How Does a Wheel Balancer Work?

If you’re running a workshop or managing a larger fleet, efficiency should be one of your top priorities.

Not just the efficiency of your vehicles on the road — but the efficiency of every service you carry out on your premises.

Luckily for you, the right Wheel Balancer helps you with both.

It’s an essential regular service that helps to extend the lifespan of your tyres and increase your fuel efficiency. And with the right modern equipment, it’s a fast and easy automated process that helps you get your vehicles back out on the road as soon as you possibly can.

Here’s what you need to know about wheel balancers — how they work, and what you should be looking for:

 

Is wheel balancing the same as wheel alignment?

Wheel balancing and wheel alignment often get grouped together — especially when we’re talking about tyre wear and vibration in the steering wheel.

But in reality, they’re two completely different services. You can have one without the other, and you need both if you want your wheels to be healthy.

Wheel alignment is about adjusting the suspension — measuring the angles of the wheel and how it connects to the vehicle.

But wheel balancing is all about weight — measuring the wheel as it spins and adding weights to counteract the imperfections in the wheel.

So how exactly does a wheel balancer do its job?

 

How does wheel balancing work?

Most wheel balancers are based on the same basic concept:

The wheel gets mounted on a spindle, which then spins the wheel and measures the weight distribution of the wheel in motion — usually using an optical sensor to measure how the wheel moves as it’s rotating.

Once the weight distribution has been measured, the wheel balancer can tell you exactly where and how much imbalance there is — providing data that tells your technicians the precise weights you need to add, and where you need to add them.

Here’s how it works:

 

1.  Mounting and measuring

The first step is mounting wheel on the wheel balancer. Once you’ve securely attached the wheel and tyre assembly using the included cones (and the professional quick nut to lock it in place), you’ll be ready to measure the width of the wheel.

This can be measured with either an external gauge — like the ones found on our Totalkare Wheel Balancer 350 — or with an ultrasound width gauge on our Wheel Balancer 360WS.

 

2.  Running the cycle

With the wheel securely locked in place and its width measured, you can lower the wheel hood (to protect your technicians from the spinning wheel) and start the wheel balancing process using the controls on the LCD monitor.

For any modern Wheel Balancer, this starts an automatic cycle that spins the wheel on the spindle and measures the weight balance of the wheel and tyre using an optical sensor.

Once the cycle has finished and the wheel balancer has made its measurements, you’ll get a full graphical readout of the results on the screen — including the out-of-balance values and their position on the wheel, and the exact weights you need to attach to correct them.

 

3.  Attaching the weights

At the end of the cycle, you can activate the wheel brake to hold the wheel in position (usually with a convenient foot pedal at the base of the machine).

You can then start to attach the weights you need to balance the wheel.

With some more advanced models of wheel balancer (like our Totalkare 360WS), you’ll have a laser pointer to guide you to the precise position you need for your weights — to reduce the risk of human error, and give you the highest level of accuracy in balancing your wheels.

And the result?

In just a few short minutes, you’ve corrected your wheel with an automated and guided balancing programme — helping you to extend the lifespan of your wheels and tyres and reduce the fatigue of your drivers out on the road.

 

Ready to see what our wheel balancers can do?

Whether you’re running a busy workshop or maintaining a larger fleet, the latest modern equipment can help you to automate your services and increase your throughput — as well as boosting the safety of your vehicles and your drivers.

So if you’re looking for a faster turnaround and the highest levels of accuracy, check out our full range of Totalkare Wheel Balancers in our online shop — or talk to a workshop expert to help you choose the right equipment to match what you need.