Balance or not??

[Gary Gregory]

I just put 4 USA Garfield 19" tires on my Coupe and get a very bad bounce at 20 per hr. I had Firestones before the Garfilds that were nott balanced with no problem at any speed..i never drive over 45. One would think a good.balanced tire would be needed at higher speeds ..not at 20 miles per hr. I know you get a bounce from a cheaper tire from sitting a while which go's away after a mile ..which these do but if i cruise the back roads at 20 then they bounce pretty bad. Would.it help to balance the Garfields or did i get some bad tires ?

[Mitch//pa]

Maybe your tire bead is not seated on the rim correctly. A very common issue when changing tires.
I have not needed to balance any tires yet

[billwill]

They should be balancedGoodLuck

[1931 flamingo]

Garfield's??? How old are they??
Jack up the car and spin each wheel, are they round??
Paul in CT Many fellows here use DynaBeads. FWIW

[Gary Gregory]

Paul...they were new in the wrapper...not sure about the age..may have been NOS ? Wasnt sure if Garfields were still being made ? I'll try spinging each wheel.

[Synchro909]

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A wheel balance problem at 20mph indicates to me that either the tyres are not fitted properly or they are faulty. Spin each wheel with car lifted off the ground and see whether they run true - no wobbles or bobbles (love this tech talk!). I suspect that is where your problem is but if not, maybe the tyres are duds.
Dyna beads might be your easiest solution but I have never used them myself.
To balance a wheel, I melt the lead out of an old battery and pour it into the Vee made by laying a piece of angle iron on its back.Then I put the wheel on a free turning hub and find the heavy spot. I use masking tape to hold conventional wheel weights to the wheel till I get it balanced. Then I measure the length of the lead "stick" I have made and weigh it. It is a very simple calculation to work out what length I need to have the same weight as the total of the taped on weights. I then simply wrap it around a spoke - job done. Sometimes, I wrap a little black raped around the lead weights to make them a little less obvious on my black wheels. After doing this, my car has no vibration at 60 mph (the maximum we are allowed to do).

[SteveB31]

Garfields have not been made in 35 years. This may be part of the problem, but I would get them balanced and give them a try.

[Benson]

Tires of this vintage0 (pre 1975) had Nylon cords. Should say "nylon" on sidewall.

If nylon cord tires are left with the weight of the car on them over the winter, then the tires develop temporary flat spots. This problem is worse in cold weather.

These flats will usually smooth out after the tires heat up and are run on the road.

Did these tires sit with weight on them on the car after you installed them?

The 6.00 16s (70's vintage) on my car thumped and shook for a couple of weeks after I bought them used.

Then after 100 miles or so ... no more shaking. I drive the car every week (year round) for the last 6000 miles and the "nylon shake" has not returned.

Later tires were made with Rayon instead of nylon and the problem was solved.

All the nylon tires that I used in the 50s-70's on VW and Porsches had this problem ... not just Model A's.

[Gary Gregory]

Wow ! I had no idea these tires could be that old ! They are Nylon and i drive my car at least once per week since i installed the tires. Like i said..i do get a ruff ride for a short while when they sit for 4 or 5 days but it go's away...the bounce at 20 doesnt. We have a "old school" tire shop here in town that can balance them.

[Henry1953]

Buy balancing beads from Snyders. Put one pack in each inner tube. No more out of balance. This worked for me.

[oldbike99]

At that low of a speed, I don't think that it is tire imbalance, but a vertical runout issue. As stated already, it could be a tire, or tires, not properly seated on the rim or a flat spotted tire. You can balance an egg, but it still won't roll smooth.

Please let us know what you find from a closer inspection.

[Kevin in NJ]

Some general thoughts on mounting tires from my limited experiences.

When you go to put tires on you need to set up a spindle to test the position of the tire and how it balances.

So I mount the tire and then put it on the spindle with lightly oiled bearings. Watch how it finds the heavy spot. Does it move quick or slow. I mark the position of the tire to the rim them change the position. Yes, it is some work breaking the bead, moving the tire, then refilling.

I also spin the wheel and watch the tread, it should be very even and no bumps. I bought the Good Year tires and they were all very round and flat.

I found in all cases there was a magic spot that was much better matched then the others. The dots on the new tires have different colors. Do not believe they have a relation to the valve stem cause they do not in my experience.

Granted there is quite a bit of work setting you tires up in this way. The results are a better balanced wheel naturally. This is likely to be less grief in the long run.

Because the axles are so heavy the imbalance of the tires will have less effect.

Some things to try first.

Just jack up the front wheels and see how fast they find the heavy spot. Does one move much faster?

I would first spin each of your tires and view the tread for round and level. I would believe an out of round tire would cause more issues then an out of balance.
If the tires are level you could try switching the fronts to the rear. The rear axle is heavier and will dampen any out of balance condition better.

Anyway, some ideas to try. They may or may not help.

[Gary Gregory]

Thanks guys...i will look at spinning the tires first and see what i find.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by Mitch//pa

Maybe your tire bead is not seated on the rim correctly. A very common issue when changing tires.
I have not needed to balance any tires yet

Check what Mitch said before you do anything else. My friend had the same problem 2 years ago, and I couldn't get the bead to seat correctly until I let the air out of the inner tube, then pushed the bead in and sprayed it with WD-40. Then it popped right into the correct position.

Look at the telltale mounting line molded into the sidewall. You should see it evenly spaced all around the rim. It usually is about 1/8" to 1/4" out from the rim.

I agree that 20 MPH is too slow to be a tire balance problem, and my first thought was a poorly made tire. As soon as I read what Mitch said, I knew he was most likely right about the mounting.
Now, if you said "Goodyear Regatta", then I would say "poorly made tire"

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Spend a few bucks @ your local tire shop, that's ALL they do!
Bill W.

[wensum]

I tried balancing beads in the 22" wheels on our Lancia lambda without getting the desired result, so then had the difficult task of removing them all again before I could put the wheels on a balancing machine.
They certainly didn't work in this situation and it took far more time to remove them than it did to install them and even that was tedious!
Keith