Tire Balance Weights - Too Many?

[MLR]

Hey guys -

I recently put some 22" rep wheels (ck375s) on my 2009 Denali to replace the stock 20"...a friend gave me some stock Bridgestone tires that have 8/32s tread left on all 4 tires.

Long story short, when UPS delivered the wheels, the boxes were pretty beat up and I was worried about damage to wheels...nothing was noticeable, but after my shop mounted/balanced everything, I noticed later on they put about 12 weights on the front passenger wheel, several on front driver and none on either rear.

My concern is that maybe the front wheel with all the weight got a little bent during shipping and this is why it was so off-balance. Is this reasonable, or is it normal to use one wheel to compensate for the overall imbalance? Perhaps its because the tires were used as well? In any case, I'm going to ask the guys at the shop when I have a chance to stop by, but just was looking for others to offer expertise...I may have vendor make a UPS insurance claim if I determine wheel was bent (have pics of boxes damaged)....thanks.

 

[Donnie Yukonie]

Aftermarket wheels are harder to balance and Do require more weights normally however I would take it to a rim shop just to make sure its not bent, was there any noticeable damage when you received them ?

 

[MLR]

Thanks Don....nothing noticeable, but a couple of the boxes were ripped and sides were smashed in. The shop did a good job and ride is smooth, but don't want to mess with a bent rim long-term [if indeed bent] since I had insurance.

 

[Phantom240]

In my experiences, the bigger and heavier the wheel, the more weight it takes to balance. Also, tires play as much if not more into balance, especially with big heavy truck tires. With my Prelude, I have some 15" 12lb two piece wheels and 205/55 tires which weigh in at about 40lbs per wheel/tire assembly. It only took maybe half an ounce to get most of them in balance. When I had some 18lb 17's on it, which weighed in at about 50lb per wheel/tire assembly, it took nearly an ounce to get them in check. Those wheels were brand new, and the 15's I have are aftermarket Advan wheels from '87 LOL

 

[MLR]

The "bigger the wheel, harder to balance" theory seems to be pretty fact-based; I guess I was perplexed as to why one wheel had so many weights added on compared to the others...in fact, I didn't notice any stick-on weights on the rear wheels. I'll see what the shop has to say - I think they would've told me if they thought a wheel was off or bent, but maybe to them "balanced is balanced"!

 

[NathanJax]

My old 24" U2-55's had 3 rows of weights on them. seriously. they were stacked like a pyramid. But they were balanced good and rode well so that's all that mattered to me

 

[sumo]

yea one of my 22 has like 2 rows of wieghts. one strip is 3 oz