Wheel balancing. Important and often overlooked!

The imbalance of automobile wheels, in addition to causing wear on tires, bearings, suspension and steering, also negatively affects driving safety. Therefore, they need to be checked and corrected frequently.

There are two types of unbalance: static and lateral, also called dynamic. Static imbalance is an uneven distribution of masses relative to the wheel axis. As a result, the center of gravity is not on the axis of rotation. This causes vibrations while driving that cause the wheel to bounce. The wheel bearing, tire and suspension suffer.

In turn, lateral or dynamic unbalance is defined as an uneven distribution of masses relative to a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation. As the wheel spins, the forces arising from this kind of imbalance try to deflect it from the plane of symmetry. Dynamic imbalance of the steered wheels causes vibration of the steering wheel and impairs driving performance.

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Static and dynamic imbalance is eliminated with the help of weights placed on the wheel rim. The most common procedure is stationary balancing, which requires wheel disassembly. Modern balancers indicate where the weight is set based on a measurement of the forces caused by the imbalance.

Vehicle balancing, also known as checkweighing, is performed without dismantling and reassembling the wheel. This process, unlike stationary balancing, takes into account the influence of all elements rotating with the wheel. The place of imbalance is indicated by a stroboscope or infrared radiation. However, balancing in a vehicle requires a lot of experience and relevant skills, and therefore they are rarely used in practice. In addition, balancing on stationary machines provides sufficient accuracy.

Experts recommend checking wheel balance every 10 hours or so. kilometers, and if the vehicle often drives on roads with poor coverage, then every half of the run. It's worth checking the balance every time you change wheels during the season.

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