Most tyre dealers will offer a tyre balancing service when purchasing new tyres and this is because it’s strongly recommended as something you need to do before fitting new tyres to your vehicle. Tyre balancing involves ensuring the wheel rim, tyres and valve combination spin without causing potentially uncomfortable vibrations when driving.
As well as being potentially uncomfortable for drivers and passengers, an unbalanced tyre can also be prone to excessive or uneven tyre wear that can reduce the lifespan and efficiency of your tyres.
A tyre balancing service involves putting the inflated tyre and rim onto a balancing machine that will spin the tyre and wheel to recognise any areas where the weight is uneven which can cause an imperfect spin. Weights can then be added by the tyre mechanic to the rim to create a uniform weight across the spin of the wheel and tyre. This process is repeated until the machine is unable to recognise any unbalanced areas on the tyre and creates an evenly weighted spin.
Tyre balancing focuses on the weight around the wheel and tyre combination to generate a smooth and comfortable ride and wheel alignment covers the angles of contact between the tyre and the road.
