On Sat, 22 May 2004 14:51:23 -0500, "Bob Paulin" > wrote:

||
||
wrote in article
||<SyIrc.95810$iF6.8420467@attbi_s02>...
||>
||>
||> On 22-May-2004, (Doc) wrote:
||>
||> > Yes, it's a bubble balancer. No time like the present to learn. I just
||> > got done putting in another engine/transmission, and heft plenty 'o
||> > iron at the gym, I imagine I can handle mounting tires, if in fact the
||> > machine works halfway decent. And hey, I have a large supply of
||> > expletives to draw upon. The thing would pay for itself on the first
||> > set of tires.
||>
||> -- Years ago (like in the fifties) bubble balancers were the only thing
||> available. And lots of places still use them, especially places that deal
||> only in used tires. A sharp guy who does this for a living can do a fair
||job
||> with one of these. But it's easy to have too much weight on one side or
||the
||> other of the wheel. A spin balancer takes the guesswork out, and you get
||the
||> right amount of weight on each side every time. If you just jig around
||town,
||> a bubble balancer is fine. If you drive the freeways, pay for the spin
||> balance.
||
||
||On page 75 of the March 2002 Street Rod Builder Magazine, it states,
||"Goodyear uses a good old-fashioned bubble-balancer to balance large
||diameter, fat-tread street rod tires....a good bubble balance is perfectly
||accurate....Finally, spin balancers are not designed for use on
||large-diameter tires."
||
||I use a Micro M-60 bubble balancer for ten-inch, oval-track race car tires
||and my personal street vehicles - all of which run 55 and 60-series BFG
||Radial T/A. Not a shake in the bunch at speeds from 70 mph on up.
||
||The key is to do it correctly - with four weights evenly split front/rear -
||not just pile on weight opposite the heavy spot.

I agree. Up until very recently, Goodyear's travelling racer support guys used
only bubble balancers to balance tires at the SCCA Runoffs. If that was good
enough for a 180 mph Formula Atlantic, it's good enough for my wheels. I have
used a bubble balancer for years on my own race cars, no problem at 120 mph.
Several of my friends have the HF bubble balancer for use on their race cars,
and they work fine. I recently ran across a deal on a used spin balancer, which
is a little easier to use.

As for the HF mounting tool, you do need to bolt it down, but they are usable.
I had one bolted to my trailer tongue, where it doubled as a mountain bike rack.
I rarely used it, but it worked OK. Breaking the bead is the hard part. Get
some bead lubricant - AGS or Joe's. For $40 it's cheap enough to try it out.
And if you are in the DFW area, I have one I'll make you a deal on, used very
little.

Last time I needed 4 race tires mounted and balanced, Discount Tire quoted me
$77. that's with me bring in the wheels and giving them seveal days to get it
done. I made up my mind to get mey own equipment. I now have a Coats rim-clamp
tire changer and a Hunter electronic wheel balancer, with $800 in the pair.
Texas Parts Guy