Dear Car Talk:
I just put new tires on my truck, and there are no wheel weights on any of my wheels. Is that normal? — Linda
It would be unusual, Linda.
When you have new tires mounted, weights are placed on the wheels to “balance” the tires.
Most tires, even good ones, come from the factory with slightly imperfect weight distribution. I don’t know why, but the manufacturing process, for whatever reason, doesn’t distribute the weight of the rubber compounds absolutely perfectly.
So, when a mechanic mounts new tires, he’ll balance them more precisely for you. That’s most often done with a machine that spins the tires at high speed. The machine then identifies where and how much weight is needed to make each tire-wheel combination balance perfectly.
If the tire is out of balance, you’ll feel a shimmying or shaking, which will be more pronounced as your speed increases until, at highway speed, you feel like you’re on one of those shaking motel beds you put a quarter in.
So why don’t you have weights? Well, maybe you won the Goodyear State Lottery and got four perfect tires, Linda. But more likely, you’re just not seeing the weights.
On vehicles with alloy wheels, the weights are often glued on. And the weights that are glued on are smaller and more subtle than the older style weights that were hammered on to the outside edges of the rims.
The glued-on weights are usually mounted out of view — set back toward the brake discs behind the spokes of the wheels. They’re on the “rounded-flat” surface of the wheel, where the spokes end, closest to the tire.
So, you just may not know where to look. But if you’re not feeling any shaking at high speeds, it’s safe to say your tires are balanced, Linda.
Out of curiosity, you could stop by the tire installer’s shop and say, “hey, can you show me where the wheel weights are on my car. I don’t see them, and I’m just curious.”
And if he says you didn’t need any, go buy yourself a lottery ticket.
Got a question about cars? Write to Car Talk write to Ray in care of King Features, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803, or email by visiting the Car Talk website at www.cartalk.com.
