New Tires - Wheel Weights Showing - Have It Redone?

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dgage

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So I recently had new tires put on and when cleaning the wheels for the first time, I was annoyed by seeing the weights so prominently. I can’t remember the last time I had seen wheel weights on one of my Acura sedans. Maybe my older rims had more spokes and they were hidden better and I got lucky the first time I got wheels on this car. Anyway, I went back to Discount Tire today as my dad’s truck had a screw that needed repairing and I asked the counter guy and he said it may not be as accurate but we can hide the weights. I know the Roadforce machine has an option to hide the weights behind multiple spokes. I really think the installer was being lazy but I’m looking for some feedback from those with tire installing experience. Should I live with it or ask them to hide the weights and hope the ride is still smooth? This is on a 2012 Acura TL and I always make sure to detail my car before it gets worked on so they know this is a car guy’s ride but apparently that doesn’t translate very well nowadays.

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Yeah you can move them inside a bit, the problem is the design of your wheels allows you to see straight through and if you hide them behind one of the spokes, it will throw off the balance., your other alternative is to get some rustoleum paint and an artist paintbrush and paint them black.
 
Road Force balancers can hide the weights, but many shops charge extra for the additional work...
 
As someone who does tire mounting and balancing as part of my daily gig, I’d have faith that the Hunter wizardry would mean you wouldn’t sacrifice the overall balance to have the weights hidden. It’s a function in the machine, not an approximation made by the tech balancing.

I can’t really fault the installer for not hiding the weights, especially at a discount tire where 99.5% of the cars are probably just appliances. I’ll confess I don’t hide the weights unless I can tell it was intentionally done the last time.
Most of the time when I find there are weights in multiple locations, it’s from the last animal not removing all the old weights before applying the new ones. Again, 99.5% appliances…
 
oneheadlite said:
As someone who does tire mounting and balancing as part of my daily gig, I’d have faith that the Hunter wizardry would mean you wouldn’t sacrifice the overall balance to have the weights hidden. It’s a function in the machine, not an approximation made by the tech balancing.

I can’t really fault the installer for not hiding the weights, especially at a discount tire where 99.5% of the cars are probably just appliances. I’ll confess I don’t hide the weights unless I can tell it was intentionally done the last time.
Most of the time when I find there are weights in multiple locations, it’s from the last animal not removing all the old weights before applying the new ones. Again, 99.5% appliances…
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Thanks for the feedback oneheadlite and this is exactly what I was looking for. I’ll likely take my wheel back and get them hidden. I’ll remember to specify in the future.

One last question. How do I remove the weights and adhesive residue?
 
Carefully pry them off, I use a plastic trim tool (dedicated to the task). You can use a small screwdriver if you’re paying attention, you just get the tip under the edge, then lever off your finger (not just jam the thing in there scratching the hell out of the wheel like I see all the time…)

For the adhesive: 3M adhesive remover works great, if you don’t have any mineral spirits also works. Apply heavy to a rag and lay on the tape spots, letting it soak into the foam. Then use a plastic razor blade or similar and scrape off the tape. Final wipe down with your chemical to buff off the last of the residue. Once you get into a rhythm it’s not too bad.

We use brake clean at the shop, but I have a feeling it’s not the same kind as a consumer can pick up at the store these days.
 
Cleaned my rim to take it back to the tire store to get the weights hidden this time. Getting the weights off with the white foam adhesive was pretty easy, getting some of the older adhesive (thin and black) off was harder. But cleaning the inner rims was pretty difficult. Tried a couple wheel cleaners but no dice. Ended up using 800 grit sandpaper (Mirka Abralon) but Tarminator was the key as it made quick work of the dark spots.

Partially cleaned with Tarminator and 800 grit sandpaper


Fully cleaned with Tarminator and 800 grit sandpaper
 
Ceramic coat them once you get the wheel weights back on. They make black wheel weights these days.
 
Dropped the wheel off and called me about 15 min later. No charge and they were very good about taking care of it. I apologized for not mentioning I wanted the wheel weights hidden and will be sure to request it next time. Looks like they added weights right behind the spoke and on the inner side of the rim. I’m happy.

After this picture I washed the wheel and put Pinnacle Diamond Wheel Coating on it that I still had, inside and out. And put another coating of Turtle Wax Hybrid Tire Dressing that I’m testing out. Tire is still too new to make a determination about the dressing.

 
The pound on weight makes me cry inside, but I'm glad they took care of you!
 
There are colored weights available now…and I’ve been known to put colored tape over them as well.
 
I run Balancing Beads on my High Country with Fuel wheels. No weights necessary. They automatically balance the tire as you drive.
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dgage said:
Dropped the wheel off and called me about 15 min later. No charge and they were very good about taking care of it. I apologized for not mentioning I wanted the wheel weights hidden and will be sure to request it next time. Looks like they added weights right behind the spoke and on the inner side of the rim. I’m happy.

After this picture I washed the wheel and put Pinnacle Diamond Wheel Coating on it that I still had, inside and out. And put another coating of Turtle Wax Hybrid Tire Dressing that I’m testing out. Tire is still too new to make a determination about the dressing.

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Take it out on the highway and see if it's balanced at speed.
 
opie said:
Kinda showing your age with those chrome bed rails lol clean truck though

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I'm old. I'm 60 and old school.

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