Balancing nose wheel of an a/c with tire on.

[lardog]

I believe I've figured out a way to dynamic balance small aircraft tires. First some background: I have access to a Coats 1050 computerized tire balancer. This machine and many other Coats balancers have a 1 1/8 inch diameter shaft. Many tire shops use them. The front tire on my Cessna 182 has a 1 1/4 inch diameter thru hole. First I removed the bearings and put the wheel/tire on the balancer. I used the smallest cone to hold the tire and wheel against the balancer flange. The cone centered the wheel/tire assembly on the wheel bearing race. Slowly turn the wheel by hand to assure the wheel runs true. It does. Simple so far. Now there are three dimensions that must be input into the computer. The first one is done with a rod that comes out of the machine and touches the rim of the wheel. No problem here. The next one is measured using a large caliper (comes with the machine) that measures the width of the wheel. Input this number, simple so far. The last number is the diameter of the wheel. This is the tricky part. The smallest wheel the machine is rated for is a 10 inch wheel. The Cessna wheel is only 5 inches. What to do? Answer: Enter in 10 inches. From a practical standpoint what does this mean? Answer, not much. How often do you think the tire tech at the tire shop makes mistakes entering in one of the three dimensions? Now spin the wheel and tire and see what the balancer recommends for the weights. Lets say for "example" it calls for 1 1/2 ounces on the outside of the wheel and 1/2 ounce on the inside of the wheel. Add the weights as per the balancer locations. Spin the wheel again. Here is what may happen. This is just an example: On the second spin it may say add 1/4 ounce on the outside of the wheel and zero ounces on the inside. You notice that the 1/4 ounce is 180 degrees from the 1 1/2 ounces you put on previously. The machine is trying to balance the tire but because it has improper inputs it cant do it perfectly on the first try. Instead of adding the 1/4 ounce weight, remove the 1 1/2 ounce weight and replace it with a 1 1/4 ounce weight. Spin it again. Viola, the machine says 0 - 0. The tire and wheel are balanced. You see it doesn't matter that the inputs were incorrect. Zero is zero, the wheel/tire is balanced. You may have to chase it down for and extra spin or two but at the end of the day the wheel/tire is balanced. You could probably input a lot of incorrect numbers and still with a little playing around get it to balance. When the machine reads 0 - 0 the wheel/tire is balanced. The more difficult problem would be convincing the tire tech or tire shop to do it. I hope this helps other members. I believe this is not only superior to a bubble balance or a static balance machine. its also much faster and easier. I balanced my Cessna tires in just a few minutes. Note: I ran a tire shop for 14 years so I have some experience. I often had to figure out how to balance a tire that took weights in a different spot than the balancer specified. It only takes an extra spin or two to track down the balance. Zero is zero.

[1600vw]

This is something everyone can purchase on any budget. Then go to a tire shop and purchase some wheel weights of the stick on type. They cost very little. You can also modify this to balance props. I have a video showing this.

http://www.harborfreight.com/motorcy...and-98488.html

[wbecker319]

Do as chintonmd said.

[1600vw]

Do as chintonmd said.

More then one way to do this. But cleaning the bearing then reinstalling then taking it back off and repacking bearings would not be the way I would do it. Take it off and put it back on then take it off then put it back on just seems like more work then one really needs to do. When one could take the wheel off, balance it, and then stick it back on. A lot less work and the way I would do it. But to each his own.

Tony

[martymayes]

lardog - thanks for your input. That was very informative.

[1600vw]

lardog - thanks for your input. That was very informative.

I worked with a man at Vail resorts. If you asked this man the time of day he would explain how to make a clock. My point, on something like this, use the KISS method. Not many have access to one of these Computer tire balance machines nor is this needed for the speeds we are talking about on this forum.