone my sis and advise asap!!

Thanks :)
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Sat 1 Jan 2005 19:26
Help - Alloy Wheels - Wheel balancing - Andrew-T
As Q says, any wheel will need to be balanced, because even if the wheel is in balance, the tyre almost certainly isn't. All new cars (I think) have wheels balanced before fitting to the car. It is just possible that a tyre/wheel combination needs no weights, but it's more likely that the weights are on the inside, where they should be on alloys, IMHO. Rim weights damage the alloy finish, especially when removed to rebalance for new tyres.
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Sat 1 Jan 2005 20:00
Help - Alloy Wheels - Wheel balancing - mfarrow
I never realised the imbalance came mostly from the tyres. That explains why a wheel ends up with about half-dozen marks where weights have been put on then taken off.
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