Tire & Wheel Balancing in Washington, MO

Balancing places small weights on the wheel to offset the heavy spots in the tire and wheel together. That only works if the tire and wheel stay in the same relationship to each other. Most of the time they do. Occasionally the tire slips around the rim, and the balance that was right yesterday is wrong today.

It happens more than people expect. Heavy braking or hard acceleration puts a twisting force between the tire and the wheel. A tire run low on air grips the rim less firmly. Fresh mounting lubricant that has not fully set can let a new tire creep in its first miles. When the tire rotates even a little on the rim, its heavy spot moves away from the weight that was put there to cancel it.

When tires are mounted, many shops mark the tire and the rim, or line the tire up against the valve stem. If you can see a mark on the sidewall, compare where it sits against the valve. If the two have drifted apart since the last fitting, the tire has turned.

If there is no mark, a dab of chalk or paint across the tire and rim, made the day after a balance, gives you one for next time.

• Rebalance, since the weights are now in the wrong place.
• Check pressures, because a low tire is one of the causes.
• Mention it, so the store can look at the bead and the rim surface. A rim with a damaged or corroded bead seat may not hold a tire as firmly.

A pull, or wear on one edge, is alignment. A vibration that comes back after every balance is often the wheel, and wheel refurbishing is at this store. The national tire and wheel balancing page covers the occasions worth asking for it.

Fenton and De Soto also balance tires and wheels in eastern Missouri.

The Washington store carries all nine Purcell tire categories and is managed by Kurt Kottwitz.

See the national tire and wheel balancing page for all 51 locations.