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Stick-on wheel weights

merlion

merlion

Senior member
I recently took my daughter's car in to have new aftermarket wheels mounted. The tire shop swapped over the original TPMS units to the new wheels, and used a Road Force balancing machine.

The day after the new wheels were installed the car was washed, and then was parked in the garage for 10 days while we were away from home. Upon our return my daughter was backing the car out of the garage and we saw something laying on the garage floor. When I checked to see what it was, it turned out to be the stick-on wheel weights.

We live in western NY, and the weather was not all that hot during the time the car was in the garage, so I'm wondering what the deal is? These weights are fairly commonly used, aren't they?

If it matters, the car is a '14 Chevy Cruze, and the wheels are 16x7 Drag DR-33's. I've got an appointment with the same shop to redo the balancing, but is this going to be an issue again afterwards?
 
on my steel rims, the wheels are clamped on with a pair of pliers. Don't know about how they stick on your fancy rims.

Buddy that worked in a tire shop told me that he rebalances his wheels every 5k (or whenever the shop isn't busy) and he always needs to adjust the weights.
 
I used to balance my own wheels and used the stick on weights. I had to spent a good bit of time to make the surface perfectly clean. Any brake dust and they wouldn't stay on long.
 
I'm not seeing any new cars on the road with rim weights. Adhesive weights are extremely common. Either the wheel wasn't cleaned well or the guy that put them on had filthy hands and fouled up the adhesive to the point it wouldn't stick - or both.
 
What do you use to clean the rims with? If you use anything with a silicon base you'll need to clean the wheels before sticking the weights on.
 
The wheels were new out of the box. Maybe that's the issue, and they needed to be washed beforehand?
 
996GT2 said:
Rim weights look worse but at least there is no chance of it falling off
Click to expand...

In my experience, the rim weights (clamped on at the edge of the rim) have fallen off a few times. Usually on the highway, they smash into the wheel well and make a big knocking sound.

Never lost a stick-on weight.
 
Spicedaddy said:
In my experience, the rim weights (clamped on at the edge of the rim) have fallen off a few times. Usually on the highway, they smash into the wheel well and make a big knocking sound.

Never lost a stick-on weight.
Click to expand...

I've had them come off my motorcycle. I use Protect All to clean painted surfaces, including my wheels, and I found that if you don't clean the rim well prior to sticking on the magnets they won't stick on well.
 
An update following a repeat visit to the shop for a rebalance. They said that they use two different weights, and that since the wheels were black, they used the black weights they have.

Apparently they don't stick as good as the gray weights they use on lighter colored wheels, but seem to be more problematic with some types of wheels. They have never had the gray weights come off at all. They asked if it would be okay to use the gray weights, and I said okay as I could just lightly spray them with some black spray paint. I guess time will tell now.
 
Stick-on weights work fine. The wheel needs to be clean and dry (area wiped with brake clean, usually- other stuff like carb/throttle cleaner can leave a residue) and they need to be firmly pushed on. If they're gonna fall off, it usually happens immediately. They pretty much stick...or don't. Once they're there, they take quite a bit of effort to remove.

Why in the world did you swap factory wheels for those cheap aftermarket ones?
 
Is it true those stick-on weights ideally should be on both sides (left and right) of the inside rim and not just one set on the outer side (where you can easily see it behind the spokes)? I hear only the lazy installers would put them all on the outside, and that's what I have. Going to be getting new wheels and weights put on soon.
 
Generally, stick-on weights go behind the 'face' of the wheel where they can be seen behind the spokes (they can also be strategically hidden behind the spokes if someone really wants to be fancy about it). The inner edge on factory wheels will usually accept clip-on weights. If not, another grouping of stickies will go there.

Only having one group of weights (usually on the inner lip) is referred to as 'static balancing,' and yes, is generally the result of someone being lazy. With a decent quality tire, though, it is often enough to quell any vibration at highway speeds.

You generally want a 'dynamic' balance.
 
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