What Is a Tire Balancer and Why Balancing Your Tires Are Crucial for Your Vehicle

It’s that time of year again when the weather gets crisp, the leaves change colors, and your tires will need changing. However, changing your tires is only half of the problem. Tire balancing is essential for a smooth ride and can prevent irregular or uneven wear on your tires and suspension.

What is a Tire Balancer?

A tire balancer is an automotive machine designed to find imbalances in a wheel. It rotates the wheel to mimic driving and detects any imperfection that needs to be corrected. 

It’s commonly used for small personal operations, car enthusiasts, roadside tire shops, small businesses, race shops, or as a backup for more specialized tire machines.

What Does a Tire Balancer Do?

To explain what a tire balancer does outside of “it balances your wheels,” let's use the fan example. If you stuck a penny to a portable fan blade, turned it on, and held it, you would notice a vibration and that fan blade working harder. This would make your fan imbalanced. It’s similar to tire imbalances.

By balancing your tires will:

- Reduce vibrations and give a smoother ride

- Improve tire longevity

- Produce better tire control and braking 

How Do My Tires Become Unbalanced?

Tires can become imbalanced for multiple reasons, such as sitting too long, driving over 6000 miles, or hitting a pothole. 

Some tires aren’t even perfectly round, making them more susceptible to imbalances. There are two types of imbalances that can occur: Static and Dynamic.

Static Imbalance

Static imbalance occurs when there is an uneven vertical weight in your tires. When static, the bottom of your tire may be slightly heavier due to pressure, which causes vibrations when in motion.

Dynamic Imbalance

Dynamic imbalance occurs when there is an uneven horizontal weight. The right side of your tire may weigh slightly more, causing a side-to-side vibration

Owning a Tire Balancer

Any tire shop will have a tire balancer, but if you’re someone who likes to do things by yourself or especially if you own an automotive shop, a tire balancer will be beneficial to your current line-up. 

The MechMaxx WB857 wheel balancer delivers accurate results across a variety of wheel types and is reliable in demanding shops. 

It features five distinct balancing modes, including options for tape-on weights on premium rims. 

This compact and capable equipment is perfect for increasing your tire-changing capabilities. It’s a great choice for an automotive shop aiming to expand to a wider range of tire types.

MechMaxx offers tire balancers for all purposes, such as the user-friendly WB855 Model or the multi-functional WB857 model.