Wheel Balancing Weights

[Black Tire]

One Wheel Balancing Weight
I went to the track last weekend and lost one of my wheel balancing weights . The adhesive had melted and the weight had fallen off. I found it in the pits after one of the sessions sitting loose inside one of my front wheels. This didn't really seem to affect the balance of the wheel too much since only one weight was lost, so I left it for the rest of the sessions and waited until I got home to address it.



Installed Wheel Balancing Weights
This is how the wheel weights look as installed during balancing. I did peel off the plastic tape covering the weights from the installer before going to the track as I was anticipating the heat would melt this. Note the black mark on the side of the long row of weights. I think this is grime caught by the last of the adhesive where the weight used to be.



HVAC Foil Tape
This is an accepted solution to the problem. Go to a home improvement store and buy some duct tape. The "REAL" stuff that is just heavy aluminum foil coated with adhesive. You can usually find it in the HVAC section, or at the contractor desk. I chose the "cold weather" premium foil tape because it is rated up to 325 °F, the highest I could find.



Foil Tape Holding Wheel Balancing Weights
Here is what the wheel looks like after the foil tape was installed. I cleaned up the area to be covered with denatured alcohol before installing the tape to promote good adhesion. It's very easy to cut the tape to the desired size before installing. I should now be good to go for the next track day.

[mla163]

I do the same thing. Good stuff.

[neurokinetik]

I crewed for a Grand Am team last summer, and was responsible for dealing with all of their tires (three car team + six hour race = 144 tires). Besides their nitrogen filling and purging method (three complete fills and bleed-downs before you even put the valve back into the wheel), the wheel weight taping was something that was done on every wheel and tire.

[cestode]

yup

REAL Gaffers tape works as well

[CounterSpace Garage]

The balance of the wheel changes as you wear the tires hence the reason why wheels need to be rebalanced every now and then. Guys who track often sometimes don't bother balancing the wheels since wear rates will require them to rebalance them so often that it's just not worth the time and hassle. The only side effect of running wheels unbalanced over a long period of time is potentially damaging wheel bearings/hubs prematurely.