my homemade balancer
 

hi there,

i thought i would show you my homemade balancer i made a couple of days ago. here is some pics:

http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/a...9092010029.jpg

http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/a...9092010030.jpg

http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/a...9092010026.jpg

http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/a...9092010027.jpg

stickers on!

http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/a...9092010032.jpg

http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/a...9092010033.jpg

anyway i got a piece of 8mm stainless steel rod, an old losi hub and wheel nut, two ceramic bearings (any size as long as they have an 8mm internal diameter) and some wood (MDF) for the base and sides.

so i got the wheel hub and made some threads using a 4mm tap in each side normally where the pin would go through. i then got some grub screws and screwed then into the new threads. i then put the hub on the steel rod and tightened the grub screws. i then made the base using MDF and can be cut to any dimensions as long as it is big enough for the wheel and cut the triangles out of the sides for the bearings to fit into.

in total this had cost me £6 to make and that was for the ceramics.

what do you think? comments are welcome.

many thanks

lewis

I made something similar 2 nights ago. I used regular bearings (not ceramic) and cleaned em out really well. And instead of a wood stand i used a grip vice and attached an old rear hub carrier to it that holds the bearing. I used the handle to an exacto knife and a blue hex hub like the one you posted. It works great, i balanced 4 sets of wheels yesterday. It didn't cost me anything, i had all the parts laying around except for the clay which costed me $3 for 20 stick in various colors.

One thing though, you will want to clean the wheels before balancing them, as the dirt can throw off the balance slightly.

thanks for the comment.

the tire in the pic was a used tires that i need to balance but how is the best way to clean wheels? i don't want to wash them because it will affect the foam

thanks

lewis

Everyone i've ever see clean them, just washes them. Then just spin the water out of them, you can do so with a cordless drill if you make a setup for it or just mount them on your buggy/truggy and rev the engine while on the starter box or off the ground. The holes in the tires will allow the water to escape when they spin. As long as you don't squeeze the wheel when under water it shouldn't soak up very much water.

If i get a chance i'll post a pic of my setup here shortly. It allows the wheel to be taken off and put on a cordless drill to spin the wheels dry.

Or do what Hara does and find a screw that will fit into your vent holes and JD..:)

Or do what Hara does and find a screw that will fit into your vent holes and JD..:)
If its in the rim then put some tape over the whole.. I do that anyway.. I only ever vent the try not the rim..

Thats a good idea, never thought about that. I learn something new everyday :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0NCf...eature=related
;)

thanks for the advise, but wht do you think of the balancer?

many thanks

lewis

I think you could make a good business selling them for 10 bucks USD each ;)

well i live in the UK but it is tempting!

i might design it using cad and get it made of plastic using my schools laser cutter. but i doesn't have to be complicated.

any one can copy the idea and try it and let me know how you get on or if you have trouble PM me.

hope this helps people

lewis

Its a nice balancer. As long as it does what you hoped it would do, i'd say its a success. One of the things i mulled over for about an hour was how to make it one sided, so the other end was not closed mainly just for easeness of use. I like the fact i can pull the rod out of the bearing slap a new wheel on and put it back within just a few seconds. My only gripe with my unit is the bearing tends to fall out when you pull the rod through when taking the wheel off. I tried all sorts of things to prevent the bearing from coming out but each time i was left with a bearing that wasn't as free as just having it sit in there without anything holding it in. I'm sure i could make some kind of shield if i wanted to, but for now it works great the way i have it.

thanks, yes i would say it was a success but i should be thanking my dad. the whole idea was to make it easy to use and easy to change the wheel or bearings. which i think i have accomplished.

thanks for the positive comments

lewis

http://i1027.photobucket.com/albums/...2/IMAG0168.jpg

http://i1027.photobucket.com/albums/...2/IMAG0169.jpg

http://i1027.photobucket.com/albums/...2/IMAG0167.jpg

Heres mine, the lighting isn't the best but you can see the concept. It works great, so i'm happy. Eventually i'll invest in a real rig, but i don't feel the need to right now. I'd rather spend that money on other tools like: ride height guage, shock length tool, camber guage, digital caliper.

O ring? Rubber band? :p