Lighter Weight Wheels --- Worth It?

[blueprintbill]

Christ,
I'm learning,... just a little slow.
Thanks,
Bill

[Christ]

If you ever opt to have the wheels "shaved", go to a shop you can trust... You only really get one chance at it. Its only a half pound of material, less in many cases, but its in the furthest section of the wheel, where it will have the most impact.

If you're truly eccentric about wheel weight, look for casting flash, weld over, etc, and remove it. Be sure to have the wheel balanced to within .5oz after doing so.

[kir_kenix]

Originally Posted by Christ

If you ever opt to have the wheels "shaved", go to a shop you can trust... You only really get one chance at it. Its only a half pound of material, less in many cases, but its in the furthest section of the wheel, where it will have the most impact.
.

I worked in a tire/wheel shop for a few years. We had a guy who "shaved" wheels, and he was supposed to be really good at it. Most of the results were less then satisfactory, and we ended up putting alot of weight on those "shaved" wheels to balance them. I would stay away from this option, as you really don't lose that much weight from each wheel, and they are tough to balance.

[Christ]

A "real" machinist could have done it properly, and for standard car tires, no more than 1.5oz front and back, a total of 3oz, should be used per tire. If anything more is needed, change the orientation of the tire on the wheel.

It's also pretty standard practice to put wheel weights in more than one location on the same face of a wheel, which, in over 10 years of tire balancing, I've never had to do. Its actually counter productive, if you think about it... If you place a weight, then re-spin, and have to place another weight on the other side of the same face, you've used too much right on the first application. I often work with the tire on the wheel attain zero balance without weights.