Larger Wheels issue

[sashki2]

Some of you might have seen my post about upgrading to 20" wheels. What I didn't tell you is that since that time I'm having hard time to find a good place to balance my tires. Bigger wheels mean more weight and thus more chances that imperfect balance will show itself. Basically, the issue I'm having is that as the speed exceeds 60-65 mph, wheels start vibrating. From what I gather from research and talking to technicians, I would need high speed balancing machine that would be more precise. Supposedly, a regular machine would not work. The shop that installed my wheels is a reputable full service shop but they don't do enough tire installations to justify an expansive balancing machine. I've tried another local shop, which was by the way recommended by tirerack.com. I described them the issue, told them that I need high speed balancing and they swore to me that they have the best equipment in the world. They were descent enough not to charge me and let me drive a few days to see if the issue is fixed. However, the vibration is still there.
Anyway, I call shops, start mumbling about high speed balancing and hear the same thing - we've got very good equipment and no one complains, come over and we'll take a look at it. Obviously, I'm reluctant to spend time and money just to check whether a shop's machine is good enough in my case.
Frustrated...
Another thing I stumbled upon on the web... Supposedly, a some tire manufacturers mark heaviest spot on their tire (no tire is perfect). Installers should first find a heaviest spot on the wheel (again, no wheel is perfect) and then match the heaviest spot on the wheel with the heaviest spot on the tire. Then balancing is easier and doesn't require as much weight thingies to be adjusted. Supposedly, not all installers do it.

[SteveTheTech]

Thanks for sharing. I feel that these stories are not often considered when people purchase wheels. I actually see this all the time. I'm in the Washington DC area and we have some very challenging roads that can wreak havoc on non OE wheels, and OE wheels as well they just tend to be stronger.

If you hit one pothole on the way out of the shop that installed them you could have knocked off the vertical centerline, this doesn't typically cause an imbalance that can be offset by weights.

Have you had the tires rotated?
Have they been Road Force Balanced?

There really isn't any product in the major balancer marker that is specifically designed as a high speed balancer, which is why you may have got some funny looks when asking for that. What you need is someone who has a Hunter GSP9700. Having the tires road force matched would be what you were getting at...it is not typically done at the time of mounting, and is a fairly costly procedure as it may take a few hours.