[SilverSpear]

Originally posted by Beav


What if you have averaged more than four alignments/day, five days/week (actually I worked six days/wk for 26 years) for the past thirty-five years. More than 36,000? I think I can safely say I can come pretty close with my naked eye, but for exact accuracy I still use the machine.

Like Harvey stated, the wider the tire/wheel combo, the less effective static balancing becomes. Mental exercise: place a stick on another, forming a 'T'. Add a weight to each end of the 'T'. When the stick with the weight is spun everything is good. Move one weight above the end of the stick and the other below. Now spin the stick and watch how centrifugal force pulls each weight to the outside, causing the stick to wobble. That's dynamic imbalance and there is absolutely no way to balance that with a bubble balancer or a nail in the wall.

Unless you have some very cheap (not necessarily inexpensive) tires, or are accident/puncture prone, they shouldn't require re-balancing more than once or twice in their lifetime. Ditto with alignments, worn parts, physically bending parts from potholes, accidents, etc. or sagging springs (which usually takes more time than the average set of tires will last) are about the only reasons for the alignment to change. Or the last tech to do it left an adjustment loose...

Man you said it, you are an expert in wheel balancing!!! but what about the other members? the thing can be done if you know what things the adjust in the suspension... but not everybody can do it...
for me spending $20 for an alignment is far better from having the pain to do it myself...