Balancing 1931 Auburn Wire Wheels

A good race oriented alignment shop may have the equipment to balance wheels on the car. Obviously any part balanced (including brake drums is a plus), They actually use a motor they run the wheel/car on to speed. I have had everything we owned aligned and balanced = a difference of night and day as they say. If passing though Cincinnati on way to or from a show Call and I can get you in with one of the better alignment shops (and balance too - shops name is Performance Alignment and owners name is Bill Braucksick = he does countless race cars and....)

1) mike is right: make sure the wheels are true (no run out or wobble viewed from the edge of the tread)
2) it is important to have the wheels dynamically balanced, that is, on the car. the typical shop balances the part of the wheel that can be removed, the rim, hub and tire. but the rest of the wheel, including brake drum, etc,. also rotates and can add its own imbalance, even if the detachable part of the wheel is in balance. not so many shops can do dynamic balancing,. seek one out.

wheel shimmy from onbalanced wheels on a 1931 Auburn can be vicious. ask me how I know!!

Unfortunately we did not have them trued as we ran out of time trying to get the car ready for the upcoming Green Brier WV Concours and the car really needed new tires due to age.

We did find a place to balance the tires. I called a local Tire Discounters and the gentlemen I spoke to asked what kind of car they were from and when I told him a 31 Auburn he said I have seen a lot of cars but never seen once of those, he then saw it as a challenge and said to bring them in.

When I arrived I saw the Hunter Road Force Elite with all of the adapters and he was able to find a set up to get the wheels on the machine.

Three of the wheels appeared to be quite true, one was very close (that will be a rear) and I hope the other two will be side mounts for a long time

When it was all finished I asked how much and he said nothing, I tried to hand him some cash and he said he can not accept cash or tips. He said to just remember us the next time you need tires

Did you have the wheels trued first?
CORDiallyMike

I believe any QUALITY tire shop will have a few different ways to balance your tires. I have seen many differing hugs for the spin balance machines in the shops I use.

We are getting ready to put the new tires on the 1931 Auburn but as I look at the center hole in the wheels it is huge and I got to thinking about balancing. How did you all go about getting your wheels balanced, does a normal tire shop have parts to fill a large center hub in the wires?