CrawJac

iTrader: (12)

Hello all,

I have some new rubber on the way for my 1/8 4WRD and my 1/10 2WD buggy, but do I really need to balance the tires?

I'm new to racing and want to know if it's worth the money to buy a balancing kit at this point for outdoor racing on a clay track.

Thanks,

roadrashracing2

Just make sure they are setting on the rims correctly and you should not have a problem. Have no problems with 1/5 rims and tires.

jbrow1

iTrader: (28)

It won't hurt.. But I've never balanced a tire/wheel yet for my toy car. Personally, I think a newer racer's time is better spent turning laps and trying to figure out how to drive through corners, as well as becoming comfortable on a drivers stand rather than thinking about tapered shock pistons and if their tire is hopping on the straight. Just my opinion though. If you have the time and the desire to do those things, that's great. Just don't forget wheel time trumps setup.

I'd be willing to bet Adam Drake could set your car up for you, and you'd not see a gain of over 15 seconds in a five minute heat. Unless you'd already turned many, many laps before he wrenched on it. I'm talking hundreds. Not 20 or 40 or 50.

jbrow1

iTrader: (28)

I forgot to say good luck to you, and enjoy your time racing

PatrickE

I recommend balancing the tires/wheels. There are always some that are severely unbalanced and when the entire vehicle wobbles when you hold it in the air, imagine how it will affect the performance when you are trying to take a high speed turn on the track. It's quick and easy to balance once you get the hang of it. I use the AKA balancer but if you are on a budget you can just use a used wheel hub.

MarkA

iTrader: (21)

Nobody balances in 1/10th buggy racing. Bad wobble is a bad glue job; you won't balance that away.

bds81175

iTrader: (20)

If you can't get to the track and have a bit of time to burn, go for it. I would have to agree with MarkA that 1/10 buggy tires most of the time don't need it. But you will notice a difference if you balance them when bench testing. Whether it translates to better performance on the track is up for debate (NOT suggesting we should start a debate). They way I look at it, anything I can do to my cars to eliminate the possibility of them being why I didn't win is a good thing. Short course tires are almost required to balance from what I have seen.

racer1812

iTrader: (31)

I agree. I used to balance mine but I just don't spend the time anymore. Why, I couldn't tell the difference on the track. Could I tell/feel the difference between balanced and unbalanced tires/wheels while holding a mod wheeler and applying generous throttle? Absolutely!! Are you likely to see any performance gain on the track..I doubt it.

Kegman21

iTrader: (2)

Agreed.

RaceDayHobbies

Should you balance your tires? Absolutely.
Do you make sure you have good solder joints?
Do you make sure the screws are tight on the car?
Do you make sure the car suspension is set the same on each side?
Anything you can do to make your car it's best should be done.
Especially since balancing your tires only takes 2-3 minute per tire.
It is hard for a car to accelerate when the tire is in the air from vibration.
It eliminates one more variable.

Horatio

Visiting this thread having just gone over a few sets of my 1/8th wheels.

There is nothing to lose by balancing your wheels, though it gets increasingly difficult to balance wheels the smaller they are.

IMO, it's better to take reasonable steps to ensure your wheels are as balanced as possible, because besides the obvious improvement in performance, having a car that has less vibration will also reduce wear and improve bearing life.

To do a good job, you need a wheel balancer, blutac, pen, golfing lead tape and a digital balance (scales).

I use blutac on the rim - in the usual way - putting the right amount of blutac opposite the heavy side of the wheel. Mark this with a pen. (often on off road tyres, you'll notice the heavy part of the wheel is where the manufacturer drills the vent hole in the rim)

Once the wheel is balanced as accurately as possible, I then remove all of the blutac and weigh it on the digital balance. I replace the blutac with the same weight of adhesive lead tape. After a bit of experience, you get to know how long a strip of lead tape you need for any specific weight. It's just a matter of practice. If I'm dealing with very small amounts, I often leave the blutac on the scale - let's say it's 2g. I'll add my length of lead tape to the scale and until I get the length I need to total 4g in total - then put the 2g of lead tape on to the wheel.

The reason why I prefer lead tape on the rims is because blutac and putty attract a lot of dust and crap. Also, because lead is denser, you require less volume of it to achieve the same result over putty. It's neater and less likely to fall off.

Some of my wheels require 8g of weight to balance them! On a set of wheels hurtling at 60mph - that's a lot of unwanted vibration if it's left unbalanced.

My truggy wheels have been balanced with a putty that sets hard and this has also worked well to be fair. However, I still prefer the the lead tape - it's cheaper and readily available.

One more thing - balancing wheels is therapeutic! So enjoy doing it. You're sure to notice a difference.

raydengt2000

iTrader: (1)

For off-road it is. For on-road, I just buy the pre-mounted tires.

Horatio

It's harder to balance touring car wheels, but for a competitive edge, even control tyres need to be trued and balanced.

I think the pre mounted tyres are generally pretty good these days - but there's certainly no harm in checking.

din000

Hi there. I think it is necessary, especially for racing and off-road.