balancing pin drive Trigo wheels

snake farmer · #1 (**permalink**) 10-10-2002, 08:38 PM

I have a new set of Trigo wheels and tires (8 inch X15 and 10 inch x 15). Wheels and tires were shipped with wheel weights on the outside.(face of the wheel).I thought I would be clever and have the weights placed on the inside of the wheel via taped weights. Didn't work on the front wheels (little offset) Didgital spin balancer read the taped weights as though they were on the insidelip of wheel. Front wheels have virtually a neutrol offset Any ideas. Lead weights on the face of the wheel spoils the look and with dissimilar metals corrosion will soon start. On my second or third set of tires I will have corrosion tracks all around the wheel. I know they make plastic coated weights and thatcures the corrosion problem but not the ugly. I gave up and didn't even try to convert the weights on the back wheels. What do I do?

A Snake · #2 (**permalink**) 10-10-2002, 10:05 PM

You need to go to a true specialty tire shop that is used to dealing with aftermarket aluminum or magnesium wheels. they can spin balance and use the stick-on weights that go on the inside of the rim(where it's flat). There is no need to use the old clamp-on lead weights or have them show.

It sounds like you tire guy didn't quite know where to put the weights. Offset or no, the weights will work fine if placed correctly.

It would not hurt to have the wheels chucked up in a lathe to check the runout. There could be a difference between the mounting face (where the pins go in) and the bead surface.

Call around until you find a shop that knows what you're talking about. The weights look a little like a segmented refrigerator magnet. I think each segment is like a tenth of an ounce or thereabouts. They are meant to be broken at the segment lines and come in long strips. I'm not sure anymore, but I think they are just lead with a sticky backing.

I used this method on my magnesium Halibrand pindrive wheels and it worked just fine. No vibration at any speed. (The Halibrands like mine are what Trigo copied.)

Don't know if this helps or not, but maybe some food for thought.

Al

snake farmer · #3 (**permalink**) 10-11-2002, 01:03 PM

A Snake, I appreciate your reply. I did use the stick on weights that you mention. A spin balance will tell you to put weight on the inside lip or outside lip and how much to put on. My point is on the front wheels the offset is nearly 50/50 or neutral.Having said that. the tape weights that are called for on the outer lip of the wheel can only go on the inside of the wheel as close to the center section of the wheel as possible. The problem is, the taped weights are not close enough to the outer rim to get a corrected reading. They are only about 4 inches (remember this is a 8 inch wheel) from the inner rim lip and as such the balancer is reading them as weights pertaining to the inside lip. In other words, if I had 6 inches or so of back space (more than 50% of a 8inch wheel) I would be ok. but I don't If you imagined the wheel cross section and visualised a center line of the wheel. outer weights would have to be place on one side and inner weights on the other side. This is not possible on my wheels as I have nearly neutral back space or 50/50 offset. The back wheels have more back space and I may be ok on them. Thjis is very hard to explain, taped weights, yeah I'm there just can't locate them far enough to the outside of the wheel.

speed220mph · #4 (**permalink**) 10-11-2002, 01:55 PM

You have a choice here, either go for the correct, most efficient method of balancing a wheel/tire or go for looks. The correct method is to place the weights at the outermost edges of the wheel inside AND outside. This is the high-performance method which should be used on a high-performance car such as the Cobra. Check out a professionally prepared race car. Or, place the weight that would have otherwise been on the outside edge behind the center section. Trouble here is the weight must be much heavier that it would've at the outside edge because of the reduced cantilever effect due to wheel width and it's closer proximity to the rotating center of the wheel . . . a big problem with the narrower front wheel as you've indicated.

snake farmer · #5 (**permalink**) 10-11-2002, 02:20 PM

Speed,thanks for the reply. You followed that jiberish very well. Glad to see you understood my problem. Now the choice as you say. I'm heavy into looks and speed. What I realy need is a set of wheels and tires for street,show,and comp. And I told my wife I was about done spending.