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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Rostyle Tire Balance

I just received a set of 175-70-13s for the midget, Took them to the local tire dealer to mount and balance and to everyone's surprise we could not figure out a way to mount the rostyle's to the balancing machine. The cone was to large and the four pin adapter for the bolt holes was to large also.

Where do you guys take your 13" rostyle tires to get balanced?

Thanks,
Bruce
Bruce Harbison

My local "tire kid" has a fix for that, but frankly I haven't seen what it is he does..He sure can balance the tires though, better than the "dealer" does.

Aren't 175's a bit wide for the Rostyles?

R
Richard 1500 5 speed

175 surely is a bit to wide for std rostyles are they banded?

go to a good tyre shop (they can be hard to find) and they wil be able to ballance it
simple reasoning dictates that if they can't they are not a good tyre shop :P
Onno Könemann


Onno,

So 175/70's have been fitted and used several times on this list, the manufacturer rates them for 4.5 to 6" wide rims. They look fine on the bounce test and no rubbing.

I really want a recommendation from someone that has actually had a set balanced to save running around to find the right "set-up" to accomplish the goal, Balanced Tires.

Not really wanting a good shop/bad shop debate please.

Soooo anyone had a set of rostyles balanced lately...

Where???? I'm in Austin, Texas.
Bruce Harbison

Bruce.
Call around to all the shops and if you are lucky you will find one that has the old style wheel balancing unit that does it on the car. They raise the car up and run the wheel in place by electric motor. They have a plate affixed to the outside on your wheel that has several knobs that they hold one by one while the wheel is rotating. all of a sudden the wobble is gone and it tells where and how much weight is needed.Some of these balancers even have a strobe light that shows all.
Sandy
Sandy Sanders

thoms autobanden
in Den Haag
in holland does it supurbly
Onno Könemann

Yes, 175/70-13 tires are just fine on RO-Styles.

Just Tires has done a fine job for me, even on original Bugeye disk wheels. Just make sure that they will let you watch. Check them on the car before you go to see how much runout is "normal" on your rims; anything more than that on the machine and they will NOT be in balance. When they spin up the wheel on the machine, watch for runout up and down as well as side to side at the edge of the rim (not the tire)... easy to detect, easy to point out to them. Point out to them that these are "lug-centric", not "hub-centric" and that the hole in the center is NOT true.
David "tried and true" Lieb
David Lieb

Hey there is the term I need to track down a shop, "Lug-Centric"! Thanks David. I'm on vacation this week putting the little green pleasure machine back together. I hope I'm tuning dual SU's by Friday!

Thanks all for the help!
Bruce
Bruce Harbison

Now THAT'S the way to use up vacation time!
David "thanks for setting a good example" Lieb
David Lieb

Hey bruce,

David is correct "lug centric" to find a shop, look for a place on the wrong side of the tracks, a hole in the wall shop, where the mechanic is the owner, and is really old...most likely this will be the place that has the old NON-computerized wheel balancers....The adapter for the balancer will have fingers that stick into the lug nut holes (IIRC)

prop
Prop

I take mine to the local Discount Tire. They seem to have the equipment and expertise to do it. I've had tires/wheels balanced on two Midgets - one with alloys and one with Rostyles.

My Rostyle-equipped B has a shake at about 65 mph or so. When I'm finished with the carpets, I'm taking it to DT to get the wheels balanced.

Glen
G. D. Phillips

COme to think of it, Glen is right, too. My local DT has balanced my lug-centric Vega GT wheels for me without a problem. I just thought of JT because when I was driving my Bugeye home and the wheels were so terribly out of balance because some tire place in Reno was NOT able to balance lug-centric, a JT in the LA area was willing and able to take care of it for me. It did not hurt that the owner of that location was a Spitfire owner...
David "not to mention the Amphicar I saw while trying to backtrack to the right exit..." Lieb
David Lieb

Cool, thanks much guys, DT it is for good balance! I'm in the middle of tracking down a short, I was up till 2:00 AM so it was something I did. Electric fan, oil cooler and thermostat are mounted! both manifolds are on and torqued. The exhaust is ready to mount. I might just make the Saturday deadline for when the wife and kids get back from the coast. She sure wouldn't have appreciated the use of her kitchen table but its been over 100 in the garage! Ugh what she's not living in won't hurt a bit ;-)
Bruce Harbison

Just a thought. Would a spare front hub without a brake disc but with the outer bearing races in place be able to be used to balance the wheels? Each tire would be attached with the lugnuts and then put on the machine. Are these hubs balanced and true from the factory? Has anyone tried this?
J Bubela

Bruce

Glad you made this post...I had no idea tire balancing would be a problem. I'm new to this Spridget thing, but learning quickly.

After I get a few more mechanical things sorted, I plan to re-tire.

No advice, merely a novice myself.

DL Rhine

Well I missed the dead line and the next shot at working on the little green pleasure machine is in 2 weeks, then maybe I'll have a report on the Rostyle balancing saga. I'll update this thread when finished!
Bruce Harbison

This thread was discussed between 26/07/2009 and 05/08/2009

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