Tire/Wheel balancing suggestions ?

[m2fit4u2]

I am looking to start balancing my 1/10 off road truck and buggy wheels. What wheel balancers are you guys using? I am finding that many of the balancers I come across are for 1/8 scale cars and trucks and most that I find are for balancing propellers.

Any help or recommendations will be appreciated.

[markt311]

I just balanced my first set of tires after racing for 20 years and what a differance it makes! I used my buddy's Dubro prop balancer and it worked perfect, get some non hardening modeling clay. I'm just letting you know mine took quite a bit of clay to balance out, but they were also SCT tires.

[m2fit4u2]

I have seen that Dubro prop balancer before. Thanks for the recommendation. I may have to make a purchase

[aconsola]

I've been balancing them with just a pair of carefully prepped bearings. I take both shields off of a pair of new bearings and soak them in denatured alcohol to get all the grease out. Then when they are dry, put a tiny amount of very light oil on. The wheels spin for quite a while like this.
For the fronts I clamp a spare steering arm/axle to the corner of the workbench and for the rears use a hub carrier with the wheel bolted up like it would be on the car.
This seems to give pretty good results. there is a signifigant difference in the vibrations on the vehicle when bench tested.

For weight I use the small lead strips found at the hobby shop in the pinewood derby section. I attach them with silicone adhesive/shoe goo. When the balance is very close it is easy to just add or remove a dab of the adhesive to make small adjustments.

I managed to take a lunchbox from a shaking unstable mess to super smooth at full speed on pavement. Each front plastic wheel took almost 1 full ounce to balance.

[SteveK]

I just bought a Top Flite magnetic balancer, and after a little consternation I got it to work right. I ended up gluing the guide rods into the base with silicone to prevent the frame from jiggling, or even falling apart, and I discovered you have to move a heavy tire right over to one side to keep it from falling out. After figuring that out it works well, easier to use than a wheel on a hub.

For balancing my SC10 wheels I used Elmer's Wood Putty, packed into the backside of the rim. Works great, we'll see how it holds up during running. Sealing it with clear paint after it cures might be a good idea.

[Eau Rouge]

I have the Integy balancer in the shop and it's a REALLY nice piece. ShoeGoo has always been my balancing material of choice as you can remove it should you need to re-balance for any reason.

[m2fit4u2]

Eau Rouge - Have you used this Integy balancer with off road car and truck wheels? It is advertised for only touring car balancing. It does look like a nice balancer however..

[Eau Rouge]

Eau Rouge - Have you used this Integy balancer with off road car and truck wheels? It is advertised for only touring car balancing. It does look like a nice balancer however..

Yes, in the stock setup it is made for touring car wheels. I use a machined washer on the back of the press collet in place of the top hat shaped collet, and it centers a B4 rear wheel wheel on the mount to balance properly. The fronts I do the same way without the washer and a wheel bearing pressed into the outside of the wheel. It's not too tough to figure out a usable solution for whatever wheel you are doing. I don't think it's big enough for truck wheels and tires, though.

[m2fit4u2]

Update,

After carefully looking at my options I ended up going with the Dubro prop balancer. I have since balanced 6 sets of wheels with ease. I personally do not spend the time to get the wheels exactly perfect, but with the Dubro unit I am able get them close to balanced in a reasonable amount of time. I would say that I am very happy with the purchase thus far.

Thanks for all the suggestions !