Static Bubble Blancers

[cstmwgn]

Anybody use these?
Any opinions on Manufacture / Model to consider?

[TheSilverBuick]

Squirrel does. I'm sure he'll see this thread at some point.

[silver_bullet]

I haven't in a long time, but, the ones I used were made by Coates IIRC...

[cstmwgn]

I haven't in a long time, but, the ones I used were made by Coates IIRC...

Yeah - the old "service station" style are way cool but most folks seem to be pretty proud of them. Used "antique" ones seem to be $300 - $500 and who knows how well they work OR if you can still get service parts to restore one. The little portable ones seem a little sketchy to me and run anywhere from $80 to $350! I have to do something as the new wheels don't seem to hold the tires as well as my old Welds so I end up having to have them balanced frequently! And NO, I am not going to use screws or bead locks.

[corvettedad]

Friend of mine uses one on all of his farm trucks and his regular truck never heard him complain. It's one of those antique ones from a station. Been using it for at least 30 yrs, I believe it's a Coats.

[74NovaMan]

I used one my dad had years ago to balance the first set of tires for my first Nova. Looked a lot like this:



It worked ok as I recall.

If the problem is rotation of the tire on the rim, can you make reference marks on the tire and rim and then reset it as needed instead? Might not be any easier depending on how hard it is to break the bead, but it might be worth a try.

[squirrel]

I have an old little Montgomery Wards bubble balancer, it seems to work ok. If you have large wheels/tires that let you put weights on both rim flanges, then spin balancing might be better. But for skinny tires, and for mags that you can't put a weight on the outer edge of the rim, bubble balancing works good. and costs a lot less than having a tire shop spin balance them.

I also got a cheesy manual tire changing machine, that has paid for itself many times over...

[cstmwgn]

... If you have large wheels/tires that let you put weights on both rim flanges, then spin balancing might be better. But for skinny tires, and for mags that you can't put a weight on the outer edge of the rim, bubble balancing works good. and costs a lot less than having a tire shop spin balance them.

I also got a cheesy manual tire changing machine, that has paid for itself many times over...

Jim

I have 29 - 18.5 x 15 in the rear and have had trouble finding a tire shop that can spin balance them. The "portable" bubble balancers that I have seen on the internet seem a little sketchy to me. I have heard that they do not repeat well and can be difficult to get set up (get the bubble in the center of the circle).

Your cheesy manual tire changing machine - is it a Harbor Freight unit? Do you think it will deal with wide tires and wheels?

Thanks for your input.

[corvettedad]

Just a thought Alan as for finding a shop to balance them, are there any off road shops as in 4 wheel drives. There are a couple in our area that do the tires for our jacked up big tire Redneck trucks.

[cstmwgn]

Thanks Perry - we got some of those types down here too! I will check it out.

[Deaf Bob]

I have an old manual tire machine that I love.. My kid rather do it on the ground.. I got back problems, so ground manuplating is not good..
He uses 2 main irons as do I, a short spade type that is soft pointed and the other with a weld to control depth and the other end an s
"S" .. He doubles up and tubes his tires.. Sometimes takes both of us to do one tire.
To break beads, we use a soft spade type long bar with weighted pipe .. Much like a fence post driver without handles. The part that meets the rim and tire is rounded about 1/4" There is a weld that s buffed smooth to give it a hardness
We use those on aluminum mags on our road cars too..

Screwdrivers tend to screw up rims/tires.
We also have a set of "motorcycle/bicycle" bars.
As much as we do, proper tire tools has paid for itself several times over..