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Wheel balancer
- Thread starter Ron B.
- Start date
Auburntsts
Well Known Member
I bought one for motorcycle wheels— works just fine.
I did the same. When choosing one, be sure that the cones that contact the bearing race are large enough to stabilize the wheel.
The Marc Parnes one is good: http://marcparnes.com/. I've got the "universal" one.
Thanks for posting this.
Auburntsts
Well Known Member
That’s the one I have. I bought it so long ago couldn’t remember the brand.
What I forgot to mention is: That balancer consists of just the shaft with bearings and locating cones. You need something to support the assembly with balancer plus wheel/tire. I cut a pair of wood 4x4's about 9" long on a miter saw. Stand those up vertically and place the assembly on top. Super simple and effective.
This McFarlane tool is very expensive but a really nice piece of machining if you are into that, it also works really well and balanced my wheels.
www.aircraftspruce.com
Aircraft Wheel & Prop Balancer Tool | Aircraft Spruce ®
Aircraft Wheel & Prop Balancer Tool The Aircraft Wheel Balancer uses the same static balancing method that is used to balance helicopter rotors.
smithflys23
Well Known Member
I bought this one also. I found that the cones weren’t large enough for the hole in the wheels. I used some painters tape to add some width to them. Did you have to do something like that to get it to work?
The HF is what I have as well. The cones for my wheels were just right, right out of the box! The metal stand comes with it and has a handy-dandy little tray to put weights and Allen wrenches in. I found it works well without a large outlay of cash. I used the weights they sell at HF and found the sticky tape was not enough to keep them in place. A little JB Weld did the job and they are still removable when you change tires.
The one we used at Vans was an older harbor freight one.The HF is what I have as well. The cones for my wheels were just right, right out of the box! The metal stand comes with it and has a handy-dandy little tray to put weights and Allen wrenches in. I found it works well without a large outlay of cash. I used the weights they sell at HF and found the sticky tape was not enough to keep them in place. A little JB Weld did the job and they are still removable when you change tires.
I think the current version comes with smaller cones that don’t work with the bearings in RV wheels.
My HF balancer is one of the older ones. The cones work but you do have to have the bearings in the wheel. HF changes their tools frequently and not always for the better. If I were looking for a balancer now I would seriously consider the one referenced in post #8. You would need to have some jack stands, and maybe HF stands would be a choice to consider. Although, I did have to return a pair of their stands due to a safety recall !!
Auburntsts
Well Known Member
I normally use a pair of jackstands but have also used a couple of cases of oil. Anyhting that will support both sides of the balancer and is tall enough to ensure the wheel is off the ground and can freely rotate will work.
